Another Karo Step Topquilt

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12-20-2009, 12:51
JerryW

Another Karo Step Topquilt

Thanks to TeeDee and animalcontrol for posting their topquilts. Those were enough incentive to give this style a try.

I had a thin, summer topquilt I made from thru-hiker materials a few years ago using Momentum .90 and Climashield Combat. I decided I had enough other summer topquilt options, but I didn't have a good winter covering. What I did was unstitch one end and remove the Climashield. In it's place I sewed in 20 short baffles, 3" cut size, 2-1/2" sewn thickness, arranged in the Karo Step orientation.

After adding 12+ ounces of 800 fill down I sewed the end shut and sewed in the footbox circle. The circle is filled with a 1-1/2" thickness of Climashield. The stiffness of the Climashield gives the footbox some structure and a nice roomy shape. I also added a little elastic to the head end so it curls around my shoulder area. I ended up with a minimum thickness of 3", this thing is a puff monster! After some testing I may add some draft stoppers to the sides if needed.

Edit - Forgot to add, the finished weight is 20 ounces.

I would definitely recommend this style to anyone considering making a quilt. It's much easier than sewing the long baffles and adding the down is super easy. No need to weigh all the individual chambers. The short baffles really keep the down in place and it's easy to redistribute the down if needed, just pat it around. I can see this coming in handy because my feet are usually cold.

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...side_thumb.jpg

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...side_thumb.jpg

http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...tbox_thumb.jpg

Jerry
12-20-2009, 12:55
Ken

Wheeee doggies............. That's a SUPER looking quilt Jerry.
Really nice!!

Ken
12-20-2009, 13:04
MacEntyre

A hybrid! I love the Climashield at the foot...
12-20-2009, 13:13
ltruelove

how much to make me one?
12-20-2009, 13:15
vitamaltz

It looks great, and I agree, Karo is the way to go. Mine was really easy to make too, even if I kludged it a bit.

In light of another thread earlier today, did you make a differential cut for the foot end to accommodate your Climashield foot panel?
12-20-2009, 13:16
pizza

Great job Jerry as usual. Very nice!
12-20-2009, 13:33
Dutch

That looks nice. was it hard to determine where the baffles go and match them up on bothe sides. I would think there is quite a bit if room for error.
12-20-2009, 13:45
JerryW

Thanks for all the compliments. I can't wait to give it a try...maybe tonight...it's snowing right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vitamaltz

In light of another thread earlier today, did you make a differential cut for the foot end to accommodate your Climashield foot panel?

No differential cut anywhere. It puffs up nicely around the footbox panel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch

That looks nice. was it hard to determine where the baffles go and match them up on bothe sides. I would think there is quite a bit if room for error.

Surprisingly, not hard at all. Actually, there seems to be quite a bit of room for fudge. I drew a sketch of the quilt with the baffles and then laid them out on each side with scotch tape. I sewed all the baffles to one side, then sewed the other side, working my way up from the closed end. It would have been really easy if the sides weren't already sewn together on three sides.
12-20-2009, 13:52
Running Feather

Nice Jerry - real nice. Is that thing Turbo-Charged?
12-20-2009, 14:34
trigger hurt

that's a great looking quilt. Nice and fluffy too. I bet it's waaaarmmmmm!
12-20-2009, 14:39
dejoha

Wow! Very plump quilt. I'm going to have to investigate this Karo thing.
12-20-2009, 16:13
GrizzlyAdams

very pretty Jerry.
There's a quilt project for me this winter, I haven't yet decided what, but one of these would be a nice thing to try.

Grizz
12-20-2009, 17:37
Mrprez

What is the spacing on your baffles?
12-20-2009, 18:25
sir_n0thing

Sweet looking piece! You've got quite the DIY skill...
12-20-2009, 19:32
JerryW

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrprez

What is the spacing on your baffles?

Most of the baffles are 6" long. A few around the sides at the foot end are 2" long. The big squares, side to side between baffles, are 16". The small squares, end to end of the baffles, are 10".

This spacing is larger than most of these I could find, but it seems to be working very well. I don't think a closer spacing is needed and it would just make more work.

Jerry
12-20-2009, 19:37
Mrprez

OK, that makes sense. I thought they must have been larger or you were pretty short! It really looks good! How much time do you have invested in the sewing?
12-20-2009, 19:41
Hawk-eye

Dang from the labs of JerryW another masterpiece!;)
12-20-2009, 19:43
cooldays

I'm very impressed. (I'm also cofused and overwhelmed)
You are way above my head with this project!
great job!
12-20-2009, 19:45
JerryW

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrprez

OK, that makes sense. I thought they must have been larger or you were pretty short! It really looks good! How much time do you have invested in the sewing?

Thanks. The finished length is 74" and the head end width is 53". I'd guess I have about 2 to 3 hours in the sewing and maybe 5 or 6 hours total.
12-20-2009, 19:56
animalcontrol

nicely done Jerry...looks AMAZIN!
12-20-2009, 23:43
jeffjenn

Jerry, why no draft stoppers? Oh & great looking quilt by the way!
12-20-2009, 23:48
Shug

Oh ..... the puffiness!!!!!
Terrific looking Jerry .... hope to meet it in person someday .... hopefully in the the Gorge.
Shug of Karo Envy
12-20-2009, 23:48
srestrepo

hey jerry... how much does it compress, i mean we all know its huge and puffy but hows it squish down in comparison to say a nalgene... i.e. 1.5 nalgenes or 2.5 nalgenes... or if you can think of something better. my idea kinda sucks in retrospect.
12-20-2009, 23:56
JerryW

Thanks again everyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffjenn

Jerry, why no draft stoppers? Oh & great looking quilt by the way!

I might add those, don't know yet. Early testing shows they probably aren't needed for use in the hammock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by srestrepo

hey jerry... how much does it compress, i mean we all know its huge and puffy but hows it squish down in comparison to say a nalgene... i.e. 1.5 nalgenes or 2.5 nalgenes... or if you can think of something better. my idea kinda sucks in retrospect.

Well, I stuffed it into a 2 liter dry bag to weigh it and it could have been compressed quite a bit more. I'd rather not squish my insulation to the max if I don't have to though. I'm guessing it would take up about 1.5 Nalgenes of space.
12-21-2009, 09:19
Perkolady

WowJerry! VERY nice!!
01-23-2010, 18:01
srestrepo

just out of curiosity, aside from this thing looking cooler than normal baffles... are there any advantages over this design vs. the tradiitional style baffles?
01-23-2010, 18:28
BrianWillan

Quote:

Originally Posted by srestrepo

just out of curiosity, aside from this thing looking cooler than normal baffles... are there any advantages over this design vs. the tradiitional style baffles?

The main advantage to the Karo Step design is that you can add all the down at once, sew the end shut and move it around later. With traditional baffles you have to add down to each baffle individually. Which becomes an challenge to ensure each baffle has the proper amount of down in it.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Brian
01-23-2010, 20:01
Frawg

Sweet piece of work! It looks like you could stuff the whole thing into the foot box for packing.
02-22-2010, 15:42
Trout

That is one great looking bag! Nice detail and all.
03-01-2010, 01:51
jeffjenn

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryW

In it's place I sewed in 20 short baffles, 3" cut size, 2-1/2" sewn thickness, arranged in the Karo Step orientation.
Jerry

Jerry, did you fold the edges of your baffles, or just sew through one layer 1/4" from each edge?
03-01-2010, 09:23
JerryW

jeffjenn - The sewn edges are just single layer, sewn 1/4" from the edge.

Jerry