Quilt Construction

Step 14 Prepare to tie your quilt

Traditionally the batting layer inside a quilt was held in place with quilting--tiny hand stitches made through all three layers of the quilt, often in a decorative pattern. Hand quilting can be a lot of fun but it takes a great deal of patience (and skill). Machine quilting is another option but I find that it's easy to make mistakes and puckers.

For a simple project, tying the quilt with embroidery floss is really the the easiest solution and the bits of floss add a nice decorative touch.

To tie the quilt, use the large embroidery needle and thread the needle with the full thickness of the embroidery floss. Use some spit to stick the strands of floss together before threading the needle.

You'll want to make a tie at each intersection where four squares meet. Take a stitch diagonally across the intersection such that about 1/4 inch of the needle shows on the back of the quilt (the stitch is about 1/4 inch wide).

Pull about 2 yards of floss through and, without cutting the floss, take a stitch at the next intersection. Continue until all stitches are in place without cutting the floss (this saves rethreading the needle over and over).

Clip the floss between each stitch.