My first UQ - shaped baffles!

[jwright]

* WARNING - VERY PICTURE HEAVY *

I have finally gotten around to posting my UQ that I finished at the end of winter. It hasn't been outdoors yet, but had a few nights use this spring before it got too hot - and it has been HOT for a LONG time.
I was intrigued by some of the older posts (2008) back when people were discussing the Snugfit and really experimenting with baffle design. Those discussions are pretty amazing. If you haven't made it that far back, wow, we really are standing on the shoulders of giants.

So, I wanted to try a curved baffle to see if it would help hold the quilt up against the hammock. I took a lot from those older posts and even more from all of the great quilts people have shown here. Thanks to all those who answered questions and to those who took the time to post their creations.

45 x 52 in overall (not including edging)
Tapers to 40.5”@head (over 10”) and 33.75”@foot (over 20”)
9 chambers with 2” baffle height (8 baffles). Last 12” of foot end is 1.75”
Shaped/Curved baffles
9 oz fill (1 oz each chamber) with ~800 fill Myluxe Pillow down = calculated 2.75” loft + 20% overfill
2.75” calculated loft for ~ 20 degree comfort
5” inner with 5.75” outer shell baffle spacing (for a 6.75” differential)
19 oz with suspension in stuff sack

[jwright]

Details:

Inner shell: 1.1 oz calendered ripstop (olive) from DIY Gear Supply
49 x 56 inch cut size (2” seam allowance on all 4 edges, to be trimmed after joining faces)
head darts: .5” x 10” (yields finished width of 40.5”)
foot darts: 1.25” x 20” (Yields finished width of 33.75”)

Outer shell: 1.1 oz DWR calendered ripstop (olive-brown) from DIY Gear Supply
59.75 x 61 inch cut size
59.75” wide = width + (2” seam allowance x 2) + (2 x 2”baffle height for outer side wall) + (9 x .75” for differential) = 45 + 4 + 4 + 6.75 = 59.75”
61” length = length + (2” seam allowance x 2) + (2 x 2”baffle height for end walls) + 1” differential = 45 + 4 + 4 = 61”
Head darts: 1.25” x 10” (add the differential (.75”) to inner shell dart size to achieve same overall width as inner shell)
Foot darts: 2.0” x 10”

Shaped baffles: 2.5” x 54”/55” - 0.9oz NoSeeUm from DIY Gear Supply
Due to the pronounced curve of the cut baffles, the outer face length was longer at 53” while the inner face length remained 52”. A 1” seam allowance was added to each end to be trimmed as needed and ½” add to the height for attaching to the shells. Approximately ¼” width was trimmed from the last 12” of the foot end.


Construction to follow .................

[jwright]

1 - Layout fabric (taping to floor really helped to stabilize the material) and mark out edges, seam allowance, darts and baffle placement lines of both inner and outer shells. Cut to size - a 4ft straight edged board really makes this easy.






Layout and close up of darts

[jwright]

2 - Sew the inner and outer shell darts (head and foot). Note the nice tapered shape of the quilt shells at this point.






This is the inner shell (no allowance for the outer sides of the chambers)

[jwright]

3 - Cut out NoSeeUm baffles – Here is pattern for the curved/shaped baffle I tried. By using 2 pieces of material for each baffle, I was able to greatly reduce the amount of wasted material. I accordion folded the no-see-um into 4 layers, placed both patterns on top of the stack (like 2nd picture) and cut out 4 sets at once, using an Xacto knife. Repeat and you are done. Double stitch the 2 pieces together with a small overlap and you have 1 full length baffle and very little wasted material. I think I was even able to fold the noseeum in half lengthwise before accordion folding.





Posterboard template for cutting the baffles. The elevated (straight) section is the foot end and I think does a really good job of snugging the quilt up to the hammock.

[jwright]

4 - Sew the long edge of the full length baffle to the outer shell. I tried to keep the curve of the baffle intact, rotating the fabric as I moved along to shape the fabric to the baffle. I wanted to avoid stretching/straightening the baffle to fit the “flat” fabric. It was a little difficult to do but seemed to work out well. Picture the curved baffle laying atop the shell and you get the idea (look at the left most baffle). I marked mid points and pinned the ends to help avoid any misplacement.






You can sort of see how the baffles are giving the shell a bulging or curved shape, different than the bowl that is caused by the taper. I think it might be a little exaggerated by the camera angle

[jwright]

5 - Sew the baffle ends to the outer shell - the ends of the outer shell fold upwards to close the chambers. The outer shell fabric makes a 90 deg upward bend at the corner of the baffle material and the short end of the baffle is sewn to the shell along the same layout line as its long edge. This vertical rise of the shell was allotted for in the layout (= the baffle height). This creates a box (or baking dish) structure. Note that the baffles (in the second and third picture) extend approximately ¼ inch above the edges of the outer shell to provide a seam allowance for attaching the inner shell

[jwright]

6 - Create a nice corner including the seam allowance — I wish I had seen Doogie’s great post prior to attempting this; mine did not turn out nearly as well. http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=56604





from the outside

[jwright]

7 - Sew the inner shell to the outer assembly (I thought of it as a lid). Because of the shaped baffles, there was a 1” differential along the length. So in addition to trying to fit the shell to the baffle, I had to gradually take in that 1”. Again, marking a mid point and pinning the ends helped. Start at one side and work your way across.

8 - Finish the edges—not sure if I like my technique. After fully sewing the perimeter I trimmed the seam allowance to about 1 inch, folded both edges over and ran a stitch about 1/8th from the edge. I then sewed the grosgrain edging/channels over this.

[jwright]

9 - Suspension – I chose to make exit points for the suspension just before the actual corners of the quilt. I sewed a button hole in a 1” long piece of grosgrain then attached this to the edging for reinforcement. I have a length of shock cord running through both the head and foot ends with cord locks at each exit point to allow me to cinch up ends of the hammock separately. The quilt is suspended by a continuous loop through both long side channels again with cord locks at each corner to allow me to scrunch or tighten up each side and to allow me to position the quilt along the length of the suspension.