My First DIY - Underquilt

[finskie]

great job! And nice choice going with down, my first is synthetic, and now i'm wishing i would have spent the effort on down.

[HannahsDaddy]

HD:
Be very proud indeed.........nice looking UQ!!!! Did the down have a lot of feathers in it?

Thanks! Yes, it did. It doesn't pack down like I had wanted, so I'm guessing that's why. But, I'm probably not going to use this one for long hikes. It is heavier than I expected as well. It weighs approximately 2lbs. Oh, well. I have a ton more confidence in my thread injector abilities now, though!

[bigbamaguy]

Thanks for the answering..............I was wondering what quality down you got out of the comforter.

[RootCause]

It is heavier than I expected as well. It weighs approximately 2lbs.

Duuuuuuude: that's still lighter than an equivalent-warmth synthetic UQ! Looks great, nice work!

I'm sitting on a down comforter I got on clearance for $15, planning to do just what you did. I hopemine turns out as nice as yours! Did you do much in the way of interior baffles?

-RC

[Grinder]

Nice job, Hannasdaddy. It looks cozy as can be. Looking forward to a field test report.

[HannahsDaddy]

Duuuuuuude: that's still lighter than an equivalent-warmth synthetic UQ! Looks great, nice work!

I'm sitting on a down comforter I got on clearance for $15, planning to do just what you did. I hopemine turns out as nice as yours! Did you do much in the way of interior baffles?

-RC

Give it a whirl. I didn't do interior baffles. Actually, I just did a straight-through stitch from the front to the back for the baffles and filled it from there. Admittedly, it was a throw-together quilt, because I am going to be too busy for the next couple of weeks then I am going on the hike. Hence, not much time to make it better than I did. I have to make one more for a friend, though. That one will have interior baffles and look more like bloomgeorge's or the Red River Gorge design.

Also, I would recommend using a higher quality down if you want to spend the extra cash. I didn't, so it didn't turn out *exactly* like I would want, but it is still very nice (and warm!). Heck, tear that $15 comforter apart man! You can't beat free down!

One more recommendation: unless you just HAVE to have a full length quilt, and if you are using lower quality down like I did, make it 1/2 or 3/4 length at the most. The smaller pack size and less weight would be nice.

Overall, I am extremely happy with how it turned out. But, I will be applying what I learned not to do to making another UQ and other gear. Good luck!