I would not tie a quilt any farther apart than 3-4". I've owned store bought comforters from big box stores with ties 8-10" apart & after so many washes the thread breaks from the stress & the comforter's fill gets lumpy. It's not that much extra work to add more ties (don't break floss every time, just continue to next area & snip in the middle later) and the results are well worth it. Tying is less secure as is & then if tied far apart it's kind of asking for problems, in my experience.