Types of Batting

• There are three main types of batting available in the United States: wool, cotton and polyester. There are also some types that are a blend of cotton and polyester. These different battings must be approached differently. Batting that contains cotton may shrink, and so it is important to pre-wash the batting before you sew, or your quilt may become distorted when you wash it. Wool is generally the best type for hand quilting because it is easy to push a needle through and the lanolin in the fibers is good for your skin. Cotton is often dense and is better for machine quilting. Polyester and polyester blends can be used for either.
  
  

Preparing A Quilt

• When placing batting in a quilt, it is important for both the quilt and the batting to be as flat as possible. Spread out the back of the quilt over a large table or across a clean floor; a floor that doesn't have carpeting is best because carpet will "give" as you work. You may want to spray the quilt back with spray starch and iron it before putting the quilt together. This helps prevent wrinkles when you add the batting and makes the back move more smoothly on the sewing machine as you work. Cover the back with the batting. The batting should be several inches larger than the quilt, and you can cut off excess batting later. Then put the top of the quilt over the batting.
  
  

Pinning

• Once you have made your quilt and batting "sandwich," it is important to hold the batting in place so that it will not move as you sew. You can baste the quilt, but a simpler method is to pin the front, batting and back together with safety pins. Start in the middle of the quilt and work outward. Use enough pins that the pieces do not slide easily, but not so many that you distort the seams in the quilt top with your pins.
  
  

Joining Pieces

• If you make a very large quilt that is bigger than a single piece of batting or you want to join together smaller pieces of batting, it is possible to sew them together. Cut an edge on each piece that you want to join so that it is very straight, then push the two pieces together so that they meet but do not overlap. Sew along the seam between the two using a ladder stitch or a large zig-zag stitch on a sewing machine.