How to Tie a Quilt - A Tutorial

Yay I got it done :) I've been promising this tutorial to Heide and I know there are others of you out there who would be interested as well! 

So here goes. Tying a quilt is a really quick and easy way of getting a top finished. There are pros and cons - pros being that it really is very quick. The cons are that tying a quilt is not nearly as sturdy as quilting it - if you are planning to tie something that you want to last a long time or that will get a lot of wear, be prepared to re-do the ties every now and then.

I'm tying a little dolly quilt, so it doesn't need much, but if you're going to tie a large quilt you need to keep the ties at least to a 4" square. No matter how large your quilt is, the process is the same.

So we're going to start out with the basics. I am going to do a self binding on this quilt, so if you want to try the same you need to make sure that you cut the backing and the wadding at least 3 inches larger than the quilt top all around.

Tape the backing face down onto the floor or a table:

Lay the wadding over the top and smooth it out.

Then lay the quilt top over it and smooth out again. You should have an equal amount of backing and wadding all around.

I'm going to use a verigated Valdarni Perle 8 cotton to tie this quilt with. You can tie a quilt with just about anything you can fit through a needle - wool, string, Perle cotton or a few strands of embroidery thread. You can even use a few colours in each knot to make a real feature.

You can choose to tie your quilt to the back or the front. If you tie the knots to the back of the quilt you wil have the tufts showing against the backing and only a small stitch showing on the front. I am going to tie my quilt to the front because I think the knots are cute!

Cut a nice long piece of thread the width of the quilt plus a half again. If you're doing a big quilt that's a logn piece, so you can just thread the reel of thread up from the end and cut if off when you get to the other side.

Decide which direction you want the knots to run in and keep them the same so they look neat. I'm going bottom right to top left. It's usual to tie the quilt at the junction of a seam, but you don't have to, you can tie wherever you like at even intervals.

Pull the thread through and leave a tail at the end without tying a knot. Pull the thread through and take a stitch through the next junction without cutting the thread. Make sure and leave a nice loop of thread between the stitches so there is enough to tie them all up afterwards.

Continue across the quilt to the other side and cut the thread off. Repeat across the quilt in rows until you have sewn all the ties in. Then go back and cut the loops of thread  in between the stitches.

Next tie the knots. You need to tie a triple knot so that it doesn't come undone easily. I do this by tying the thread right over left, then left over right, then right over left. This makes a square knot that doesn't come open.

Clip the ends of the knot off to make a neat end.

Repeat with all the other knots. 

I decided to tie the Windmills in between (the grey ones) using a grey thread, so before I picked the quilt up from the tape I did the grey ones as well.

And that's it! Easy right?

And now for the self binding. Again, this is a technique I would use for a quilt that isn't going to get heavy wear - the binding is the part of the quilt that gets the most handing, and this binding isn't a double thickness and isn't as strong.

First I decided how wide I wanted the binding - as this is a little quilt, I decided a big wide binding would be very cute. I drew a line 1/2" outside the edge of the quilt onto the wadding using a marker.

And then cut along the line with scissors.

Trim the backing to at least 3 times the width of the wadding. My wadding is 1/2" from the edge so I have 1 1/2" of backing sticking out around the quilt.

Cut the corners off approximately 1/4" out from the edge.

Using a Hera marker or a pencil, mark a line 1/4" inside the edge of the quilt top. Turn the edge of the backing over the edge of the wadding and under a 1/2" (or more if needed), and match the folded edge up with the marked 1/4" line. Pin and then slipstitch the edge in place, mitering the corners as you go.

FINISH! yay...

Speaking of cute dolly quilts, have you seen Amy's Dollie's Online quilt for this month?

Sorry, but how freakin' CUTE is THAT?? That Mrs Schmenkman is such a clever bunny.

We're having a few issues with our online shop at the moment but if you would like the pattern to make this piece of deliciousness, you can email me or Amy and we will sell you a PDF for the bargain price of $15 AUS. sarah@sarahfielke.com

Comments

[kim at allconsuming]

Wow, I always wondered how you did that!

[Ellice]

That was great. Look forward to more tips and tutorials. I do love tied quilts.

[Jenny of Elefantz]

I love this quilt! Thanks for the tying tute. I finished my version of your Diamond Chips mini quilt, and am now about to prepare the fabrics for Rebel with a Rotary - I can tie this one. DC was hell on my fingers with the hand quilting. All those seams from those tiny squares, and I totally forgot to use my adhesive thimble. Lessons were learned. Thanks, Sarah.
Hugs
Jenny

[Cheryl]

What is the wonderful fabric line you used for the tutorial, please? I'm not normally into Christmas fabric, but that looks very vintage-y and I am a huge fan of 30s and 40s fabric. Thanks for the great tutorial.

[café noir]

Thank you Sarah for this tutorial. Your fabric choice is wonderful

[happy zombie]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!

[Sarah]

Hi Cheryl - that wonderful, delicious fabric would be by my friend and Fabric Sistah Monica the Happy Zombie - its called Holiday Happy, by Lecien and it is CUTE. The grey spot is my print from From Little Things!

[denver accident attorney]

It's really cute and charming. So lovin' it! =)

[escort service orange county ca]

I am new to this, but your site is a great help.

My god-mother was great at doing these, rest her soul.

I am trying to get good at this, it is a learning curve, but it reminds me of the good 'ol days!

Good stress reliever too.

[Marie Brown]

wow this is amazing, did not realise how easy it was, thanks