DIY Quilt Advice

[SLaCowboy]

Looking for advice. This will be my first sewing project. I have read through numerous post. Im 6'5" 275 side sleeper/ toss and turn so I've decided to try a quilt. I'm going to go the apex route. I'm looking for advice on which inner and out material to use based on others experience? Also what size thread would you recommend?

 

[Sturgies]

Ripstopbytheroll.com offers samples of fabric. I highly recommend narrowing down what performance you are wanting amd then getting a couple samples to see if your skin likes it. That site has a page that explains different material and manufacturing process as well.
I went with a different material for the inner vs outer. The inner I used was billed as super soft and great skin feel, but I sleep with it 'inside out' cuz it doesn't feel right. The sample is worth it in my eyes

 

[Foster_65]

I just did the same. I went with 3 inch baffles and around 20 oz of down. My quilt ended up 58 wide and 85 long with a 43 in foot box. I used 1.1 rip stop outer shell and 1.0 hyper d inner. Looking back I woulda prolly just went 1.1 or if I wanted lighter I woulda went with .67 membranes from rsbtr. I made a zipper foot box with cinch. Used about 2/3 taper with horizontal baffles running 30 in from the bottom and vertical baffles on the rest. Turned out really well. I bought down from down linens and rsbtr. It’s expensive but worth it. I used 800 fp. You can get it much cheaper on Amazon but I heard the fp is not what tgey advertised. Mine turned out really well. I used about 15% overstuff and feel I could used a couple oz more down but it still lofts alittle more than 3 in.
All this being said I woulda been money ahead buying from a cottage vender. I really like the ugq quilts. It takes a lot of time just messing around with the little stuff and the prices for all the little stuff adds up to with about 75 -100 bucks for a comparable quilt ordered from a vendor. Just from a time point I don’t think it was worth it and I had my wife do all the sewing for me.
It’s not an overly hard project just time consuming. Looking back I mighta went with a half taper and overstuffed a bit more.
If you look on rsbtr website they have a projects tab that outlines other folks who built quilts and the materials they used. It was helpful. I also recommend going with the sizing of these other quilt vendors. I’m 6’3 and my 85 in quilt will go to my forehead with me stretched straight and foot box cinched. Also my 85 inches is with quilt unzipped and in cinched laying flat and pulled tight. A assume roughly 80 inches all zipped up. I feel like that is plenty long.

 

[AKSandman]

I sewed up a couple on a regular table top machine. Dealing with the insulation is a pita! I took a coke can and cut a nice sized square of aluminum (rounded the edges) and hot glued it to the sewing Maching foot to help it float on top of the insulation as I sewed. For a 5’11” guy that weighs about 200 lbs I made the bag the following dimensions. (If you go more than 58” wide you will need to sew two pieces of fabric together because the usable width for most fabrics is 58”)

84Lx 58Wx main body

22Lx46W foot box

I used this fabric:

1.0 oz HyperD™

HyperD is our custom developed line of lightweight diamond grid nylon. Designed for superior performance and feel, HyperD is incredibly strong yet still very soft to the touch. At 1.0 oz, this fabric gives you a lighter alternative to more common 1.1 oz weights while retaining maximum...

ripstopbytheroll.com

I used 7.5 oz climaashield insulation (10F rating)

your thread will depend on your machine and fabric you use. Ask the company you buy the fabric from what thread to use.
The drawing shows the layout of what the fabric/insulation cutout looks like prior to sewing. You will still need to make an oval end piece for the footbox.
The top diagram shows how to lay out your fabric and insulation for sewing. When you turn your quilt right side out, the bottom layer of fabric will end up on top of your insulation. Things get kind of tricky when you sew the footbox up and add a yoke where the quilt edges come together at the footbox, but if you think it through and have a good seamripper you should be good

 

[CB1]

I used 1.9oz nylon for my first “summer quilt”. It was a bit heavier but mainly wanted to test out on cheaper materials to see how the material worked and the sewing machine. Worked great. Feels fine on the skin, maybe not as soft as what others have mentioned. I used gutterman Mara from rsbtr.

 

[CB4]

Made one a year ago. Used HyperD uncalendared. Uncalendared is the key. I mistakenly ordered calendared and the bag would puff up like a baloon. Also try and make it 6-8 inches longer than you think you will need. Not only do you lose some to sewing but once flipped the insulation thickness takes up some length.