Making 2 Costco down throws into a TQ

[Canahang]

So I bought 2 of these throws (they're in Canada now woot!) with the intention of making an underquilt. But since Black Friday saw a 20* HG UQ coming my way I don't really feel that need so much. Although I would like to make a TQ that can replace my 3+ pound mummy bag that I currently use.

So here is my idea: remove the stitching horizontally to liberate the down and move much of it to one half. Do that on both quilts and try to get them down to about 40" each. Then attach them together at the seam (leaving about a 2" overlap to stop a breeze getting through what will no doubt be a hack sewing job). Then see a foot box or attach some grosgrain and snaps so that I can run shock chord and cinch the bottom closed.

My questions are the following. Will the baffles created by removing the cross stitches be sufficiently large enough to reduce the overall length 40" without compressing the down and reducing the insulation value. Or sacrificing down in general?

What can I expect this thing to get me down to temperature wise? I'm hoping around 30* if I can get good loft

Does anyone see any serious problems with this plan?

[deeder]

I see where you are going. I don't know if it would reduce it to 40" but one thing you can do is rip the baffles open up one by one on both quilts, extract the down from one and put it into the other. Might be a PITA, but might be cool to play around with. I made two quilts and used them both in a backyard test, slipped one inside the other and was comfortable to 29deg using my phoenix 20, wool socks, long johns cotton shirt and flannel.

[Canahang]

I see where you are going. I don't know if it would reduce it to 40" but one thing you can do is rip the baffles open up one by one on both quilts, extract the down from one and put it into the other. Might be a PITA, but might be cool to play around with. I made two quilts and used them both in a backyard test, slipped one inside the other and was comfortable to 29deg using my phoenix 20, wool socks, long johns cotton shirt and flannel.

That's an interesting idea actually. But o don't know that 70" is enough for me. I'm 6'3" so as it stands I can barely get the thing up to my neck while covering my feet. Plus I'll lose a couple inches cinching it at the end as well.

My logic was that I could end up around 75-78 inches if I reduced both to 40" and added them together

[deeder]

I'm sure you've seen the other post on these, I copied one design on here. It utilized two rows cut off and sewn onto the bottom essentially extending the throw. I am 6' even and doing this made the quilt go just above my head.

[bser272]

I like the method deeder suggested. Just make two, stuff one into the other. The baffles should offset slightly, which would eliminate cold spots from the sewn-through baffles. Take a look at my post on the Costco TQ, and you'll see what deeder means about shifting the rows of the throw around to get more length.

[Canahang]

Hmmmmm that's an interesting idea. I was hoping the loft from two compressed into one would help the temperature rating.
How warm do you find yours?

Truthfully your original quilt looks a lot loftier than what we got up in Canada.

Also is there a reason that you made horizontal baffles rather than vertical? Is the threat of down migrating up and down really that high or is it an aesthetics thing?

[bser272]

Hmmmmm that's an interesting idea. I was hoping the loft from two compressed into one would help the temperature rating.
How warm do you find yours?

Haven't tested mine outside yet, probably good down to 50°F.

Truthfully your original quilt looks a lot loftier than what we got up in Canada.

I bought a few of these, and they all seem to vary in the amount of loft. This one happened to be one of the better ones. ripping half the seams frees up quite a bit of down as well.

Also is there a reason that you made horizontal baffles rather than vertical? Is the threat of down migrating up and down really that high or is it an aesthetics thing?

It just worked better for my plans. Attaching the extra row of two baffles up top and the footbox meant I needed to sew horizontally, figured I'd keep the rest consistent.

[MattK]

I used bser272's method of making a TQ. The primary difference was that instead of cutting off the 2 rows and sewing most of those to the end for length, I just pushed the fill from those boxes into the body of the TQ. That works for me because I am 5'10". I also tweaked it by only using a 2x2 square for the bottom of my footbox. To make this work properly, I also ended up making the quilt half tapered down to 40" at the foot. This has the added benefit of pushing the down into a smaller space and so increasing the loft. I find that I still have plenty of room in the footbox with this set up.

Because of your height, you will have to add the two rows to the length of quilt. I do think adding the taper in would help increase the warmth, mostly because it is a more efficient cut. I guess you could always make one tapered, use that on the inside, then make the outer one with no taper. Adding a few snaps would make it easy to secure the quilts together. It also gives you two quilts instead of one. Though you do pay the weight penalty of an extra shell. I guess if you are set on making one warmer quilt, I would suggest following bser272's design on one quilt, rip all the baffle seams on the other and transfer down into your final quilt.

I have used my tapered costco TQ down to the upper 40s pretty comfortably. I was also using my 40"x60" costoco UQ. I may have been able to get another few degrees out of it, but I think my toes getting cold would be the limiting factor. I have a down hoody I can throw if my torso is cold, that also keeps the head warm. I also made a copy of the EE minion, which I use to cover any CBS spots I get. The sewn through construction just isn't that warm for the feet. A good pair of insulated booties might cover that though....

[Canahang]

So I think I'm going to do it like this. The top two are the quilts that I've already ripped the horizontal seams out of (I found a super fast way to do it I'll share. Maybe in another post)

The dotted lines are the lines i plan to sew an the solid lines are the seams that are already sewn. I think I'll remove the bottom row off of the one quilt and use it as kind of an interior baffle overlapping the area that I connect the two quilts. Hopefully I can attach it at either end and a small row of stitching in the middle and have it stay in the correct place. Id really rather not see it through all along each baffle as my sewing skills leave much to be desired but If I have to then I will.

I'm still kind of brainstorming this. And I don't know if I want to do a snap footbox or sewn or a cinched.

Squares represent 5"x5" for those not familiar with the Costco throws. So overall dimensions before footbox will be about 80"

[Flash Grundelore]

I already have one Costco with the end gathered in sewn-on ribbon loops and a drawstring [there is a post and photos on one of the other threads].
No matter how you use them, they are a super deal.
My buddy down in Costcoland just grabbed me a second one and put it in the mail this morning, so you can still find them. [That store alone had 200+ in stock. Other stores said they expected more stock coming. Hopefully these will be around for awhile.]

As a summer-weight TQ, even for here in Maine where summer doesn't start until the first of August and ends the week before Labor Day, I don't worry too much about heat-leak, over-lapping seams, getting fancy with my DIY, etc... I'll save those worries for heavier gear. My plan with the 2nd one is to simply attach it to the topside of my original with a half-dozen of these "Sock-Locks" when I want extra insulation seasonally.
[>> http://www.amazon.com/24-SockLocks-C...ords=sockclips ]

Once i get it together, I'll try to remember to add a couple of photos on here.