I've made quite a few quilts with cotton flannel on the back and wool batting. They're very cozy. Since I preshrink everything before I start, there's never a problem with uneven shrinkage.

Back to the original question, which was about quilting thread. I have my PhD in Threadology from Dr. Bob, and I'm sure he would tell you the type of thread you use won't affect the longevity of your quilt . . . as long as you use good quality thread and good quality fabrics. Use what you think will look nice with the design.

OK, before I forget what I was going to say:
Rita--love your sense of humor.
Also, I have put both flannel and fleece backings on my quilts. If I use fleece, I don't use batting. Flannel definitely shrinks and fleece does stretch. I solve the stretching problem by basting with 505 spray and then I stitch in the ditch. That makes everything behave and then I can do whatever other stitching I want to do. I have not made a wool quilt but I would think that any thread would be OK. You might as Bob at Superior threads.

Reetzbobeetz wrote:
Good for you Rita, for getting it done early!! Can't wait to see some pictures of the quilting!

Lorchen, you give me hope. I am off to the fabric shop this morning to see what I can find! I am also sending my BOM Ruffled Roses to the long arm quilter in West Cork today - so exciting, she says that she will have it back to me before Christmas! Can't wait to see what happens with it.

Rita...in my experience..wool batting is a dream to quilt and also to sleep under !! I'm thinking that cotton flannel
needs to be pre-washed to shrink it ,and here in Idaho, I would be choosing "washable" wool..so that it would
not be so likely to shrink and/felt. As for thread, hard to beat cotton . Practice piece is a great idea !!
Bet your son will love it, no matter what !!

The nice thing about fleece: It doesn't fray.

I am a member of the 'throw it together, it'll somehow work' school of quilting, so fabrics rarely get pre-washed. But I make an exception for the cotton/fleece combo. I like that for baby quilts because it can take a lot of abuse and thrown on the floor. I piece the top in our usual quilting cottons. I then zig-zag around the edge and toss the top in the washing machine. When dry and pressed I back it with fleece, quilt, and bind with cotton. One of my earlier efforts is now on it's 4th toddler, used a lot, still going strong, and about to be handed to No. 5.

Well it's lovely and I am sure it was much easier to quilt it that way. I plan on trying that soon - it's on the to-do list for a block exchange I am doing with my quilting friends. Rita.

Yes I did the blocks and assembled them after quilting. It is a big quilt and pretty heavy, too

It's a lovely quilt Norma. Did you quilt it in blocks and then add the sashing? I think I will do a test like Margo suggested and see what happens. I would have to wash the quilt in a woolen wash anyway so I guess that would be pretty cool and not much of a spin. But I would wash the flannel first to preshrink it. Thanks, Rita.

I think I would use the flannel backing. It's not stretching as fleece will do, but I would definitely wash it first. I made my sons quilt with flannel backing and it went very well. The front is cotton, but I think the wool will behave almost like that. You can see the quilt in my profile photos. It's #1016160 and number 4 from the left under personal photos, where the back is shown

Margo, I have just read that article and thank you for that. So it's Quilters Dream from now on. I have only ever used cotton batting in my quilts. I have and do use polyester wadding sometimes for wall hangings - but I really don't like it and neither does my machine. But the article has made me think twice about putting fleece on the back of my wool quilt. (Even though my son is now a hulking 5'11" and growing.) I was planning on using wool batting which seems to be one of the more fire resistant ones which is good. Thanks, Rita.

Fleece and minky are two completely different fabrics. Minky has a definite nap, like velvet, that changes the way it looks from different directions, and it has a definite right/wrong side. Fleece is not as stretchy and I think it's a little easier to work with.

drunken-yes, naked -no way, they were clad in wool and wooden clogs before they started dancing in the firepit - well it was 1am, and they had had a busy day bashing up the roundheads followed by some heavy duty socialising I'm sure you've seen something similar (ok missing out the bashing up the roundheads bit )

By the way I think over the other side of the pond they call fleece, minky. It is lovely and soft, and warm, and if you know that it can stretch you can take avoiding action to countermand it before it is a nusiance (ie lots of pinning/tacking), rather than have it sneak up and surprise you, you never know if you don't try.

LMAO HERE!!!

On a serious note, you all might be interested in this article about choosing safe battings, especially for babies and/or invalids. It is in the current (Fall 2011) issue of ON TRACK magazine.

http://www.imqa.org/media/uploads/2011/11/17/files/BattingArticleFall2011_1.pdf

And, for what it's worth, a TQS Stars for a New Day BOM by Marlene Hiltner is featured on the cover of the magazine!