That was how my mother's mother did her quilts. She tied them at the intersections of the squares on the seams crosswise. Her quilts lasted a long time and were laundered frequently. I remember my mother having to re-tie some parts of them but I don't remember the seams coming apart. She used old blankets in her quilts as she didn't have money to buy batting.

About 20 years ago I made a tied quilt for my husband using polyester batting. After a lot of washing it's turned into a lumpy mess, with no batting in some places. It may have helped to tie it closer together, but I still think it would've gotten lumpy. He won't let me fix it as he loves it so much.

Also, consider putting the ties on the back if they will interrupt the design by being so close together.

I did 16 inch blocks king size quilt in 1991 and tied it. twice! once with embroidery thread that kept coming apart. removed all that and used yarn. It is still going strong!!

When I make my quilts especially the tied ones I make a 1/2 inch seam. My seams hold but I have had the ties disintegrate. I have never understood the 1/4 inch seam. I think I see lots of good suggestions above.
Lynda

I have 2 tied quilts that have been in constant use since the mid 70"s. A few of the knots have come untied, but they still keep us warm, and hold up to several washings a year. The binding wore out and had to be replaced on one of them.

Thank you to everyone for all of the great suggestions. These quilts that are coming apart and ones that are used daily and washed weekly. The get a lot of wear, to say the least. I guess that we love them too much. I'll probably put them away for awhile, once I have them repaired. I'm not having any problems with the ones that are used just occasionally.

I'm not having any issues with the ties, which were done with embroidery thread, every 4 inches. The batting is holding up well. (I think that I used cotton with a scrim...I can't remember.) Some of the fabrics that I used were vintage, so they may have frayed due to their age, but most were modern day quilting cottons. I will take the advice of using a larger seam allowance next time. I think that will help a great deal.

~ C

Quilt Tying
 

Have you tried using the international stitch for tying? I use crochet thread, doubled, and space the stitches about 3" apart. The one nice thing about this stitch is that you don't have to stop to make knots at each stitch. For more information about how to do this stitch, just google up "International Stitch", using the " " around the word.

I was always told to tie the knots about a 4-finger length apart. I just measured and that is 3". I used to tie quilts a long time ago and haven't had problems with my old quilts. Just keep the ties close. Good luck

The first quilt I ever made was an Eleanor Burns Log cabin and that was 32 years ago.....back in the day when you tore your strips instead of cutting them neatly. I used a polyester batting and I only tied them once in the center of each square with 6 strand embroidery floss. It has been used consistently since. The ties became loose and caused some tears where they had been inserted last year. I used same color iron on tape matching the center blocks, cut them in small circles and ironed them over each center and retied it and, I swear, it's as good as new and you would really have to know what you were looking for to see them.