Hi Jo Ann, I’ve only made one alpaca quilt and I gave it away to a friend who was ill (and has since died), so I can’t check up on how the quilt has worn and whether the batting bearded. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt. However, the experience of working with alpaca made me think I would want to enclose the batting in some kind of lightweight shell before layering and quilting with it. Maybe a “pillowcase” of some lightweight nonwoven interfacing? Thin muslin? I’m not sure. The batting I used was definitely challenging to keep from flying all over the sewing room. On the plus side, there’s nothing lighter, softer, and warmer than alpaca, so I hope you will make something with it. Best of luck!
Christine

Hi Tammy,

I’ve only made one alpaca quilt and I gave it to a friend instead of keeping it and using it, so I don’t have a personal experience of bearding. I think washing the quilt with a little mild agitation might felt the fibers together a bit, but alpaca wool doesn’t have the same barbed hairs that sheep wool does, so I don’t know if that would work. There’s also a danger of shrinking the batting that way. If you really like the quilt, taking it apart and adding a thin liner might be worth the effort. This is a decision I don’t envy you. If it were me, I think I would add a lining before doing anything else. Good luck with it!
Christine