Making my TQ

[dudeman_atl]

I saw a huge difference in wr down flufiness between two vendors.

One came in 3oz bags was very easy to scoop / stuff & clumped up like you're describing. I hit my finished quilt with a tennis racquet which helped.

The other batch came from a dedicated down company in a pound bag. It is so fluffy & light that scooping was futile. That quilt is wonderfully poofy and is very satisfying. I had to wait a week for the down to ship because they had to dry the down but it was worth the wait.

[surveywaters]

Ok, short explanation of my process.

1: Tape the liner down to the floor, inside facing up.
2: Take a ruler and lay it up the right hand side of the fabric. Starting at your foot cutting point, place a piece of tape on the floor. Then, every 6", or what ever your baffle spacing is, place a piece of tape. Every now and then write the measurement on it to help keep straight. Place a piece of tape 2" down from the foot cutting mark on each side and a piece of tape 1" up from the last 6" (72").
3: Move the ruler to the left hand side of the fabric. Repeat the process.
--- I allow an 1" all the way around for seams
My first baffle was 4" (5" from the cut)
The top baffle was 4" + 2" for the height + 4" for the top side + 1" seam allowance for the double flat felled seam. This created the seamless 'draft collar'.
4: Using a long straight edge and a color pencil (I use a Singer fabric pencil) of contrasting color, scribe a line for your cuts and baffles. The tape on the floor is your reference here and really speeds up the process. Lay the straight edge on the edge of the tape on left and right, make the line, move to the next pair of tape markers.
5: Measure in from one side to find center, measure from center out for width. Remember your seam allowance. The dimensions of my liner are: 42" at the foot, 35" up is 55", 52" at the top and 82" total. Cut it out while it's taped, makes running the scissors easier.
6: remove the liner from your 'layout jig' and tape the shell material down inside the tape references. The foot needs to be lower than the lowest piece of tape, the shell is 2" longer at the foot.
7: Starting at the lowest tape mark (-2") make your lines using a contrasting pencil. The lowest baffle is now 6" on the shell material, ignore the tape at 2" up (0"). The top cut is at the 72" mark. My shell dimensions are 50" at the foot, 37" up is 52", 52" at the top and length is 74".
----I bought my baffle material from RSBTR, it's pre-cut to width and is a continuous roll. This is nice and easy.
8: On the shell, start at either end with the roll of baffle, sew it on to the line. Doesn't matter how you use the line as reference as long as it's consistent. Cut the baffle off at the edge of the fabric and start the next baffle. (I've seen guys pre-measure the baffle, this seemed like a waste of time to me)
9: Attach the liner to the shell with the double flat felled seam at the top.
10: Work your way down connecting each baffle to the liner. When you get to the fifth baffle from the bottom the baffle is longer than the liner needs. Start attaching the baffle to the liner about 3/4" past the end of the baffle. On the fourth from the bottom go 1.5", third is 2.25", etc.
11: Two squares need cut, one liner and one shell. I reversed the colors for an accent.The liner square is 11"x13" and the shell square is 15"x17". On the inside of each piece draw a square 9"x11" centered (line A). Mark a line across it splitting the 9" in half (line B). So on the liner I attached a piece of baffle 13" long to line B and then a 42" piece to line A making a seam at the intersections and closing the end of the long piece. Then do the same with the shell creating two 4.5"x11" baffles; leave access to both for filling. Calculate the amount of down, fill them and close.
12: Attach the shell of the quilt to the shell of the footbox.
13: Attach the liner of the quilt to the liner of the footbox. This seam is visible inside the quilt.
14: Hem one side of the quilt making sure that the baffle stitches line up.
15: I taped the quilt to the edge of the kitchen counter at each baffle so they hung open. Fill each baffle, there are lots of methods for doing this, but I weighed a cup, then filled with the desired weight of down, pinched it tight in the cup and loaded the channel.
16: Hem the open side starting at the top. When the footbox is reached the shell is longer than the liner by 2", just roll hem this.
----A continuous loop baffle is created around the footbox where it meets the quilt.
17: Sew the two edges together for the desired length of footbox, I did 14", and make a triangle out of fabric to prevent the stitches from pulling out.

[surveywaters]

good to know. I'll be sure to ask around about down vendors for my next project.

[kduvey]

If you search my user name here on this forum you'll find a video I posted a while back on how to make a TQ. the last ~15 minutes is me stuffing and distributing down in a karostep quilt. Might help answer some of your original questions in this thread.

[surveywaters]

Thanks, I think the UQ would be great with the karo since I can't keep an eye on the down distribution. I will check it out,

[boulderv7]

That quilt is awesome. Love it. Very nice job, can't believe its your first quilt. It should serve you very well. Sorry i couldn't have helped you out with questions.

[Michael_qrt]

I would like to know more about manufacturers getting away from DWR, that would save ALOT of money on the next project.

As for shiny, yeah the shiny is in, this fabric is real shiny on both sides, took some doing to figure out which side was which.

ZPacks used to offer DWR down as an option but they stopped doing it and had a statement to the effect that some customers had problems with clumping and they didn't find the benefits of DWR down worth it. I couldn't find the statement on their website anymore so it may heave been removed. Others have had good experiences with DWR down so it's not a totally clear story either way.

The M10 is a shiny fabric, even on the face side and especially in some lighting conditions, nonetheless it feels great and I'm sure you'll love using your quilt!

[surveywaters]

Thanks for that. I believe my UQ will be with non-treated down and Membrane10.

I made UQ's for my wife and I with Argon90 and Apex but now that I have felt the thinner taffeta and compressed the down, synthetic just won't do.

[Firesong]

Just to add a bit more to the pot I like the treated down. My quilts that I have bought from other places (non treated)have been replaced and now made myself with the treated stuff. One of my favourite down coats from northface (summit series 800) a few years old now was just replaced with a 700dwr marmot. A couple times where I hadn't planned on 'activity' I sweat through the pits and back/upper shoulders. It frosted on top, flattened and I got cold quick. The same 'activity' has occurred with the DWR and no issues other than a bit of frost but no loss of loft. Maybe an idea is simply to add a bit more of the DWR down to a project to help compensate for initial clumping till it lofts while hanging. Anyone in a high humidity area would really benefit. Just something to consider.

[woodtwigg]

Just gonna jump in here and echo what a great job you did, first project or not! My much simpler synthetic top quilt I did first had several bumps and bruises from shoddy workmanship, but yours looks like it was professionally done. I've never been brave enough to do accent colors or anything other than just one big piece of fabric. How do you get that charcoal line on top?

Also, sorry about the karo info, don't have any to share and I know how frustrating it can be sitting on materials waiting on a question to be answered (or not) on here. This place can seem like a hive of activity right up until you are mid project and freaking out!

Also, welcome to the forums from GA!