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How to Quilt>Bamboo Batting for Quilts Bamboo Batting
As more quilters concern themselves with going “green” in their daily lives, the consideration eventually turns to quilting. How can you make your quilting a little greener?
Judy Novella from Fairfield Processing, a batting and stuffing company, recently discussed bamboo options released by the company for which she works. Fairfield’s bamboo batting is a blend of 50 percent bamboo and 50 percent organic cotton. The 50/50 blend gives quilters the best of both worlds. It combines the nice antibacterial properties and the silky softness of bamboo with the characteristics quilters desire in the natural cotton, Judy said. If you decide to try bamboo batting, be ready for a couple of pleasant surprises. For one, bamboo produces less lint than cotton batting does. If you are accustomed to machine quilting with cotton batting, you know how your bobbin fills with lint and must be cleaned out. Bamboo fibers are longer so fewer ends break off during sewing. That means less lint in your bobbin. Bamboo also offers a little more loft than cotton. “When you quilt with it (cotton), you don’t get a lot of relief,” Judy said. Bamboo is different, she added. “Bamboo has a little more loft for more definition, the same definition you might get through thread painting or heavy quilting,” she said. Judy says Fairfield is marketing their bamboo batting primarily as a machine quilt batting. The scrim, or thin interfacing on the batting, might be more resistant to hand quilting. She has heard some hand quilters say they love it, though, so it is really a matter of personal preference. Bamboo is becoming more popular in textiles like fabrics, battings and threads because it is a sustainable resource. Bamboo grows back quickly once harvested and does not require much effort in the way of growing. It can be grown anywhere except Antarctica and it is naturally pest resistant while growing. That means no chemical pesticides need to be used on it. It is so hearty that bamboo doesn’t even require fertilizing during its growth. Bamboo also offers natural antibacterial properties not found in cotton. There are also properties in the bamboo that make it resistant to pests as it grows. Those properties remain with the bamboo throughout the manufacturing process. The bamboo battings and fabrics are great for quilting projects because they breathe yet offer thermal characteristics. Another reason for bamboo’s growing popularity is its soft, silky feel. It’s much softer than cotton and offers some water wicking as well. If you decide to quilt with a bamboo and cotton blended batting, Judy says to treat it as you would cotton batting. If you don’t want the batting to shrink, you will want to presoak it first. Fairfield’s 50/50 blend bamboo batting will shrink the same amount that cotton would due to its infusion with organic cotton. She said the batting will shrink 2 to 3 percent. Judy recommends laying the wet batting flat to allow it to dry. This means you will need to allow plenty of time for it to thoroughly dry before stitching it into your quilt. She says she does not recommend tossing the batting in the washer and dryer because batting is not designed to be a blanket. The scrim on their bamboo blend batting helps keep it together, but there is no guarantee that batting will hold together during a wash and dry cycle alone. It is intended to be layered between fabrics. If you do wash and dry your batting by machine, Judy recommends using a gently wash cycle with no agitation and the lowest heat possible in the dryer.
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren www.How-to-Quilt.com
©2009-10, Penny Halgren This article courtesy of http://www.How-To-Quilt.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
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