many tied quilts are tied with either yarn or perle cotton (embroidery floss) a good tight double square knot will hold up for many many years of use
without batting being a factor often quilts are tied in about a 4" grid- (about the size of your fist between each tie)
if batting is used try to choose one that says on the package- good for tied quilts- then follow the guidelines for distance- closer is ok- (like if it says can be quilted up to 10" apart- it's fine to tie closer-like using the 4" basic) but if the batting says quilt every 4" don't space ties 9" apart- it won't hold up.
minkee is quite warm so works fine without batting- but it is not the easiest fabric to hand push a needle through-