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Need help from Karo Step quilt experts!


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  • #1276541
    Michael Davis
    Member

    @mad777

    Locale: South Florida

    I am about to embark on making my first Karo Step quilt, so I need some guidance. But, a bit of background first.

    I have made several down quilts, including hammock underquilts and wearable quilts, so I know my way around a sewing machine and baffles and all that. I also understand the mechanics of how to construct a Karo Step quilt.

    However, what I don't know is:
    1. How far apart to make the baffles (size of the squares) for a given thickness of quilt.
    2. How much space I should leave open at the corners of the baffled squares.
    3. How high the baffles should be relative to the average thickness of the quilt.

    The dimensions are 80” long by 48” wide.
    I will use 7 ounces of 800 FP down which will fill the quilt to 1.46” thick, call it 1.5”.

    So, while I would know how to proceed with a conventional baffled quilt, I have no experience to know the answers to my 3 questions above as they pertain to the Karo Step.

    #1757940
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    1/2 the standard i have seen is 12" box with 6" sides, however i have used 10" box with 6" sides and now use 14" box with 6" sides leaving a 4" gap on each side of the box or 8" between baffles. This same setup has been used on 2.25" and 3" loft quilts. I have no plans to use a different setup for 1.5" quilts.

    3 This doesn't change from a standard baffled quilt. I do .25-.5" shorter than finished loft others do 80% i believe. On this quilt with only 1.5" loft i would use 3/4" high finished baffles to help control the small amount of down (less down always needs more control). You could also use the 12/6 or 10/6 spacing to give a little more control. I wouldn't go smaller than 10/6 or bigger than 16/6(Jerry W) for any quilt. 1.5" loft is border line candidate for sewn through which is why i would use 3/4"-1" finished baffle height to keep the down under control and still be warmer than sew through.

    I am not the final word on this but i think you would do fine with any of the above.

    -Tim

    #1758046
    Michael Davis
    Member

    @mad777

    Locale: South Florida

    Thanks Tim,
    The thiness of the quilt has me worried the most. Like you say, there is less room for error.

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