I have recently started using Hobbs Heirloom Wool batting and absolutely love it. It is so light weight and needles beautifully wheter by hand or machine. I have to order it. Not to many people in Texas want wool. I also make sure there is not a wool Allergy in the recipient. I don't want it given back or tossed a side because some one can't breath or has a rash.

Thanks everyone, you are a wealth of info and frankly much faster than searching multiple websites!! This was not my question, but I popped in to see what everyone had to say. Very informative! Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Michelle, thank you for all the wonderful information! I'm currently quilting a twin-size quilt on my domestic sewing machine with Quilter's Dream wool batting and having a few issues of bearding. I love the texture and loft of the QD, though, so I'm glad to hear about looking for that scrim because I want to keep using it.

Michelle, you provided a great guide for a novice like me. Your information is saved in OneNote for me too (I happen to love Quilter's Dream batting, have a hard time going back to Warm and Natural now... )

Thank you so much, Michelle, for making this information so clear. I saved it to my OneNote, to rememner

Thanks everyone for all the information on wool battings. I think I will be looking for new wool batting at the Paducah show in April! I don't think I want to chance the Legacy batting I bought. Not on this quilt!!!

Margo wrote:
Well, I am not the 'Fountain of Info' like you are Margo... but I am pretty good at looking at websites for some info. Coupled with my 9 years of longarming, I know a bit about battings...

If anyone wants more info take a look at:

hobbsbondedfibers.com
quiltersdreambatting.com
pellonprojects.com

I have not measured them to compare, but I think the QD and Hobbs are similar - about 3/8" thick. QD might be a hair thicker than Hobbs. Both give great definition! I have not seen the Legacy wool in person.

The point of bonding or having a scrim is to prevent bearding and to keep the needle from punching the fibers through to the backing. I always put the scrim or bonded side down towards the backing. You want to needle to first penetrate the fibers and then meet the bonding or scrim which only lets the needle through, not the fibers. The Hobbs probably can be placed with either side down, because I believe the chemical is sprayed on and through it. QD is a bit fluffier and wispier on one side, and if you peel a corner of it, you can see that one side peels with lots of fluff and the other doesn't. The side that doesn't fluff peel is the side with the bonding, so lay that down. Sometimes you an actually see the super fine poly mesh like fibers that hold that side in. It almost looks like Misty Fuse. Much thinner than interfacing.

HTH!

Thank you Michelle!! Lots of great info!

Michelle, do they all have the same loft? Does it matter whether the bonded side is up or down?

Pellon calls their battings Legacy. Hobbs has an upline of battings called Tuscany. Hobbs Traditional line of battings is called Heirloom.

Hobbs wool is resin bonded to resist bearding and it will shrink in the first washing up to 3%. Hobbs Tuscany Wool is also resin bonded, but supposedly won't shrink when first washed (I assume this means it was prewashed when made.) Both of these can be quilted up to 4" apart. The resin bonding is a chemical bonding and what makes Hobbs battings feel sort of scratchy when you handle them.

One big difference in the two is that all Tuscany battings are folded into larger plastic packaging, so are less wrinkled and less compressed when taken out to use than the Heirloom battings which are rolled tightly and compressed to fit in smaller plastic bags. The wrinkles are hard to remove IMHO.

The Pellon website lists the Legacy Wool as also being bonded and washable and should not shrink unless it is washed in hot water and hot dryer. It does not specify the kind of bonding used, nor the distance for the maximum quilting.

Quilters Dream wool batting is prewashed and will not shrink. Their batting is thermal bonded, which does not use a chemical... it uses heat to bond the wool to a super thin poly layer on one side to prevent bearding. The result is a softer hand. It can be quilted up to 8" apart.

Personally, I am a fan of Quilters Dream battings, and buy their wool on the roll and use it for my customers and my own quilts. I have used Hobbs also and would not hesitate to use it if someone brought it to me. I have never used Legacy products.

suehenyon wrote:
Sue, I hope that Linda will come back and clarify that.

I think that "Legacy" is a trade name for Pellon.

Hobb's has a "Tuscany" washable wool batt. I use a lot of Hobb's washable wool but what I have is on a huge roll, and I don't know if it is "Tuscany" or if that is different from their plain Washable Wool.

Linda???

At the big quilt shows, do many sellers of batting sell sample blocks? I saw one in Lancaster, but didn't pay much attention. Next time I will. As I recall, they were about $1 for ~20 Inch square. It would be nice to have a bunch to compare without having to buy many bats at one time.

Just to confuse me, there is Pellon Legacy Wool, and a Hobbs Legacy Wool, correct?