Originally Posted by Greenheron
Before bonded batting, tied quilts were only possible if the filling was something other than batt: a worn out quilt, old blanket, flannel petticoats or stitched together rags. I'm sure desperate homemakers filled tied quilts with cornhusks, newspaper, whatever they could get hold of to keep the family warm during hard times. Remember, too, down comforts and feather beds.
Batts HAD to be quilted and closely otherwise they clumped. They(batts) were not practical tied then, as they can be today.
I think a tied quilt would be pretty with buttons fastened with the tying thread--haven't tried, though.
I don't know about that one. We had hand tied quilts back in the 1950s. The batts were made from wool. If the blanket got out of shape they just cut the knots, removed the batt from the covering and sent the batt to the woolen mill to be re-carded. Then the blanket was put back together or mended depending on how worn the cover was.