"no sew" ideas for converting Costco throw to quilt

[J R]

Hi, over the winter I picked up a couple of the $20 Costco down throw blankets with the intention of using them on my bed at home and also using them as a pair of lightweight summer quilts for backpacking. I don’t want to sew them because 1) I can’t sew, and 2) for on my bed at home they still need to be rectangular and need to lay flat.

I’m thinking of simply folding each in half and running a line of snaps across the foot end, a few snaps up from the foot to create a flat footbox, and a snap where the two corners meet at the head to go around my neck. In the open channel along my upper legs and torso I could hand-sew a couple of grosgrain loops on each side, each with a female clip to mate to the male clips on my Enlightened Equipment pad straps. Since the overall shape would not be tapered I realize this will cause the blanket to bunch up a bit where it flares out in the body, but for an el-cheapo DIY light summer cover I don’t mind.

My question is simply: any ideas to improve this design, without involving cutting or sewing skills I don’t possess? Thx.

[R]

Verify the length of the quilt against your height.  A 5’10” (70″) long blanket turns in to a very short quilt once you wrap it over your feet at one end and your shoulders at the other.  You may end up wanting a puffy coat, or equivalent to keep your chest/shoulders/arms warm.

An alternative design that comes to mind is to sew a few grosgrain loop across the foot end to string a draw cord, instead of snaps.  To get a good seal, you might want to move the loops a few inches up the quilt, so the cord wraps around the outside of the quilt, rather than hanging off the end, but this will cost you a few inches of length.  Similarly, you could put another cord at the head end.

Hmm – here’s a somewhat more involved way to install a draw cord w/o losing any length.  Many types of thin cord use a kernmantle construction.  Google it if you’re not familiar with it.  It’s a sheath-and-sleeve arrangement.  Cut a few stitches in all the head-to-toe oriented seams across the end of the quilt.  Add a few drops of super glue to keep them from unraveling further.  This opens up a horizontal channel across the end of the quilt.  Thread a piece of cord thru it.  But when you cut the cord, don’t melt the ends – leave all the fibers loose at both ends.  You *could* just call that your draw cord, but now you’re going to be shedding feathers out the two holes at the corners.  To seal them, stitch the cord sheath to the quilt shell.  Now you’ve got a tunnel thru your quilt.  Replace the core fibers of the cord w/ a smaller complete cord and you’re done.  As I said, somewhat more involved, but it will really…  pull the design together.

60″ is sleeping bag girth.  You might have enough room if you just seal the edges to each other all the way up the side.

These Costco quilts have come up on the forums a few times in the past.  Might be worth a look if you haven’t already, but I don’t think anyone has tried a no-sew approach before.  I’m sure others would be interested in your results if you do it.

[J R]

Thanks Rene. Yes I’ve seen the threads about the Costco throw, and I’ve measured myself against the blanket (I’m 5’8” and a side sleeper so usually draw my legs up a bit, I’m good on length).

I thought about running snaps all the way up the side (or bottom) but that would make it just a 30” wide rectangular bag, a little tight for me. I also thought about the grosgrain loops to hold a draw cord but saw the same challenges you do. And while I fit now, I don’t have extra inches to give up by sewing the loops up on the quilt, but good idea.

That’s an interesting idea to create a channel by pulling through a kernmantle cord, gutting the cord, and then using the jacket as a channel. I’m going to think about that, thanks.

Keep in mind this is for warm/mild conditions only, mid-summer nights, so I’m not too concerned about how tightly I seal the footbox and such. If the forecast will be chilly I’ll bring my 3-season EE Enigma.

[R]

Glad that made sense.  I don’t think cord jacket is exactly down proof, so you’ll probably still get some feathers.  You might also try using some heavy fishing line and just forcing it between the stitches w/ a fat needle.  Not sure how well a cordlock will grab that stuff, tho.

It actually wouldn’t take all *that* long to hand stitch a 60″ channel on to the end, especially if you use a heavy upholstery thread and wide stitches.

[Bill Giles]

For me, the Double Black Diamond throw isn’t long enough to make into a quilt. I would need an additional 15 Inches of length to make a footbox and have enough left to get over my shoulders. I have used one as a liner inside my quilt and it seeped to be OK for that. I didn’t need any extra insulation for my feet, so I just held the top even with the top of my quilt. My quilt is made with Climashield 5.0 and is normally good to around 4 – 50 F. With the liner, it was fine to freezing. I  have toyed with the idea of cutting 15 Inches off one quilt and sewing it to another to make a warm weather quilt. I doubt that I would taper it. It just seems like too much work.

[d k]

For slightly taller people, how about using it diagonally as a quilt?

[Aaron Sorensen]

With your height, you can put snaps in a half tapper from 40″ out to the 60″ width half way up the length.

You can break a few stitches along the bottom of the 40″ footbox and burn 2 tiny holes that 40″ apart and string a drawcord through.

I would have the snaps overlap on top of you so you get the benefit of having the overlapping layers on top of you.

[J R]

Thanks for the ideas Aaron. I’m not clear though — the overlap is from where the two ends of the flat blanket are drawn together in the middle, so if the overlap is on top of me then wouldn’t the open “bottom” of the quilt be on top of me as well? In other words, wouldn’t it be upside down to be a backpacking quilt?

[Aaron Sorensen]

Yes, I feel dumb for that one.

The 70″ length is good to about 5′ 5″.  At that height it would come up to just over your chin.

I’ve converted about 40 throws into the quilts and have another 8 left to make up. If you want another one converted, let me know.

[J R]

I saw on the first “gear deals” thread about these Costco throws that you were converting them for folks, sounds like a good deal and a good solution. I’d jump on it as well if it weren’t for the fact that I want to keep these rectangular and flat to use on my home bed. They probably will be all I need for Fall, Winter and Spring in the house, and then they will assume their summer role as backpacking quilt.

I think I’ll proceed with the snaps idea, I have the pliers and materials so should be a simple and straightforward project, and if I change my mind a few errant snaps is no big deal.

But can’t get to it until at least after taxes are due, so still a couple of weeks before I get snap-happy, if anyone has any further ideas. Thanks all!

[Matt Swider]

I will just add that I have used one of Aaron’s quilts and think it is well done.  I have used it outside only twice, both times with another layer, as it has not yet been warm enough overnight to use alone.  I have also used it inside a lot of the winder as a supplement to my normal blanket.  I just pinned it in place and it did a great job adding warmth to my sleep.  While it is no longer rectangular, it is flat (I got the snapped option for the foot box).  I use the wide end at my head and the narrow end at my feet.

[Author]

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