maviskw

I love tied quilts. Have made dozens and dozens. I also have machine tacked a few. Just found a spot and put a few stitches in, backwards and forwards two or three times. You are sewing over your beginning stitches this way and it's not going to come out. When you look at the quilt, you cannot see the tacks. Just soft and puffy and warm.

I also use wool ties. They just get tighter as they age.

A lady at our guild bought an old quilt and took it apart. Inside was another old quilt. Someone on this board said something about using old quilts as batt in new tops. With ties it was easy to take apart.

You have to be careful about the sewing, though. Bad sewing is more likely to come apart.

DonnaC

And this is why I have to come and visit the Board at least once a day - so many great ideas! I love the machine-tying method and will definitely try that one. I have a few quilts waiting to be quilted too.

AZ Jane

I've lived with tied quilts all my life (61) and have never had a tied quilt come apart. Perhaps it was the sewing, not the tying??

carolynjo

Tied would be fine for your crazy quilt. I would suggest that if you don't want the ties to show on the front, put the ties on the back and you would see only a "stitch" on the top and it would not interfere with the fancy stuff on the top.

w1613s

Oh, thank you all. I have been feeling like the "end of all people who think tied quilts are wonderful." A lot of the quilts I have been meeting "personally" have seemed like quilted cardboard. It seems reasonable to closely quilt if the object of the quilting is going to be used for a purpose which is supported by the close quilting. If it is to be used for cuddling up, keeping warm, and feeling loved, my pick is tied with really fat/puffy batting.

Happy Holidays, Pat

madamekelly

Perhaps it came apart because of what it was tied with? I have tied quite a few quilts and helped tie many more, and have found that if you use the cheaper acrylic yarns they seem to cut their way through the fabric as they are used and washed. Keep in mind that if you tie with anything not cotton or wool, you need to look for a softer feel, so it is less likely to do this. When you tie with cotton or wool, they will shrink some when washed so tie them just a little looser, so you get a nice look after the first washing. Grandma used to tie hers over a small crochet hook, then slide the hook out from under when she tied with wool, so it would stay nice when it was washed. The best thing about tying with wool is that it gets more secure with age as the wool fibers continue felt with age, leaving little fuzzy bits (usually in a complementary color that becomes part of the charm.)

lildinks2013

I use old blankets in between or fleece as it is warmer. i use just regular yarn whatever i have on hand. Im nto making quilts to sell . i make for family members and they want warmth. I dont buy batting as it falls apart after some washings. I get my old blankets at good will and remove any satin ribbon edging at teh top of the blanket. If you want wool, go to an army surplus store, they have lots of wool blankets that can be recycled into something beautiful. but i stay away from wool as im allergic to it. so teh fleece work for me or any old blanket tht could use a face lift. Then i tie it in the corners of each square or so. I have jsut finished a tied quilt and posted it.[ATTACH=CONFIG]452130[/ATTACH]

Lobster

Does anyone know a method of hand-tying quilts where the ties don't end up so obvious? I realise that most of the time that's the look people want to go for, but sometimes you want the other advantages of tying (copes with thick batting, quick and easy) without the look of it.

miriam

blame it on the featherweight???

MarleneC

On some baby quilts I used he machine and simple decorative stitches to "machine tie" them.