Instead of quilting quilts, some people "tie" their quilts. You thread a large needle with yarn, embroidery floss, perle cotton etc. and with your quilt laying on a flat surface, you go through the layer from the top, go under about 1/4 inch of the sandwich and back up to the top. Tie the 2 ends of the thread together in a double knot and clip the threads at about 1/2 inch long. These " ties" are made every 3 -4 inches over the surface of the quilt.