I started putting together a down quilt and for some reason i sew baffles 8" apart. I don't know what i was thinking...I see most of the quilts have baffles spaced from 5-7".
Is this going to be a problem? I only did one side so far so i can still change the design...

The baffle height is 2.5".
Thanks!

That's pretty far apart for proper down control IMO. That probably comes out to 10-11 baffles total? You can overcome it by over-stuffing if you are too far along.

Ryan

There was a discussion recently here about that and most agreed that 7" was spaced too far, 5" being about ideal.
So , yes I would think that 8" is too far.
Franco

Bugger. Undoing the seams for the baffles is probably not a good idea, right? It would compromise the "down-proofness".

What fabric are you using?

Ryan

Momentum M90 (or M50, not 100%sure)

Edited by jackal on 03/01/2012 17:22:11 MST.

Several Jacks R Better quilt owners have had problems with cold spots and down migration within the baffles, it seemed like JRB's preference in using wide baffles in their quilts partially contributed to the problem.

Wide is easier to fabricate and involves less sewing, but not ideal.

If you rip it out it will tend to compromise the fabric

Maybe make 4 inch baffles?

I could do 4"! Anyone see any problems with that?
Thank you all!

The only negative is you'll have a tiny bit extra baffle material because you'll have an extra few baffles in your quilt, but that is insignificant

Agree with Jerry, wouldn't rip the seams out especially if using M50. 4" spacing will work.

Ryan

Edited by ViolentGreen on 03/01/2012 17:48:48 MST.

One other thing, what I like about MYOG is you encounter problems, like you made 8 inch baffles, but then find a solution...

How much loft are you going for? More loft is ok in big baffles, less loft needs smaller baffle spacing. If going for over 3" loft you should be ok, yeah 8" is too big but adding extra down can mitigate that. Make it a winter quilt or if you go 4" reduce the baffle height and do summer. Probably have a hard time getting away with it as a 3 season.

-Tim

So should the baffle width be 2.5 X loft? or something like that

The loft has to be 2.5". Tim, if you think 4" is too narrow, i'll redo the upper layer and make it 5".
Thanks you!

you can do 2.5" in 4", 5.5-6 would be more like what i would plan but in your situation 4 is the way to go. It isn't ideal so my suggestion would allow for two ideal solutions, but it will work fine with 4"

-Tim

baffle spacing isn't the only factor in down control. baffle height also plays a big part. if you want better control reducing either height or width can increase the down control. 2.5" baffles for 2.5" loft isn't my recommendation for good control but then using a 4" width will make up for that so you can adjust those sizes around to find the balance between control and over fill.

-Tim

Great info, thank you Tim. Could you tell us what baffle hight do you think would then be ideal for 2.5" loft with 5.5-6" baffle width? I just assumed it would be 2.5"...
This is great, much appreciated!

reduce the baffle height by the second baffle seam
double the baffles
then it looks at my quilt ,
(with a 1 inch baffle height, I measured 45 mm (about 1,75 inch)
(filled with 400 gr down/that is a lot overfill!)
The baffle wide was 4 inch
With a differential cut you will get less quickly problems, i think

Edited by Ivo on 03/02/2012 09:31:52 MST.

My baffles are 1/2" shorter than desired loft before overstuff. So if the quilt is 2.5" loft I use 2" baffles, but after 10% overstuff the loft is 2.75" or 30% is 3.25" loft still with 2" baffles. This is for KARO baffles which need to be shorter than tubes to give as much control. For tubes .25-.5" shorter than final loft in baffles 5-6" wide should be about perfect. Of course it is all a little subjective.

-Tim