Hobbs Batting

Hobbs Tuscany 100% Wool- Review

Submitted by admin on Thu, 06/02/2011 - 16:04
HobbsTW72.jpg

Before layering my quilts I always wet ( NO AGITATION) , spin and then dry my batting in the dryer. 

A student of mine  folllowed this usual procedure before layering and the results were very strange.  The Tuscany Wool batting  came apart all over with  thinning spots throughout and a strange texturing of the batting. The edges  were no longer flat, but sort of curled up and rounded.

The Hobb's representative said the batting is essentially the same as the Heirloom version, yet I never had this experience.

So I experimented with another batting from my stock.  I opened the queen size batt. Place it in the washer tub and began to fill the tub with water, just enough to cover it, I gently pushed it down under the water. When is was all soaked I set the washer directly to spin.  At this point the batting is very dry. It came out of the washer in perfect condition.

The damp batting was placed in the dryer, set to medium heat , for about 3-4 minutes.   I folded some towels while I waited.  When I checked it out, although it was still damp it seemed fine.

So back in for another 3-4 minutes, more towels to fold and I waited.  This time something odd occured.  The batting  thinned in spots, but no holes.

Back in the dryer for a few more minutes. This time the top layer was coming apart here and there and some of the weird texturing that happened to my students batt was started to show.

I strongly  recommend  that this batting is not pre-washed and dryed.

 

Hobbs Batting - Battling Batting Questions

Submitted by admin on Sun, 07/25/2010 - 08:36
Hobbs Heirloom

 

There is so much more to batting than most quilters realize. 

For hand quilting, I have used many of the cotton batts and have not been happy with the results.  They often beard, which is when the fibers come through to the top while quilting.  They also make a mess as you are quilting, because the batting fibers that are not between the layers, but around the edges, tend to shred and get on the quilt top.  Another draw back is cotton batting can sometimes be more dense and therefore a bit more difficult to hand quilt through. 

Cotton/poly blends work very well! And my favorite is Hobb's Heirloom 80/20.  The cotton is thin and even and the poly portion allows you to needle easily through the layers. 

100% polyesters are great for wall hangings, quilted clothing and for getting tiny quilting stitches. 

I use Hobb's Wool Batting for most of my quilts.  I love this 100% wool batting!!!! Don't be scared off by wool. This batt washes very well and is so easy to quilt through.  It has a slightly higher loft, but that only enhances your quilting stitches.

A word on washing and shrinking battings.  I pre-"wash" all my batts before I put the layers of my quilt together.  I am not looking for an antiqued look for my quilts so I want all the shrinkage out of the batt, the same reason I wash all my fabrics.  You can read more about this in my blog post regarding pre-washing fabrics.

Please DON'T AGITATE THE BATT IN YOUR WASHER!!!!!  If you agitate the batting WILL FALL APART.  You won't make that mistake twice!  To pre-shrink your batting just fill your washer tub, insert opened batting, soak for a moment to wet and then just SPIN and dry in your dryer.   Now it is ready to use.

Scrim. Many batting are prepared with a substance called scrim sprayed on the outside.  This is intended to keep it from bearding.  This sticky, hair spray like covering is unneccesary  and unwanted for hand quilters.  It makes hand quilting more difficult, having to quilt through an added layer of chemicals.  I like to keep my quilts as natural as possible and  these chemicals have been shown to degrade and discolor fabrics over time. So always look for a no-scrim batting.  The ones I carry have no scrim.

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