Planning a warm weather Quilt

1) I want to use Climasheild 2.5 instead of down. Should I just lay that inbetween the layers and sew the baffles just like the down version, or do I need to do this differently?

No baffles needed w/ Climashield! Much easier to work with.

2) Shock cord / cord locks. Can I use the 1/16th shock cord and mini cord locks from zpacks? Will this be strong enough?

That should be fine. Email Joe and ask him to be sure. I use some 1/16" in line tensioners and it has worked fine.

3) Thinking about adding some sort of sleeve at the bottom for my pad, to ensure it stays snug to the pad at the bottom. Ideas?

Javan Dempsey does this on his own quilt. May be an issue if you move around a lot?

4) I am only 5'6", 150lbs. I am a side to side sleeper. Can I knock off a few inches on the length of the lytw8 quilt and be safe?

Adjusting Jamie's pattern to your height, etc won't hurt. A little extra is useful in layering, but adds weight.

5) I have not found much information on what type of needle I need in the sewing machine. Any good sites to show a newb how to use a sewing machine for this type of project specifically?

I have minimal (& inconsistent) sewing experience, so I'll leave that to the smart folks!

Just found this link – looks to be very helpful on the sewing portion of the project.

http://www.teamgunnparker.com/software/pdf/kickass_quilt.pdf

So, there's no real chance of having the insulation bunch up using Climasheild? what keeps it in place?

BM

I made a quilt just like this earlier this summer.

I'm 5'10, and my quilt is 72" long and perfect. For sizing, I would suggest looking at the Spirit quilt from MLD. That will help you figure out what size you need.

Also, Jamie has a length of 79" I believe. This is longer than you need for sure because he is including extra length for creating baffles for the down.

I have used the nylon from joann before. It is your regular uncoated 1.9oz ripstop nylon but it did seem to unravel a lot. I would definitely suggest 1.1 nylon or the momentum. With these two fabrics, your quilt will come in under 13 oz.

You really don't have to worry about the insulation in this case though as far as bunching. The fabric does tend to shrink and stretch as you move it though, so be sure to pin it where it needs to be before you sew it. If you can roll the seam, like Jamie does, you are fine to layer it fabric, insulation, fabric. But, if you plan to sew it all and then fold it right side in, then it should be fabric, fabric, insulation, so that it unfolds into the correct way. Hopefully that makes sense.

Do you plan to use shock cord or draw cord for the closures?

I started gathering materials, and tracking overall project cost.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AhEsUaudJxrPdHdBTzVZTTVYT084bnNPZ1Nlc0pSQmc&single=true&gid=0&output=html

Anything I am forgetting?

How much insulation have you purchased? You have 1 (yard?) listed, but this may not be enough for you.

Also, if I can suggest, get Omnitape, not the No Snag Velcro. The No Snag Velcro I got at Joann's is very weak. Much weaker than normal hook and loop, I would say.

Also, for the top of that section of velcro, you will need a snap. This will reinforce the velcro and keep it opening again on you as you move in your sleep. They are pretty cheap at Joann.

Ouch! I was not paying enough attention, I meant to purchase 2 yards for a 72"x60" piece. GAH! I just emailed Thru-Hiker, so I am hoping to get that fixed before my order ships.

I have read many people say Omni tape is better, anyone have any sources online aside from JRB (who only sell large amounts)?

Thanks for the input about the button, I will look into that.

Omni tape at Quest

http://www.questoutfitters.com/narrow_roll_goods.htm#HOOK%20&%20LOOP

ThruHiker responded quickly and refunded my order, and I was able to order the 2 yards of Climashield. Phew! Thanks Chris for noticing that.

How can you tell between Omni tape and regular snag free velcro? – I am having a hard with that.

I worked on this over the weekend, and I am 90% done with the top quilt.

Photos on Flickr: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjv76Y3v

I gathered all of my materials and tools on Saturday afternoon. I have never sewn before. I played around with some scrap fabric and decided to roll with it. Measuring everything was pretty tricky. I had a yard stick and a right angle straight edge, but I still ended up triple checking all of my measurements. Marking with the grease pencil was not working that great, so I switched to a sharpie…which in the end was a mistake because I have a couple sharpie marks on my fabric. :( Considering it is a camo print, it is not that noticeable – but still annoying.

After getting the basic measurements of 72" long x 52" wide (2" of seam allowance on both sides)…I layed both sides of fabric on top of the Climashield to trim. I cut in the taper and trimmed that as well. I started tapering down 24" from the top down to the footbox of 38" (again, seam allownance. I ended up with 50" wide at top, 36" wide at footbox, and a 70" length.)

I pinned in the grosgrain loops at the mid section of the quilt, inside the fabric, as I would be inverting the fabric so the insulation would be inside, and the seams would be clean.

The only seam I hemmed on the outside was the footbox, where I rolled it over 2x and created a channel for the shock cord. I would do this differently the next time around I think. I should have trimmed the Climashield better at the footbox, which would have made sewing the hem much easier. Overall it does not look that bad, just not as good as I would want. I then sewed on the velcro at the footbox. If I were to do this again, I would sew this on the bottom side before joining it all together to create a cleaner look. Black thread on camo looks fine I guess.

I then layed it out on the floor, with my daughter and I both testing it out. She swims in it, but shes only 10 :) I am 5'6", 160lbs – and it seems to fit me well.

I decided against a shock cord channel at the neck. Partly because I was not sure how to do it and make it look good, and partly because I don't think I would like having shock cord dangling around my neck while sleeping. I am either going to sew on a simple grosgrain/velcro attachment, or find a snap of some sort. Also I would consider just doing a couple snaps instead of velcro at the footbox on the next one. I have not weighed it yet, but I am guessing somewhere in the 12-14oz range at most. I rolled it and set it beside a bottle for size representation. It could be compressed quite a bit more I think in a bag.

Overall I am happy with the project. I spent $85 which included a bunch of stuff I will use over and over again. It took me 5-6 hours, and I learned a lot. Next time I will need to take a little more time, learn to use the sewing machine a little better, and plan an overall better construction. Was a fun and useful first DIY project tho.

Thanks for all of the ideas and support from this forum!

That looks really good

I don't mind Sharpie marks – reminds me of how I made it – they fade with time