Today I will be reviewing a (clutch the pearls) part polyester batting. I am a cotton snob. I'm going to admit it. I'm from Alabama, y'all...I drove through cotton flats as a child and lived near a gin! I love my cotton batting! After talking to a few long arm quilters who loved their 80/20 blends, I decided I would try this batting out for y'all and report back with my findings.
The window test...they both look very similar when held up to the light.
Warm & White on the left, Hobbs 80/20 on the right.
These actually look VERY similar to me. The difference was in the feel. The Warm & White felt better...less nubby. The Hobbs was much lighter in weight, though. This is neither good nor bad...just different. Some people love sleeping under heavy blankets, some like sleeping under light. The long arm quilter I spoke to claims that Hobbs keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I have never been through a winter with my new Hobbs batting quilt, so I cannot personally attest to this. It seems counter-intuitive since cotton breathes better than polyester.
The stretch test. I stretched these out of square and was surprised to find the Hobbs held up well. I don't think it regained the square shape quite as well as the warm, but it performed admirably.
The price:
Hobbs is only sold by the package at my local store. I hate packaged batts because they have more wrinkles and crinkles and are more of a pain to baste with.
Queen Size 108x90" $19.99
I used a 40 percent coupon to make it $12, but it often goes on sale for 50 percent off.
Warm and White (12.99/yard) 90" wide at 108"= $38.97
I would NEVER buy without a 40% coupon! This comes out to $23.38
$12 vs $23.38. That's almost double the price for the queen size. It's the difference of almost $4/yard
I made a bunch of placemats...some had Warm & White, some had Hobbs. These plates were completely inspired by Lori Holt's Vintage Dishes Pattern. I plan on buying the pattern for myself as Christmas gift to make a huge American Jane Dishes quilt...All I had time for now was plates, though!
Warm on left, Hobbs on right. The hobb's was slightly bigger after washing as you can tell.
This is the Warm batting.
Hobbs Frankebatting (serged together)
Warm & Natural, pieced frankenbatting
Warm and Natural, unpieced (not frankenbatting)
Warm & White, pieced frankenbatting. It has a weird fold...I need to rewash/dry flat.
Warm batting
As you can see, size wise and crinkle wise, these all performed well. I am super impressed with the Hobbs for the price. If I had my druthers, I'd quilt with Warm still. Unfortunately, at double the price, I can make only half as many quilts. Do you know what that means?
We have a new champ! I can't believe it myself, but I'm switching over to Hobbs 80/20. I just quilt too much to be able to afford the Warm and Natural any more knowing there is a good alternative. It will be more challenging basting with the Hobbs, but I will probably save hundreds over the course of a lifetime in quilting.
Have you quilted with Hobbs? Do you have another favorite batting? Is there a batting battle you'd like to suggest? Tell me in the comments!
These actually look VERY similar to me. The difference was in the feel. The Warm & White felt better...less nubby. The Hobbs was much lighter in weight, though. This is neither good nor bad...just different. Some people love sleeping under heavy blankets, some like sleeping under light. The long arm quilter I spoke to claims that Hobbs keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I have never been through a winter with my new Hobbs batting quilt, so I cannot personally attest to this. It seems counter-intuitive since cotton breathes better than polyester.
The price:
Hobbs is only sold by the package at my local store. I hate packaged batts because they have more wrinkles and crinkles and are more of a pain to baste with.
Queen Size 108x90" $19.99
I used a 40 percent coupon to make it $12, but it often goes on sale for 50 percent off.
Warm and White (12.99/yard) 90" wide at 108"= $38.97
I would NEVER buy without a 40% coupon! This comes out to $23.38
$12 vs $23.38. That's almost double the price for the queen size. It's the difference of almost $4/yard
I made a bunch of placemats...some had Warm & White, some had Hobbs. These plates were completely inspired by Lori Holt's Vintage Dishes Pattern. I plan on buying the pattern for myself as Christmas gift to make a huge American Jane Dishes quilt...All I had time for now was plates, though!
As you can see, size wise and crinkle wise, these all performed well. I am super impressed with the Hobbs for the price. If I had my druthers, I'd quilt with Warm still. Unfortunately, at double the price, I can make only half as many quilts. Do you know what that means?
We have a new champ! I can't believe it myself, but I'm switching over to Hobbs 80/20. I just quilt too much to be able to afford the Warm and Natural any more knowing there is a good alternative. It will be more challenging basting with the Hobbs, but I will probably save hundreds over the course of a lifetime in quilting.
Have you quilted with Hobbs? Do you have another favorite batting? Is there a batting battle you'd like to suggest? Tell me in the comments!
