Video: How to make a down quilt, very detailed, 1.5 hours long!

okay, gotta say it

1.5 hour internet video??? Most people will only watch a video for a few minutes.

If you want people to watch a video, you got to plan it, maybe break into small pieces, figure out how to distill it into something smaller and more efficient

But I appreciate the thought : )

I should start by saying I didn't actually watch the video.

1.5 hours is quite long for an internet video, I agree. However, this is not the type of video that is trying to appeal to a casual youtuber just browsing for videos. This is the type a video someone who wants a detailed walkthrough on how to build their own down quilt would seek out. When I was making my first synthetic quilt a few weeks ago I would have loved to have come across a video detailing how to build it rather than rely on a pieced together guide. That being said, I do agree this should be split into segments or maybe have some bookmark links in the description (if it doesn't) for quicker access so I don't have to always skip forward bit by bit until I find where I left off.

Great contribution and I've bookmarked this to watch when I eventually construct my first down quilt.

(nicer said than I : )

Interesting that with the Karo baffles, there's a lot less sewing. Finished quilt looks really good. Very detailed instructions. I skimmed through the video.

When you were vigorously shaking it, I was evily rooting for a seam to rip out creating a cloud of down : (

"Interesting that with the Karo baffles, there's a lot less sewing."

I would just like to add that yes, there is less sewing…but it's a tremendous amount more work to do it (I just did a karo quilt and my previous one was a traditional one):

Cutting — My quilt used (96) 6" strips of baffle material. I was able to cut a few at a time but it's still far more work than cutting 16-20 strips that are 30-55" wide.

Measuring — Rather marking every 4-4.5" along the edges and connecting the lines, you're doing every 9-12" along 4 sides and then drawing

Sewing — This is actually the worst part, IMO. Even once I got into a rhythm, I was spending 4-5 times longer aligning my shells and baffles than actually sewing…with long straight lines, it's much more efficient use of time. Overall, the sewing alone took me around 4 hours for a Karo quilt but only around 2 hours with my traditional quilt. I had a lot more confidence in my sewing skills for the Karo too.

I think the best use for Karo is a sewn through quilt. It reduces cold spots without dramatically increasing sewing time.

I'm pretty adamant that Karo is lighter and performs better but manufacturers refuse to use them because of the massive dent in construction costs.

In the next few months, I'm going to be making some quilts (at least two, likely four):

(2) 50F Karo (sewn-through) quilts — I'm actually thinking about using two different pattern (maybe a hex for one) so I can experiment with new ideas and also tell them apart)
(2) 30F traditional quilts

I find Karo quilts to be incredibly attractive but they are a ton of work to actually make. I think everyone who's passionate about MYOG should make one but I think only the die-hards will stick to making them because of the huge time/effort sink.

Hi Kevin,

Thank you very much for the detailed video.
Watched the entire thing last night and you've encouraged me to get started on this myself!