I am new to quilting and am making my first baby quilt for my niece. I am doing the card trick blocks and putting a border around each block and also a border around the whole quilt. I was thinking about tieing it instead of paying to have it quilted. Does anyone have any hints that will help with this? Like I said I'm new to this and would appreciate any and all help.
Thanks

I usually use embroidery floss to tie my baby quilts. You could tie in the centers of your borders. Elaine

If you tie in the centers of the blocks, it will hide any mismatched points, not that I ever need to do that. Mine are perfect. Right :roll:. I use crochet thread doubled and a needle with an eye big enough to pull the thread through easily. Tie a square knot and then another knot for good measure, and tie them all before I cut them. Saves lots of time.

Hi, welcome to quilting. I read somewhere that because baby quilts will probably be washed more than others, it might be preferrable to tie. I tied the 2 baby quilts I made, with embroidery floss like Purple Passion suggested, and they turned out great. I thought floss was easier to match to the colors of the quilt. I used 6 strands.The parents of the babies were very happy with them. Good luck and stay in touch.
Julie

Thanks for the great hints. I'll try and post a picture when I'm done.

I work with a group of ladies that make Prayer Quilts. We use a double strand "perle cotton" No. 5 thread to hold our quilt "sandwich" together. Starting on top we go straight down thru all layers leaving 2"-3" tail on top, make one stitch coming back up thru all layers,then repeat in the same holes ending with beginning and ending tails on top. Tie as Norah mentioned.We space our ties about 6" apart or the distance from your thumb to your pinky finger across the palm (we don't usually have a ruler but always a hand available) :wink:
We tried using crochet thread but it had to be "tugged" thru the layers of some fabrics and batting (it was too heavy or thick). The perle cotton seemed to work the best. It is a little more expensive than some embroidery thread but on rare occasion Hobby Lobby and Hancock's have it on sale. No use putting something together inexpensively only to have it fall apart with use.

My mom made some cheater baby blankets for my sons several yrs ago using pre-quilted fabric and flannel then tied with yarn. The yarn didn't stand up too well to the constant washings they required.

I hope some of this message is helpful. Sometimes I get going and can't stop "talking". LOL

What I am talking about is about the same weight, I think. The tugging problem for me was the needle being too small. I hope you don't think I was talking about yarn. It doesn't work too good. Embroidery thread does come in a lot more colors, but does it not tangle up more?

One year, I made 12 full sized quilts and tied them all. Different things happened to them. Some tore where the yarn was tied. Some of the quilts were on a bed that was jumped on by the kids. No good, they tore. If you are going to tie the quilt, make sure to follow the batting's instructions on how close to tie. If the quilts are going to get a lot of use, I would stitch close to the ditch with the machine instead of tying. Just a thought..... Irena

If you want this to be an heirloom quilt, I would suggest quilting it rather than tying it. My father made me two baby quilts and tied them, 37 years later, the fabric is torn because of the usage and it being tied rather than quilted. There is no way for me to repair this because the fabric is old and I can not find the same type of pattern.

I made several "knee quilts" for my grandmother who had very bad arthritis. They were made with flannel and I tied them with dmc embroidery floss. After several washings, the floss started to break down and I had to re-tie them with yarn.

Thanks for all of the great info. I had not thought about it tearing or about all of the washing that especially a baby quilt will require. I think that I will either quilt it myself or hire someone else to quilt it.

Sorry not to have answered earlier, I've been digging out fabric for the BOMs. I have made many many baby quilts and some I've hand quilted, around the embroidered or appliqued pictures, etc. Some I've tied. What I've found that worked well was crochet thread, bedspread weight. Now maybe it's my Boy Scout Leader training but when I tie them with a square knot, they don't come undone. The trick is to NOT tie it to tightly. The normal wear and tear of use and washing will tear anything, including hand quilting if it's not done consistently and evenly throughout the project.

Hope you have fun and know that the baby is blessed to have your work to be wrapped in.
Sharon
ps I usually make my baby quilts a little bigger than the hang down on a crib mattress. I like to give the baby and toddler as long a use of it as possible. :wink: That way you may get a chance to see the baby adopt it for a favorite. :)

You can fix your broken quilt by NOT looking for the same fabric. Utilize what you have on hand. It will give the quilt character and a longer life. That way, you will always have your memories at hand. I have done this in the past and feel like it started another chapter in the quilt's history. Good Luck! :D

Hey - I taught knot tying to my Girl Scouts. One of my favorites is the 'Surgeon's Knot'. It starts with the proverbial - right over left - but you do this twice, THEN left over right once. Also, I find worsted wool yarn holds tighter and seems to wear forever. That is what I grew up on. It is true not to tie the knot too tightly, pulling the fabric which causes it to rip eventually. The above knot is super on packages also. -- Pat

I have a quilt (my second bed-sized quilt made) that I made in 1989. It is on my bed almost every day since and has been close to 18 years. It was tied with embroidery floss. I have no tears where the thread cut the fabric. I have tears where the cat jumped up and caught a claw, or somebody sat on it and then scrunched around and snapped the seamline, but no tears from tying it. The thing gets washed about once a month, tossed in the dryer, and then put back on the bed. It is starting to get ratty--not from it coming untied, but just looking a bit 'old' and worn. I should fold it gently and put it in the cedar chest for posterity, but I love the thing so much.

So, I think that whatever method you use can be effective. I really believe the better the fabric, the less chance one has of it tearing.

Anita

with a baby quilt that will be washed alot, it might be better to do a stitch in the ditch around your seams. It will hole together better that way. It isn't that hard and one needs to start somewhere.

I think it has to do with the fabric, the knots, the yarn, or cotton thread, how often washed and thread sewn with, cats dogs, kids and assorted people........I think these quilts were used and loved'''''''''''''could just pack them away.......but I love the soft comfort of an old quilt

great reply...and so creative!!! I've done this for many of my clients!!!

I agree about the fabric, yarn used, distance between ties, backing, batting, and the whole thing. A baby quilt will be washed a lot. I wash the old ratty one on my bed because we have a cat and a dog and I am allergic to the dog, and he is allergic to the cat.

The old ratty one was tied with a surgeon's knot using #8 perle cotton. The fabric was 100% calico. The backing was muslin. The batting was polyester, but I haven't a clue what weight it was. Remember, I was just learning then.

I love the softness of this quilt. It could be used as a 'cutter' for me to preserve some of it, and for me to keep a record of what I have used since I started quilting. I could also fix any torn seams, and then make a nap quilt out of it!! Gee, I just talked myself into doing that once I get the one I am making finished!!

Thanks, gals (and guys), for getting the creative juices going a bit faster.

Anita

How do I get the responses to my note? It shows that I have two messages but I do not know how to retreive them. Help!

Patricia, if you're talking about private messages, just click on it and it will open them up for you.

Patricia:

The messages shown are those that you have sent, not received.

Anita

When I tie a baby quilt, I do it on my sewing machine. My machine has a tie off feature built into the machine. I plan where I want to tie and then sew a small zig zag stitch with my stitch length set to zero. This way, there are no threads or ties for the baby to chew on and get into their mouth. It also is faster since you don't have to stop as often. Tonna McGee, Independence, Missouri.

Hi Tonna!

I had forgotten that little trick that I use, too! I don't have the tie-down on the machine, but a bartack works just as well. It is a bit faster than tying, but not a whole lot!

Welcome aboard!

Anita in Minnesota

Thanks for that great tip. I think that I might give that a try for this quilt. I like the idea that there will be no string for the baby to chew on. Thanks again. By the way I'm in Knob Noster Missouri just about 40 minutes away from you. It is nice to see someone so close on here.

may i ask what is a card trick block thanks dorothy from tenn

http://quilterscache.com/C/CardTrickBlock.html
If you go to this site it has a picture and the instructions for making the block. It also has hundreds of free patterens. It is one of my favorite sites for quilting.

I use those curved upholstering needles (ones with bigger eyes) and embroidery floss to tie my baby quilts. I made a big one for my nephew 3 years ago, and while my sister-in-law has had to re-tie it a couple of times, it has never torn or anything. It's hanging on his wall now, since he is too big for a playmat or a quilt that size. :)

Hi Mandy,

I use a curved needle also. Makes it easier to get through all three layers, I think.

Welcome to our little group.

Anita

What is a Prayer Quilt?

Hi Sandy, welcome to our group.

Google prayer quilts. You will find instructions, why they are made, etc. on dozens of websites.

Anita