When I tie a quilt, I like the puffy look of a polyester batt. I only tie smaller quilts and I use my QSnap floor frame to keep the quilt layers taut as I put in my rows of stitches. I use long lengths of Perle cotton thread and space the stitches 4 inches apart. I then cut between the stitches and that gives me 2 inch thread ends to tie a surgeons knot with. If you want fluffy ties, use yarn. I hope your shoulders continue to improve.