Durability of a Tied Quilt
 

I love tieing a quilt, versus having to quilt the whole thing by machine. (I don't ever go with hand quilting.) I've done several tied quilts over the years. Unfortunately, I am now having to repair a few. The seams are fraying here and there. It's not hard work to repair them, but I think that this problem would not have happened if the quilts had been quilted instead of tied. The tied quilt top is allowed to move around a bit more, expecially when washing it. The next time that I make a tied quilt, I'll plan ahead and take a slightly wider seam allowance and perhaps not make a tied quilt that has a lot of diagonals. Any other suggestions?

~ C

I thought of using a blanket as batting, as it won't shift. Many are available in thrift stores in the summer. Once it's washed and dried, it will be sanitized.

bkay

It might help if your ties were closer together?

Similar to the blanket idea, it is helpful to use a stable batting. The most stable is batting that is needlepunched through scrim, such as Warm and Natural. The next most stable is needlepunched batting without scrim, such as Quilters Dream. The least stable are non-needlepunched, although even among those stability varies. Using a stable batting will reduce stress on seams.

The other thing that helps is spacing the ties closer together. This reduces stress on the fabric seams . Making deeper seam allowances and shortening the stitch length makes the seams stronger.

I have helped my neighbor tie her quilts. She ties them about 3-4 inches apart and where the seams intersect and on the seams cross wise.

I've tied several quilts, and they've been washed several times and have never had a problem with any seam fraying or other problems, have also used blankets sometimes, with never any problems, but I do tie about every 2".

Two questions you may want to consider ....

.... is the fabric causing the problem?
Perhaps it is too fragile and a wider seam allowance would not resolve the issues.

.... is your seam opening up, to create the problem?
Perhaps a shorter stitch on the seams would "batten the hatches", so as not to open up for the fabric edges to have the added exposure for fraying.

It probably isn't the fabric, but the closeness of the ties. The only downside of tied quilts is when washed the three layers shift, putting a lot of strain in the tied spots. I know this because I've inheiret damaged tied quilts. Set ties no farther than three finger widths. Tied quilts are lovely, never apologise for tying ;)

I love tied quilts and they are so comfy. I do think you are right about the wear and tear. Be sure to tie slightly apart, as in when doing the tie do not come back through the same hole. Keeping a wider space makes it stronger. Also increasing the number of ties makes it stronger. Have you considered putting in some primitive quilting with big stitches? You use a heavier crochet thread or can spend some more and get some fancy thread from a quilt store. I seldom tie but I agree with the above poster, tied quilts are lovely. They are also the warmest and some of the most sought after quilts at my house. I have a long arm so not many of my quilts are tied but I do love them. At times I even add some bright red ties to a quilt even though it is already quilted the normal way. Please post some pictures of your quilt. It sounds like your tied quilts are well loved and that is why maybe they need some repair.

OK the correct term is big stitch hand quilting. Sew beautiful!

https://www.google.com/search?biw=11....0._WaMHi0dJq4

It basically looks like a running stitch. I think I will let my 11 yr old do this on her next little quilt. Too cute! The less perfect the better. I will let her add some ties too if she wants.