MYOG Summer Quilt: 2.5oz Apex

That thing looks great.

And wow that is a really good finished weight.
I really need to get around to sewing a 2.5 apex quilt.

Anthony

K&P

I could probably have gotten it an ounce or two lighter if I didn't cheap out on the fabric and got Argon 67 or Nobul instead

AndE,

That IS a great weight!

Sorry to drift your thread a bit, but as I'm about to make one similar I've been thinking about the footbox:

do you use quilts opened up? Most of the quilts I've used don't have sewn footboxes but I've NEVER used the feature. Therefor I've debated sewing it for simplicity and weight.

Will I regret it for such a light, warmer weather quilt?

Thanks – I always enjoy viewing your projects.

Todd

On contemplated the same thing. On my summer quilt I used a sewn toolbox, but I only sewed it 8" up. Enough to form a footbox, but still easy to throw a leg out if I get hot.

Thanks Nathan!

Upon reading your post I realized that I have subconsciously been taking an "all or nothing" approach to sewing it…ha!

A short sewn section would be ideal. THank you for that.

I thought about sewing the footbox for this one, but decided to go with the usual drawstring closure instead as the extra materials only added ~0.3oz (I only used a 5" long section of 1/2" wide Velcro to cut weight).

I have used my other quilts with the foot box open, so I probably will miss it if I had made it sewn up.

That said, best way to save weight would be to go with lighter fabric, like Argon or Nobul, even 1.0 Impetus (marginally lighter), all of which feels much softer/silkier than the 1.1oz 30D I used (but used it because it's half the price).

Lllghhghhlllghhh Kimchee….

Oh, yeah and the quilt looks nice too.

For a Summer quilt, i would just sew a small piece of fabric on the bottom for a sleeve to put my feet in.

Justin,

Can you please elaborate about the sleeve? I have a couple of ways to do this in my mind and can't pin down what you are describing.

Thanks

First, i would only do it for a summer quilt that won't see temps lower than 40* F or so, but the idea is to take a piece of fabric, a few feet long or so, roughly match it to the end of the quilt and sew around on the outside of the perimeter on the bottom.

A fabric sleeve to put your feet in. The nice thing about doing this vs sewing up the foot box area, you're not losing much length at all. Course, it won't keep your feet as warm as the former, but we're talking warmer temps anyways. If you make your quilt more trapezoidal shaped, then also really easy to do.

You could also narrow the quilt more than usual doing this, saving some weight.

Andy, I always enjoy seeing your MYOG projects, top notch as usual. I actually just got rid of my Apex 5oz quilt too, it was just too warm for my summer trips.

I'm going to make a 2.5oz Apex quilt and just as you said, layer up if need be! Great weight too.

Todd,

Here's something else to take into consideration, I made a 2.5 Apex quilt with the usaull draw cord and snaps up about 18", just below the knee, I too thought about a closed foot box, but I also wanted to use this light summer quilt over my winter downn quilt as a vapor barrier.

In my winter set up I am inside a Borahgear Bivy, then on top of me, 1st is my down quilt, then I open the 2.5 and spread it over the top off the down quilt, to keep any moisture off of the down quilt, I tried it with the foot box closed but it compress's the down quilt to much in the foot box.

This set up worked great a few years back when we were in Yosimte with temps down into the single digits, me and my son were in bivy's inside a 2 man tent to try and stay warm enough, we had the fly on the tent with the vestibules closed up against the tent to try and keep in the heat, needless to say that caused a lot of condensation on the inside of the tent.

When I woke up my down quilt was dry as a bone , but the syn. was soaked to the point that I could almost ring out the water, this worked just like it was supposed to, point being, don't think of a summer quilt just as a summer quilt, and if you use it for layering in winter the open foot box comes in handy so you don't compress your down quilt.

Just a thought, good luck with your project, and "NICE WORK ANDY, AS ALWAYS".

Jack

As Jack said, the summer quilt can be multi use.

I used my 5.0 quilt at home this past winter just sitting on the couch/napping. It's much lighter/warmer than any blanket I've got at home and I hate/almost never turn up the heat.

Thanks, Jack! I'm tempted to gut my down quilt and have another go at it now that my sewing skills have improved a lot. I'll probably get around to it before winter.

I've never used a quilt that can open up, mine is closed and the footbox goes up a fair way-I like that. With a quilt or a mummy sleeping bag (unzipped) its not hard to throw a leg out/in as required. I used a OC rated down mummy bag on a big trip, started in summer in southern africa… you get used to using it for what you need. If say you are in desert conditions, you could start sleeping at 25 or 30C, then over the next few hours it drops down to 10C or lower. Heck that's possible in mountains too if weather blows in. I'd much rather start leaving the bag off or partially on me, then just pull it on a bit at a time. Easier to put your feet in an already formed footbox that search around half asleep zipping up a zipper and a draw cord.

That's me anyway :-)

Damn nice quilt AND E. I loved the look of your down hoods. You totally have me tempted to do a 2.5 apex quilt with my Nanna, I'll definitely use the Argon 67 :-)

Andy,

I'm planning a quilt too, and I have questions about neck taper. I notice you've made a few now. I think on your Jalapeno quilt, your neck taper went from a 52 width 44 neck (so a taper in of 8 inches) to now a more aggresive 49 to 37 (12 inch) taper. How does that work out for you?

37 does sound small on paper, though I just messed around with a piece of cloth, without measuring, thinking what is the smallest I would be happy with at the neck, and then when I measured I came up with about 29 inches…and I am not super skinny (90kg, 102cm chest, buff shoulders haha). So that would suggest to me that something aggressive like 52 down to 35 or so might work.

Looking at a pic of one of Javan's old quilts, he made some with some pretty aggressive looking tapers at the neck.

Cheers, you have me inspired to have a crack :-)

Adam

Hey Adam,

The aggressive neck taper will work fine. If you're using quilt straps or will add optional ones, be sure to place them far enough down/away from the neck so that it won't constrict your shoulder when it's wrapped around you.

My to straps near the shoulder area is almost too high, I only have a little bit of shoulder wiggle room, but it's enough for me since it'll only be strapped to my sleeping pad if a cold snap his when I'm not planning on it (so very rarely).

My neck taper begins from about 5-6" down from the neck.

That's good news.

Good tip on the strap placement, I haven't thought about that yet, apart from design; I'm going to go with a system that allows the quilt to not have to strap right to the edge of the pad (kind of katabatic style).

Cheers!

The strap system I use on my quilts is very similar to the Katabatic (but with flat elastic and ladder lock flat/low profile buckles.

You can see the details of it on my Jalapeño write up and also in Amy's lovebird twin quilt writeup. I have a video on YouTube that shows it in greater detail (just search for quilt attachment straps and you should be able to find it).

DIY Gear Supply sells the flat buckles (but not the 1/2" size, for those you'll have to buy from Seattle Fabrics $0.50 each but shipping might cost you unless they charge actual USPS shipping).

Many may know this already but I recently discovered that when it comes to hardware, Amazon can be a great source. I was having some trouble finding the ITW G hooks without getting ripped off on shipping. On a whim I checked Amazon and found them with free shipping. Just now I checked center release buckles. they had a pack of ten 1/2" buckles for $7.68. Sometimes you have to dig a little. And I'd rather buy them from the cottage folks at the same time I buy my fabrics. but when shipping is significantly more than the cost of the product it certainly makes me look for other avenues.

Nice lookin build!

Great thread! Thanks.