Where to tie?
 

I have a large quilt I'm getting ready to finish up and am now thinking about how far I should be tying. The quilt is 4" squares that alternate pattern square and solid white square. I only want to tie in the middle of the white squares. Do you think I can get away with it?

How close does your batting say that it needs to be tied/quilted?

ditto .... every batting has a maximum distance (in every direction) recommended for quilting.

Your blocks are 4". So, if you are doing the centre of alternate blocks that would mean 8" apart.
And would be further that 9" apart on the diagonal.

For a lot of battings that would be too far apart for their specs.

Check your batting for that distance, or choose one that would let you do it the way you want to.

On another note, typically the ties are put where seams meet,
for better stability and easier wear on your quilt.

My mom used to have some old quilts that were tied. As I remember, they were tied in the corners of the blocks across the seams.

I have one right now that I'm considering. I think I'm going to stitch in the ditch around the blocks and then tie the center of the block. The s-i-t-d will secure the blocks but the ties will be a decorative feature and go quicker than having to quilt the entirity. I have another on the bed that is tied in the corners and the center of the blocks.

I tie in the corners and in the middle of the blocks and sometimes, if the fabric has animals or dolls, as a little trim where appropriate. The more the better since there little quilts get a lot of abuse.

Yes, I've tied diagonally across the " + " where blocks meet. Can even do it both ways at each corner.

No — that will not be enough ties. It does not matter what the batting says you “can” do. If you want your quilt to hold up for any lenght of time and not sag, you must tie it closer than the center of each block. The “rule of thumb” is, your stitches or ties should not be farther than a fist width away from each other (Which is about 3” apart).

An idea for you to experiment on this is to make two quilts that are alike. Tie one as you have stated and tie the other one the fist width away. Then wash them several times. You will see the one that is tied farther apart will start to look sloppy and droopy. Perhaps you could do this and post the photos for everyone to see the difference. (I hope you can-I am unable to do it). :-)

Ellen

I only tie comforters. I always like every three or four inches.