Hand tying a quilt
 

I have two throws that need to be finished quickly. I usually hand quilt, but not doable because of time. I am thinking of hand tying. If the hand tying is secure and close together with durable thread/yarn, will the throw hold up to a lot of use and washing?

I have seen baby quilts tied with quality embroidery threads hold up to lots of washing, just make sure they are close enough for the batting. The cotton thread does not cut the fibers as some polyester yarn will.

If the quilts are not too large, you could also look at the invisible or international stitch, as shown here. It goes pretty quickly—a crib quilt took about 2 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkHht2oJsg

Or “big stitch” quilting. I used this one a quilt 10-15 years ago, and it is fine. Used perle cotton.
http://blog.sulky.com/big-stitch-qui...cotton-thread/

But to your question: if done with perle cotton, hand tying can last about forever. Yarn, don’t know.

My Grandma made me a tied quilt when I was 2. It stood up fine until university, when the backing fabric (a cheap sheet) started to give out. The ties were fine, and the quilt endured a lot of use.

Hi Genden - Over the years I have only hand tied one quilt - which I found to be something of a fiddly process. As far as I know the quilt held up to use and washing. I have machine tied a number of quilts when I was pressed for time or was using extra thick batting. It is very quick to do, and produces a durable, neat quilt. Just a few stitches up and back, placed at regular intervals is all it takes I think I have used a 3 inch grid, and probably a fluffy poly batt. Check your batting package for info on spacing. I am a hand quilter also.

A lot depends on your batting and how close the ties are. Warm and Natural is a very stable batting, so ties can be farther apart; however, it is hard to hand needle. It would be good for machine tying. For hand tying, I would consider Hobbs Polydown. The ties for that would need to be closer together, but the process of hand tying would be much easier.

Once you decide on a batting, be sure to make the ties close enough. Staggering the ties is a good idea, meaning if the first tow of ties is 4" apart, the next row should be 2" below and each tie positioned between the ties in the row above. Remember that ties need to be closer together than quilting lines because ties are holding the layers together in just one spot rather than in continuous lines.

I'd also make sure your knots are good ones. A square knot won't come undone - right tail over left, then left tail over right. :thumbup:

I am using wool batting. The pattern dictates ties 2 1/2” apart, but not staggered. Will this be a problem? I like the invisible stitch. Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I had not seen the invisible stitch before. I have used something similar—an X that looks quite nice, but I didn’t want a repeat of that.

I have a quilt my grandma made many, many years ago and it was tied with yarn. It is still looking good but I don't use it much.

I have a Christmas quilt that was tied in 1992 and is still going strong without having to be re-tied. It is only used 3 months out of the year. My daughter has one about that age also still going strong and she uses it a lot more. She doesn't have any children or animals so she only washes it about twice a year.