In today’s blog post, I would like to share with you my experience with wool wadding/batting Quilters Dream Wool. Maybe this is not the right time to write about wool. Here in Spain we have full summer with high temperatures; over the weekend we had nearly 40°C.
I have used wool wadding for the first time in my two levitating jewel box quilts with Liberty London fabrics – see blog posts here and here.
What I found out is that wool wadding doesn’t crease or fold. A big plus in my eyes. When I took the king-size wadding out of the packaging and I rolled it open, it was flat in a moment with no visible folds. I could cut the wool wadding exactly to the size needed having no problems. The wadding didn’t move on the quilt backing, and this made cutting it with scissors very easy.
Also pin basting the quilt sandwich was quick. Even-though the wool wadding has a higher loft than cotton; the pins went through the three layers smoothly. Once more, the wool wadding was stable, flat and did not move.
Because of the higher loft of the wool wadding I could easily mark my quilting lines with a Hera marker and a long ruler. The marked lines were perfectly visible.
My experience with quilting wool wadding is positive. At the beginning, I was afraid of the high loft. Will my sewing machine manage it? But because the wool wadding is so soft, I had no problems so ever with quilting. I have used the standard Bernina walking foot, Aurifil Cotton Mako 40/2 thread and 90/12 jeans sewing needles.
On the contrary : the wadding did not move between the layers, no shifting or creasing. Over all I am satisfied with the result and I know, I shall use wool wadding for my future quilting projects.
I have washed the quilts with the wool wadding several times in the washing machine (using a special program for wool with low temperature and a detergent for delicate fibres). No creases, no folds, the quilts dried quickly.
My opinion about wool wadding :
- warm and breathable, perfectly warm in the winter, cool in the summer
- soft drape, resists folds and creases
- lighter compared with cotton
- sustainable and renewal natural fibre, environment friendly
- machine washable
- suitable for both hand and machine quilting
Do you have any experience (good or bad) with wool wadding, please let me know!
Happy quilting!
barbora 
skalabara quilts 
Great post! I’ve never used wool batting – I live in Florida and thought wool would be too heavy. I will be starting a project for my grand daughter soon and will give wool a try. Thanks for sharing your tips!
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Yes, give it a try. I am happy I did!
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I second every positive thing you wrote about wool batting. I have found that different brands have different thicknesses, so you need to decide how thick you want your quilt – a comforter calls for thicker than a wall hanging. If you enter quilts in shows wool batting will show off your hard work better than cotton that wrinkles.
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Joanna, thanks for your comment. I use especially for the cushion covers the thinnest cotton wadding I can get. So the thickness of the wool wadding left me surprised. Thanks for the tip about different brands. I shall carry on and try the diverse fiber type waddings.
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This is awesome, Barbora. I’ve used wool batting on one quilt and it has been great. I’ve washed it only about twice in cold water. It does shrink a bit with each wash – but probably not as much as cotton. I do love the crinkly look, so it’s not a problem for me.
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Vasudha, thanks for your comment! Now that I can compare the wool and cotton wadding, I like the wool one. Up to now I have been using cotton, cotton blend or cotton-bamboo waddings. But for the future, I want to try out other wadding fibres, including polyester.
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