Topquilt Baffle Frustration

[surly]

Thanks for the suggestions! I like the clothespins idea, but I think I might try binder clips because I have them in abundance. I was looking over what I have done and the amount of money I'm spending on materials (especially down), and honestly the one lesson I've learned is that it's hard to beat the prices on cottage vendors. My design had 1 inch high baffles spread at 5.5 inch increments on the bottom sheet and 7 inch increments on the top. The whole quilt is about 49 inches wide and the goal was for the lenghth of about 77 inches (I'm 70 inches in height). I'm thinking I'll try maybe 3-4 more baffles with your suggestions and worst case I turn it into an underquilt and use the extra ripstop to make some snakeskins and stuff sacks or something.

This DIY stuff is tough!

[IRONFISH45]

Thanks for the suggestions! I like the clothespins idea, but I think I might try binder clips because I have them in abundance. I was looking over what I have done and the amount of money I'm spending on materials (especially down), and honestly the one lesson I've learned is that it's hard to beat the prices on cottage vendors. My design had 1 inch high baffles spread at 5.5 inch increments on the bottom sheet and 7 inch increments on the top. The whole quilt is about 49 inches wide and the goal was for the lenghth of about 77 inches (I'm 70 inches in height). I'm thinking I'll try maybe 3-4 more baffles with your suggestions and worst case I turn it into an underquilt and use the extra ripstop to make some snakeskins and stuff sacks or something.

This DIY stuff is tough!

Definately a learning curve, use the clips or clothespins, just go slow, keep checking to be sure there are not any folds in the fabric. Be sure to use a long stitch.

[Floridahanger]

I've made several TQ's and have used chip bag clips(had on hand at time) then the binders. Both work, but the binders are better(smaller).

My current one, I have moved to freehand. I still make the line but nothing to hold the baffle on line. I've decided that a small move to one side or the other isn't as big a deal as it used to be(that was as hard to type as it was to make myself do). Just run each line in a short 10"-12" increments until the baffle is done.

Good luck.

[CC_Cinci]

I'm having a hard time envisioning how you would even use clips or clothespins to connect the baffle wall material to the 2nd piece of nylon. I could see this method helping with a rolled hem on the perimeter of the quilt but it seems to me this would just complicate the workflow for attaching the baffle walls.
I've found that if you can manage the rest of the shell material well, attaching the baffle to the 2nd piece of material by freehand is just a little bit more difficult than sewing the baffle wall to the 1st piece of nylon. Obviously the smaller/shorter the baffle wall the more difficult this would be but I'm thinking since you did the first attachment freehand, if you neatly roll up both pieces of nylon well so you're only working with the baffle wall and a couple inches of the 2nd piece of nylon, freehand may still be your best option.

This picture is a little bit misleading because I'm using the blue tape to mark the line I want to sew along:
IMG_20140831_183016_127.jpg

[Floridahanger]

The clips and such are not for the baffles, they are to hold all the excess material.

I roll up the quilt and clip down the length leaving exposed just the line I'm going to sew. This will leave only a few inches of material to pass thru the machine to the right of the needle. I unroll to the next baffle line and repeat until done.

Some folks also clip the left side also, but, I don't.

To hold the baffle to the lines, I use pins right on the sew line every 6" or so. Remove the pins as you go and don't worry about the holes you make, the machine will either put thread in same hole or so close to it that it just closes up. Either way, baffle material or thread will be in the pin holes or covering them.

[Brewguy]

I just finished my first top quilt, it went pretty easy. I also used the clip method for the fabric not being sewn. I'd line up a couple inches at a time and sew. It went pretty fast. My biggest problem was seeing the lines

[Just Bill]

FYI- for any of you with access to BPL- http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-...hread_id=97254

Jerry Adams proposed an alternative quilting technique, basically using sewn through baffles, but making one shell flat and one shell a half circle.
I tried one out and it worked great- you only need one stitch per baffle and in an UQ it's perfect because of the curve of the final quilt it turns into a baffled design more or less with a built in differential cut.

baffle ends.jpg
loft.jpg