I did this quilt over the long Christmas weekend this past December. It was for my co-worker's little boy and just for fun for me to learn. He carries it everywhere with him and has a special hanger in his room for it so he can watch it while he plays.
The ties are done with yarn and I used a high loft batting. Obviously, I'm a beginner and you old timers are probably laughing your heads off. I learned though :D I won't try that again. It took my fingers a week to feel normal again! Yarn again, maybe, but never with high loft batting and tight cotton fabric.
I also learned how laying it out first might have made it look a little less color heavy in spots.