What is “tying” a quilt?

Details

A quilt is a piece that has three layers – the top, the batting and the backing. This is often called a quilt sandwich.

Usually the layers are held together with stitching, either hand stitching or machine stitching. But tying is a different way to hold the layers together.

Stitching involves making lines of stitches through all the layers, but tying just holds the layers together in points.

There are different materials that you can use to tie quilts. Often yarn or some kind of thick thread is used.

To tie a quilt, you would use a large needle, take one stitch through the quilt and then tie a secure knot. Then the ends of the thread or yarn are trimmed, usually leaving little tails. You can add a product like fray check to help hold the knot securely.

If you have a sewing machine with decorative stitches, you can also use those to tie quilts. On this quilt, my gradient nine patch, I used a star stitch to tie the quilt. I just lined the quilt up under the machine, pressed the button and stitched a little star into the middle of each nine patch block. If you want to see more details about this quilt, I have a video about it.

Often when we think about traditional quilting, we think of hand quilting. This is how a lot of quilts were finished before sewing machines were used.

But tying is also a traditional method. Back in the day when people had to make utility quilts so that they didn’t freeze in the winter, tying was a time efficient way to make the quilts they needed. It is much faster than hand quilting.

Because it is quicker and more utilitarian, some quilters consider tying a quilt to be a low quality or substandard method of finishing a quilt. If you enter a tied quilt in competition, it might be judged harshly or it might not be accepted because it isn’t finished with stitching.

But there is nothing wrong with tying a quilt to finish it if that is what you want to do. In fact, there are some advantages to tying a quilt.

When quilts are tied, they are usually softer than quilts that are stitched, especially those that are heavily machine quilted. So if you don’t like the stiffness that some machine quilting gives, tying could be a good choice.

Often tied quilts are made with fluffy polyester batting. This batting doesn’t need the close quilting lines that some cotton battings require. It is designed to stand up to wear and tear without falling apart. So when you are going to tie a quilt, check the recommendation on the batting to see how much space can be left between ties.

If you want a squishy, cuddly quilt, then tying it could be the best choice.

More Quilting Tips

See more quilting hacks and quick answers to your questions HERE.