Battings 101

I have some clients that tend to bring their own battings.  Generally this is just fine.  I've never met a batting I just couldn't quilt with, although there have been some I prefer not to use.  When the quilt is finished, as long as the quilt is not lumpy or uneven in thickness, what's the harm? That is how most people see it, but don't you just want batting in your quilt?

Well, I want to show you a photo of packaged Warm & Natural 100% cotton batting.  I get this batting from time to time.  The batting often has little pieces of debris throughout it - little cotton plant sticks and branches.  I try to pick these out, but seriously, that is just not my job, and I just hate to think that a supplier is selling this crap.  The other thing I find offensive about this packaged batting is that it always has an odor - kind of like something burned in the process of making it.  Maybe it disappears when the quilt is washed, but I really don't like it.  The clients that use it generally say that they use it (1) because they think it is cheaper, and (2) that they purchase it at Joann's with a 40-50% off coupon.  Now, the W&N that is either purchased on an entire bolt or cut from a bolt seems to be better.  Before I had a business I bought their 40yd bolts, and never had problems.  It is primarily the packaged battings that are inferior.

I just want to show you that it's not worth the discount people think Joann's is offering.  I just did a quilt that was 77"x100" - a large twin, but too large for the 72"x90" twin or even the full-sized packaged batting.  I checked Joann's site and they charge $22.40 for a queen batt - and this is on their 50% off sale.  I stock a nice Hobbs 80/20 batting (shown below without any sticks & twigs, or funny smells), that would have run the client only $17.33.  I do buy wholesale, so that is why I can compete with local merchants on cost.

I supply batting to clients as a service.  I get no kickback from Hobbs to sell and use their batting.  I just do it because I like it.  This post is really to inform all of you that think buying the pre-packaged stuff when it is on sale is a good deal.  It's not - because the stuff is not very good batting.  Do you want your child or baby snuggling up with cotton plant debris?

Stars & Cables

First off, because our second favorite thing to read about on a quilt blog is food, here's the well-asked for recipe for the chocolate bourbon pecan pie I made for Turkey Day. Trust me, it's not for those of you counting calories, but it is so yummy.

I finished this quilt up earlier last week for a client. It's rather small, 43"x55". Bette accuracy would have come from paper piecing the stars, but she chose not to. From afar, the accuracy is somewhat of a mute point, as it is not really evident. But, she gave me a picture of how someone else had quilted it with large sweeping curves, and I found thisextremely difficult to implement neatly when star points were not always where they should have been.
Never the less, she was very happy with the end result. It is being made for her son, who is chairing a PTA raffle for a school out in Kansas. I used a second layer of a poly batt to give additional poof. I must stop buying these from Joann, however, because this Mountain Mist batting is just abismal. For all you quilters that love things on your quilts to "pop", invest in wool or use Hobbs polydown. The suff at Joann's is just plain disappointing. Cheap, yes. Not great though.

As the closeup show, the stars didn't puff nearly as much as I wanted. I used a cotton batting that the client brought as the bottom layer (and Warm & Natural is just too thin for my taste too). I quilted 2 different fillers in the sky background, and randomly chose a dozen or so stars to do microquilting on to highlight them (using the gold Glide thread). The effect of the gold was very evident on the back...

(and you can see the second filler that I used too) - line that follow the curves through the stars. Now, as a batting comparison, here's a picture of where I am on my quilt, which has a layer of Hobbs 80/20 and a layer of Legacy wool. Notice how the cable motifs pop. There's no saggy look there. Use of good batting most definitely does make a difference. Don't sacrifice here because you think it is on the inside of the quilt and won't matter. It most certainly does.
My cables are free-handed, and hence some of the longer lines are not as straight as I'd hoped for. I'll decide after this is off the machine if I need to pick out and straighten some of them. It's got pretty nice texture though :-)

Batting Battles

Over the last week, I have had the complete displeasure of working with battings that are outside my comfort zone. I typically use exclusively Warm & Natural or Hobbs Heierloom, which is very similar to the other one. I know as a longarm quilter, I will have to adjust to whatever the customer wants to use, but I don't have to like it! And, FYI...the photos that are in this post have nothing to do with it. They are just some of the quilts I have worked on recently.
It is a wonder to me how or why stores still sell mid-loft polyester batting anymore. I can see it's use in reappholstering furniture, but it is awful for quilts. I don't really think I like it for lofty quilts either. My tastes have been altered by actually doing the process of quilting the quilt. I greatly love sleeping under the loft of a down comforter, but when it comes to longarm quilting polyester, "No Thank You!". It is hard to keep the edges of the top pulled out where they belong. Fabrics slip around on the poly. And I have to readjust where I have come to know my tensions belong when I switch to this unnatural batting. I won't fault anyone that uses this batting. Afterall, poly batts are less expensive. They are just a pain to quilt.

above...Adrienne's 1st quilt "Batik Knots on Whites". It's not a "fluffy" as this picture indicates. Maybe it is just the swirly, cloud-like quilting that makes it look that way!

I also got to play with another batting. I am pretty sure it is a poly-cotton blend that Joann's sells in bags. I have most definitely used this batting, and in addition to that, I really like the batting in the finished piece. It is soft, thin and very pliable. BUT, this product is not carded. And by that, I mean, in it's construction process, it has not had "carding" which is done either with hot water or hot air jets, and is done to give a product strength. It forces crossing of top and middle and bottom fibers. This batting was a total pill to pull under the rollers of the longarm with out causing stretching and/or holes (and consequently much cursing too). As a general rule, I'd prefer to tell those wanting to longarm a quilt that a packaged batting is not ideal unless they want to press the batting, but this batting just adds further dimension to that thought.

Above...Adrienne's 2nd quilt - bright & Black Sampler. I just love the color & variety of this quilt. It was a total joy to quilt. Though much of it is just a colorful stipple in variagated thread, some of the individual blocks are pretty interesting too.

My 3rd batting experience was very likely from a customer that brought her own Warm & Natural. It had been folded in a bag rather than on a bolt, as I keep them. I had to constantly massage that quilt to rid the batting of it's wrinkles. It was a pain, but at least the batting held together!

I am anxiously awaiting quilting a couple more pretties sent to me from Patty in Florida this weekend (and using my own batting too). I have about 6 quilts waiting in my queue before I have to go looking for more business or tackle one of my own.

above...red & white bearpaws. This is such a fun quilt. And I really hemmed & hawed over how to quilt it until the owner told me that she likes feathers and curves. Then it was clear. The back has the most awesome lobster fabric on it too!

And I have awesome news!...Last night I sold my first quilt from my Etsy store. I swear I was about to abandon that store and the notion that anything was ever going to sell (resign myself to resorting to the holiday fair circuit to rid myself of half a dozen nice quilts). Now there is hope, I think that maybe more could sell before Christmas.