Starting DIY Top-Quilt - Questions!

[doogie]

Hope I'm not hijacking your thread.

Doogie, given the chance, would you go with a sewn footbox design instead? If not, why?

Personally i would only for a heavy winter only quilt. My sleeping bag is an old EMS semi rectangular down bag that I normally use either as a quilt or with the foot unzipped. I also often have my feet out the side of the bed to cool down. I need the ability to open things up.

[SteelToe]

I'm contemplating my strategy for an UQ/TQ as well; I hadn't even heard of Karo Step baffles . I couldn't find a cutaway or anything, so someone tell me if I understand the concept correctly; 4 baffles partition each cell and attach to the quilt surface fabrics, but the "vertical" corners between baffles are unconnected? Sounds like a much more elegant solution than the folded-core idea I thought about trying briefly, and warmer than a simple sew-thru.

Does down shift downward (pun) enough in a night to give a true sealed baffle (traditional) an advantage? Unless I'm in a spot for multiple days, I'd think packing/unpacking the quilt would keep the down spread pretty evenly, right? I also don't see why one couldn't do both; sealed baffles lengthwise (but fewer of them) and Karo style baffles "bridging" between them to form a grid. That might be the best of both, if it doesn't use more fabric.

I hated dealing with the super-long sew lines of my Hex Cat tarps, so the Karo baffles seem more up my alley . Thanks for the tip!

TCB

[Arothian]

I managed to finish up my top quilt project this weekend! I must say, I think it turned out very well for my first major project. I've previously tackled a bug net, snake skins and stuff sacks. This actually took me longer than I thought, but it was worth the effort in the end.

I wound up using the Karo Step design so that the stuffing process would be a bit simpler. I think it was but sewing the baffles onto the 2nd shell side was a pain. I think it would be a easier sewing job using a traditional design with straight full length baffles in my opinion.

I was planning on using 10oz of 850fp down, so I made my baffles 2 1/4" tall...I should have made them at least 1/2" shorter (apparently I need to read even more threads...). I filled it with that down, but I thought it could be "puffier" to make it fill out the shell more. So I added another 4oz of down from a jacket I snagged from a thrift store. In the end, I just have more total loft than I was expecting

I added a small 6" square 'pillow' that is connected to my foot end's drawcord. I used a slotted cordlock there, and I'm using that as a draft stopper for the cinched footbox. It works pretty well and keeps the plug always near the cinched end. You can see the pillow plug I made in the pics below.

Dimensions: 48"x74"x36" with 2" bathtub style walls
Final Weight: 22 - 7/8oz
Down: 14 oz (10oz of 850fp and 4 oz from a down jacket 600fp?)

I'm happy with how it looks and it's quite a bit lighter than my synthetic bag( 3lbs) which it will be replacing.

Enjoy the shots.

[dragon360]

Ery veru nice looking work - congrats!

[MAD777]

Beautiful quilt Arothian!!

[doogie]

Sweet looking quilt. Looks nice and toasty. I have used my quilt several times as a ground dweller and much prefer it to a bag. I love that when I roll over the quilt stays on top and doesn't get twisted.

[chickenwing]

Fantastic looking quilt. I know you are super proud of it. I recently did a quilt myself. It is good to see others trying the karo step.

[Coffee]

Looks great. I made the box baffle design you did, baffles length wise, and baffles width wise. The box baffle is my favorite. I just eye balled what would look nice with the baffle size.

One a side note I recently completed a king size down comforter for me bed using the box design. Sew through so it wasn't too warm. But 15 inches of baffle and 15 space in each direction. Works great. I am surprised how little the down moves with the large spaces.

[Arothian]

Sweet looking quilt. Looks nice and toasty. I have used my quilt several times as a ground dweller and much prefer it to a bag. I love that when I roll over the quilt stays on top and doesn't get twisted.

Thanks! I really appreciated your project post as I was doing this project!

Fantastic looking quilt. I know you are super proud of it. I recently did a quilt myself. It is good to see others trying the karo step.

You bet I am! Congrats on your own quilt. Gear is always better when you know the effort and work you put into it.

Looks great. I made the box baffle design you did, baffles length wise, and baffles width wise. The box baffle is my favorite. I just eye balled what would look nice with the baffle size.

One a side note I recently completed a king size down comforter for me bed using the box design. Sew through so it wasn't too warm. But 15 inches of baffle and 15 space in each direction. Works great. I am surprised how little the down moves with the large spaces.

I agree, the boxes keep the down pretty secure - still, it is easy to redistribute with a few shakes in the right direction. I like having the flexibility to shake some down from the sides for instance when I'm going to tuck it under a bit.