100% Cotton Batting Compared: Warm & Natural, Quilters Dream, Hobbs Heirloom, Pellon, and Tuscany

Table of Contents

• Why Quilters Still Choose 100% Cotton
• Scrim, Loft, and Bleach: The Three Things That Separate Cottons
• The Contenders
  • Warm & Natural, Warm & White, Warm 100, Warm & Plush
  • Quilters Dream Cotton: Request, Select, Deluxe, Supreme
  • Hobbs Heirloom Cotton and Tuscany Cotton
  • Pellon Cotton with Scrim
  • Bliss, Katahdin, and Quilters Select
• Side-by-Side Comparison
• Queen Package and Roll Prices
• Which Cotton Batting Should You Buy?
• Frequently Asked Questions

Last Updated: October 11, 2026

Why Quilters Still Choose 100% Cotton

Cotton is the batting quilts were made with for two hundred years, and it is still what most people picture when they imagine a quilt that has been washed a hundred times: soft, flat, slightly crinkled, cool in summer and warm enough in winter. It breathes, it takes dye evenly if you ever need to tea-stain a repair, and it gets better with age rather than worse.

Linda's carries more than 80 cotton batting listings across The Warm Company, Quilters Dream, Hobbs, Pellon, Bliss, Brewer's Katahdin, and Quilters Select. This is the third post in our batting series, and it does for cotton what the 80/20 comparison did for blends: puts every one on the table, with the construction details that actually change how they quilt and the prices as they stand today.

Scrim, Loft, and Bleach: The Three Things That Separate Cottons

Scrim. Most cotton battings are needle-punched onto a thin polyester scrim, which is why Warm & Natural can be quilted 10 inches apart and Pellon cotton 8 inches apart without shifting. Scrim also makes a batting stable enough to load on a longarm without stretching. A few cottons leave the scrim out, which gives a softer drape and keeps the batting truly all-natural: Quilters Dream Cotton, Warm & Plush, and Warm 100 (which uses a cotton scrim instead of polyester). The tradeoff is closer stitch spacing on some of them.

Loft. Cotton compresses, so loft is mostly about weight. Quilters Dream sells the same cotton in four weights: Request (thinnest, about 1/8 inch), Select, Deluxe, and Supreme (heaviest). Warm & Natural and Hobbs Heirloom Cotton sit near Select. Warm & Plush and Tuscany Supreme are the heavyweights. Brewer's Katahdin is labeled by season: Summer 3oz and Autumn 4oz.

Bleached or natural. Natural cotton keeps the tiny brown cotton-seed flecks that can show through white fabric. Bleached versions, such as Warm & White, Quilters Dream White, Pellon White, and Hobbs Linda's Choice, remove them. Bleaching does not change how the batting quilts, only how it looks behind pale fabric.

The Contenders

Warm & Natural, Warm & White, Warm 100, Warm & Plush

Warm & Natural is the cotton most American quilters learned on. It is needle-punched through a thin polymer scrim, which makes it tough enough to quilt up to 10 inches apart and nearly impossible to tear on a frame. Shrinkage is about 3% and it is not meant to be prewashed. Packages run $9.06 (baby) to $46.45 (king). Warm & White is the bleached version at $10.76 to $61.74. Warm 100 swaps the polyester scrim for a cotton one, so it is 100% cotton all the way through, in twin ($30.59) to king ($57.21). Warm & Plush drops the scrim entirely for a thicker, softer loft; baby is $11.32 and queen $36.82.

Quilters Dream Cotton: Request, Select, Deluxe, Supreme

Quilters Dream is the only brand that lets you pick a cotton by weight. All four lofts are needle-punched with no scrim, resins, or binders, can be quilted up to 8 inches apart, and shrink about 3%. Request is the thinnest and least expensive ($6.04 craft, $24.19 queen); it is the right cotton for wall hangings and anyone who wants a flat, light quilt. Select is the mid-weight that fits most bed quilts ($7.69 to $47.84). Deluxe adds body and warmth ($10.19 to $67.97), and Supreme is the heaviest cotton on the wall, for quilters who want weight without polyester ($11.54 craft, $55.54 queen). Request and Select also come bleached as Request White and Select White, and every loft is available in 60-, 93-, and 120-inch rolls.

Hobbs Heirloom Cotton and Tuscany Cotton

Hobbs Heirloom 100% Cotton with Scrim is the all-cotton sibling of the 80/20 most longarmers already use: needle-punched on a light scrim, quilted up to 4 inches apart, about 3% shrinkage, and sold in packages ($7.36 craft, $24.35 queen, $38.52 king) plus 96-inch ($240.16) and 120-inch ($281.41) rolls. Linda's Choice is a bleached 108-inch Heirloom cotton roll Hobbs makes for us ($249.99), designed for show quilts where white fabric meets dense quilting.

Tuscany is Hobbs's premium line. Tuscany Unbleached Cotton ($10.99 crib to $30.24 queen) and Tuscany Bleached Cotton are finer, softer cottons with a smoother hand than Heirloom, and Tuscany Supreme ($39.59 queen) is the heavyweight for quilters who want a cotton with real presence.

Pellon Cotton with Scrim

Pellon Natural Cotton with Scrim is the budget cotton, and it is a perfectly good one: needle-punched on scrim, rated for stitching up to 8 inches apart, 3% to 5% shrinkage. Packages run $9.50 (craft) to $33.50 (king), the White version is a few dollars more, and the 90-inch by 40-yard roll at $245.83 is the cheapest cotton per yard at Linda's. Pellon also makes a Soy/Cotton blend that is softer and drapier than its straight cotton.

Bliss, Katahdin, and Quilters Select

Bliss 100% Cotton comes in standard packages plus a useful Throw Plus (60 by 72) size; it is not part of Linda's batting discount, so it prices above Warm & Natural. Katahdin is Brewer's house cotton, sold by season: Summer 3oz is a light, flat cotton for warm climates, and Autumn 4oz adds weight. Quilters Select Perfect Cotton is the Floriani system's cotton, in oversized pre-cuts and a 122-inch roll, at the top of the price range.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Stitch-spacing and shrinkage figures are the manufacturers' published ratings. Prices are Linda's current prices as of October 2026.

Queen Package and Roll Prices

For longarm studios running cotton, the Hobbs Heirloom 96-inch roll at about $8 a yard and the Pellon 40-yard roll at about $6 a yard are the two to compare. The Pellon is lighter and shrinks a little more; the Hobbs is the one that behaves exactly like the 80/20 you already know.

Shop all cotton batting at Linda's →

Which Cotton Batting Should You Buy?

Choose Warm & Natural if:

• You are learning to quilt and want the most forgiving batting on the wall
• You tie quilts or quilt sparsely (up to 10 inches apart)
• You want the classic crinkled, washed-in look

Choose Quilters Dream Select Cotton if:

• You want no scrim, resins, or binders
• You quilt on a domestic machine and want a batting that feeds smoothly
• You like being able to step up to Deluxe or down to Request for the next project

Choose Quilters Dream Request if:

• You make wall hangings, table runners, or quilts for hot climates
• You want the flattest, lightest cotton available

Choose Hobbs Heirloom Cotton or Linda's Choice if:

• You longarm and want an all-cotton that loads and behaves like Heirloom 80/20
• You are making a show quilt with dense quilting on white fabric

Choose Pellon Cotton with Scrim if:

• You make charity or group quilts and price per yard decides
• You want a light cotton and do not mind a little more shrinkage

Choose Warm & Plush, Dream Deluxe, or Tuscany Supreme if:

• You want a heavier, warmer quilt without adding polyester or wool
• You want more texture from your quilting than a thin cotton gives