What type of seams for a DIY quilt?

[Ramblinrev]

I don't hink any one was saying don't use baffles. Down quilts need to be baffled one way or the other. Otherwise you end up with a giant bag of down. The issue at hand is what kind of baffle. There are sewn thru and boxed (or varient such as offset.) The sewn thru baffled _could_ be done after three sides of the quilt are hemmed in what ever manner you want. The box baffles almost require the top and bottom to be separate and the sides closed after the baffling is done. I don't see where you have a projected temp range or loft target. That would most certainly dictate which type of baffle you use. A summer quilt can get away with sewn thru baffles but any kind of late shoulder season or winter UQ would really need to be box baffles to prevent cold spots. So that is an important issue in deciding how to proceed with constructing the quilt.

[jofish]

I'm planning on using a "boxed" baffling because I'm aiming for a nice cozy winter top quilt. I'm aiming for a loft of ~3-3.5".

I'd appreciate any other suggestions, especially any about a good way to incorporate a drawstring for the foot end. What type of stitch I should use, length of the cord, etc.

[TeeDee]

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Teedee, I kind of like the idea of draft stoppers - I'll have to look into a good material for that. Did you just use a wide webbing? If so, where did you get it?

The draft stoppers are made of the same 1.1 DWR ripstop as the rest of the shell. In fact, the bottom shell half is cut bigger that the top half and the extra width becomes the draft stoppers.

Also, I think I'm gonna stick with the baffles. It may be a pain to actually make the quilt, but I'm worried about shifting/redistribution of the down. I can see the potential advantages of this, but I'm worried that I would unintentionally redistribute the down each time I stuff it. A personal preference, to be sure.

Yeah I was worried about that 20 years back when we got our first Karo step. The down hardly shifts at all and if it does, when you take it out of the stuff sack, simply let it re-loft and then a quick shake or 2 or 3 will re-distribute the down very evenly again. In my 20+ years experience with stuffing and un-stuffing and using a Karo Step nightly, it takes a fair amount of work to get the down to concentrate in one or 2 areas.

But, as you say, quilts are largely personal preference.