Distance of quilting advice needed
 

I just finished layering a queen size quilt with batting that recommended quilting or tacking no further than 5" apart. The quilt I made was a jelly bean pattern (the picture is an example). I tacked in the center of each small square and they are 5 inches apart....... however, if you measure every other block's distance between each other, it is 9". I don't know whether to hand quilt around the larger blocks, or just to let it go as is. What would happen if I didn't do anything but the tacking? Please advise!
http://gobstock.com/image/cache/data...65-228x228.jpg

If you quilt/tack less than the recommended spacing, you run the risk of the batting shredding or balling up during the wash or while being used. If you can measure more than 5" in any direction from the tacking and not have any quilting, I would add some additional tacking ....you can even add some tacking spots right in the seams....kinda like SITD.

if you did it in each small square, by your photo, it looks like enough to me. especially since the "rows" of squares are off set. even better!

I've always wished manufacturers would be more clear with their directions. (Some of them don't even give a recommended quilting distance.) It seems to me that tacking should be closer together than quilting, since it gives one point of contact rather than a whole line. With quilting it's usually pretty easy to tell if your stitches are dense enough, but not so with tacking. I would err on the side of caution - tack more frequently than the directions say.

When the quilting distance is specified as no more than 5", this means 5" in all directions. Adding hand quilting so that no knots or quilting lines are further apart than 5" would be very helpful to the integrity of the quilt.

With polyester batting and cotton battings that are not needlepunched, I would knot at half the distance recommended for quilting lines (in this case, that would be every 2.5"). This is because individual knots do not provide anywhere near the same level of support for the batting that quilting lines do. Knots need to be closer so that the batting will not pull apart with repeated washings.

I would tie/tack about every 3-4" just to be safe. Once the batting bunches or balls up it is too late to fix it. I do a lrge meandering FMQ on my sewing machine and that is closer and turns out real well.

More is better.