Is there research somewhere that says tied quilts don't last as long as machine quilted ones? What about hand-quilted? I would think hand-quilted quilts have the shortest lifespan, then machine quilted, then tied. The ties in the tied quilts my family has passed around for 50 years have outlasted the quilt. The only machine quilted ones that have survived were "special" and only brought out occasionally and washed once per year but still show as much wear as the tied baby quilts.