LivelyLady

Cotton batting is horrible for hand quilting.....I learned the hard way too. But I like cotton batting the best for machine quilting.

Borntohandquilt

I think this depends of the brand you have. I used different brands of pure cotton (Hobbs, Tuscany, Legacy, Quilter's Dream) and they were wonderful to needle and to hand quilt. Battings with a scrim are much harder to hand quilt.

LivelyLady

you didn't list the one I used.....Warm & Natural...so that may have been the problem. I'll try the brands you listed next time.

suebee

what is a scrim? ive never heard that before. Thank you :)

suebee

My HQ instructor told me that W&N is very dense, hence the reason for her not ever using when handquilting.

Borntohandquilt

A scrim is a very light textile made of cotton or synthetic fibres like polypropylene. Scrim battings are needled through this stabilizer to make it stronger and to prevent bearding. You can quilt it in bigger distances up to 10 or more inches.
Warm & Natural is needlepunched with such a material, therefore for many quilters is harder to needle than others like mentioned above.

suebee

Thank you very much for answering.

mayday

I SADLY agree, tried warm natural several times and although prefer it's makeup it resists the needle quite badly causing irregular stitches, SO have returned to poly ,which gives a nicer loft

mayday

what is needle oil and where do I buy it plse?