I have ties some of my quilts (thicker batting) and I have machine quilted (in the ditch) some of my quilts. I like the look of tied quilts for the puffiness of them. My grandmother used to make large quilts for her grandchildren when they got married and she would make smaller quilts whenever a baby was born. None of them were fancy quilts but they were super colorful with whatever fabric she had on hand, hand sewn using crochet thread, and tied with yarn.
I'm not sure what she used for batting but it was/still is heavy and it wasn't store bought batting. Many years ago my mother opened up one of my grandmother's quilts to see what was in it and it was an old wool coat that had been taken apart and pieced back together again to make the "filling" for the quilt. The quilts that she made for me and my children (in the early 1970's) are still going strong, are washed regularly and have even been used as picnic blankets, and (don't hit me now
)as beach blankets!! I have to plead ignorance about using them as beach blankets
but my sister-in-law did the same thing and she still has the quilts that my grandmother made for my brother and his children
