Silver Needle

If you are going to densely quilt I would not choose wool batting. I use Quilters Dream Wool when I want loft and warmth. If its quilted densely you will lose the look of the loft in your design. Also I think Quilters Dream wool shrinks the least of any wool batting.

Nilla

I'm still in the exploring and trying things out phase with my long arm, but I agree that if I do a more dense quilt pattern in the future, I'll probably try it with cotton. I do really like the look and feel of wool batting though, but I'll try it with a less dense quilting pattern.

feline fanatic

Here are some photos of a quilt with both dense and somewhat open quilting after washing. Batting was Fairfield 80/20 blend. IMHO the denser areas kept their definition much better than the open border areas.[ATTACH=CONFIG]424251[/ATTACH]

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The border which seemed to lose some of its definition after washing, this quilt was done early on when I first started quilting. Probably around my 10th quilt or so.

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carolynjo

To make a quilt look "old" , some quilters do not prewash fabrics and deliberately choose a batting that will shrink. They wash when finished and the entire quilt and batting shrink, giving it a crinkley look that they want.

PigglyWiggly

its the wool batting....doesn't wool knitting shrinks into felting....I would think wool batting needs to be prewashed, doesn't it?

DOTTYMO

Can you quilt that closely when the instructions say 4-10inches apart. Etc. ?

feline fanatic

Those recommendations mean that is the absolute least amount of quilting you can do for the batting to hold together and not migrate. So anything over that minimum is perfectly acceptable. Just depends on your tastes and what look you are trying to achieve.

debbiemarie

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I can hardly see the pattern of my FMQ, but it is still pretty. I prewashed the fabric and used high quality 100% cotton batting. This is my second quilt, I wouldn't FMQ so close together next time.

trolleystation

I am not a fan of dense quilting. I feel that the quilting should compliment the quilt and not over power it. Also, the densely quilted pieces I have seen are too stiff for my liking.

brendadawg

We must be neighbors -- I see the t-shirts referencing Newton Co, GA. I live in Rockdale Co.