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hand quilting and cotton batting

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:15 am
by SewSew
I just have a question for those hand quilters out there.

I was at JoAnn's not to long ago and a lady said that you could not use 100% cotton batting for hand quilting. She said that it was too hard to get the needle through. I have never heard of this before, I mean, if that is the case then how did my grandmother do it. This lady said that it had to be the 80/20 batting only.

Is this true? I always thought that cotton batting was the best for hand quilting.

Ann

Re: hand quilting and cotton batting

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 7:20 am
by mic-pa
I hand quilt with Warm and Natural batting all the time. It is slightly more difficult to needle than the other battings but thats what I prefer. there are no rules. Try them all and see what suits you best. Marge

Re: hand quilting and cotton batting

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 9:36 am
by SewSew
Thanks Marge. I don't really hand quilt anymore, but I had never thought that it was that difficult to work with. I have always used a leather thimble with the metal disc on it so I guess that is why it never bothered me. Another customer was asking me what I thought and I told her I thought it was fine, then this other lady piped in about how I was wrong and that it was too difficult to work with.

I guess like everything it is just a matter of taste.

Ann

Re: hand quilting and cotton batting

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:47 pm
by Cathy32078
LOL As I keep being told, There is No Such Thing As A Quilt Police. LOL Thank Goodness!!!! LOL I have used 100% cotton and had no trouble. I've used Warm & Natural and had no trouble. I love Wool and I love Bamboo. Until I had handled it a lot and got is kind of broken in, I felt that the Warm & Natural was the hardest to needle but it really wasn't all that bad. Maybe Cotton was difficult for her for some reason though, where you or I wouldn't have a problem?

Hugs

Re: hand quilting and cotton batting

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:51 am
by Joannequilts
I always use cotton batting now. I see no problem with it!
The blend is nice, but I like the idea of all cotton.

The polyester seems to make a quilt that makes me sweat...cotton breathes more. It seems like I read somewhere that when polyester burns, it melts - I quit using it, especially for baby quilts. Cotton just "puffffeeees" out when you put a match to it. If that is not right, someone please let me know.

Years ago I used some polyester and it was easy to hand quilt, though. I just don't like it.