amount of quilting
 

After reading Gildan's message about the amount of machine quilting making a quilt stiff, I wonder if machine quilting with minimal stitching on a domestic machine such as stitch in the ditch (10 stitches per inch or so) would give a similar soft feel. Your thoughts please.

My thoughts are. . .

that I get so tired of the old line about lots of quilting making a quilt stiff.

That is simply not the case in my experience. I quilt heavily -- like 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart all over my quilts and they have a lovely soft drape. The choice of fabrics and batting plays some part, as does the weight of thread, but really, what will it take to get this idea out of y'alls heads that heavy quilting equals stiff?

I completely agree with RST. I quilt fairly densely, because I like the look, and my quilts are not stiff. I think people have jumped to this conclusion without actually having the opportunity to feel a densely quilted quilt.

Heavy quilting means less puff (i.e., a flatter quilt), because you're compressing the air out of the batting with your stitching. These flatter, less puffy quilts don't feel as squishy as a lightly quilted quilt. Maybe that is what people mean by 'stiff'.

A large-piece quilt with high-loft batting machine-stitched only in the ditch comes out quite puffy and airy.

In thinking about the purpose of the quilt, dense quilting that compresses the air out of the batting will reduce the insulating qualities of the quilt so that it is not as warm. This might be a plus In a warm climate and a negative in a cold climate.

I wondered that too -- does more dense quilting make a quilt less warm?

If that proves to be true, then I should quilt DH side of the quilt really dense and my side minimally. Just thinking;)

It just depends on what YOU prefer. I prefer the LOOK of hand quilting when I approach machine quilting on my Bernina. I don't prefer the minimalist nor the heavy quilting. I like the quilting to enhance my piecing, not to be a distraction.

I am going to challenge the theory of lightly quilted, puffy quilts being warmer too. Not in my experience. Maybe the puffy comforter style quilts stay on you in bed easier, or you prefer the lighter feel, but actual warmth? I'd want to do some scientific evaluations to see measurable difference .

It has a lot to do with what kind of batting you are using. If you like high loft, poly batting, then you will have a puffy quilt and it will be quite warm, and generally, that poly-batt is not best served with a lot of quilting. That's why people liked poly batting so much in the 70's and 80s -- freedom from quilting requirements.

But now there's a more widely-held aesthetic of quilting where the quilting is an intrinsic part of the design, and to showcase that, cotton blend, lower loft battings and finer threads work beautifully and result in warm but highly drapable quilts.

If you want a lot of poof, like a comforter, then quilt only the most minimal amount prescribed on the batting-- like 18 inches. Or tie the quilt. Replicate what you see on a store bought comforter from Ikea or Target. Usually quilters are not aiming to make comforters, though.

Certainly warmth isn't the only purpose for a quilt. However, if warmth is an issue, insulating properties of the batting is important. A law of physics is that trapped air conserves body heat. That is why wool is warm. Wool fibers trap a lot of air. Down also traps a lot of air. If the air is compressed out, the quilt will not provide as much warmth as a quilt with more trapped air. That is my understanding of physics. Perhaps someone else interprets this law of physics differently than I do. We make quilts to our own likes and needs and they are all beautiful and functional in their own unique way.