I've started a quilt and am getting ready to sew the baffles and have a question. Should I hem up the ends of the no-seeum and then sew them in or just sew and leave the loose ends of the mesh? I have 12 oz. of down and the baffles are spaced just over 5 in. apart. Any ideas on how high to make the baffles? I was thinking around 2.25 in. Suggestions are welcomed.

Also, I really would like to put a head hole in it like the JRB quilts but am not sure what the best way to go about doing that would be. Any suggestions?

Here is my progress so far:

Edited by drewnc2005 on 05/24/2007 21:23:42 MDT.

A round head hole is harder to sew and will require a tall collar with a drawstring to seal, and the collar will likely be thinner than 2.5 to 3 " loft of the quilt top. A 23-24 inch slit opening (try and measure before you cut, you can always open it up more if need be)can be sealed along it's line with no-snag velcro. A flat collar will tend to fill the pinched cold spot that the slit forms and probably be warmer than a round head hole. The slit opening may not be optimally located halfway down the bag; try mocking it up in plastic of cheap fabric.

2.25 inch sewn baffle height will give you almost 3 inches of loft in the puffy center if you have enough down. At that thickness, a differential cut might be of some use. Also baffles that curve. Anything to allow the down to loft freely. No-see-um netting is knit, so it shouldn't unravel or need ends hemmed. If you are just stitching the liner and shell together you can trim the netting that sticks out. I recommend that. Sewing end baffles is hard and the pinched edge doesn't loose too much warmth.

12 oz of 800 fill down should loft freely to fill 9600 cubic inches. In practice the down may not reach that free loft if your design put's stresses into the shell. I assume you are using 800 fill down from thru-hiker. 12oz in a quilt can easily give you 2 -3 " of loft. How warm the quilt is at those lofts starts to be dominated by volume and draft resistance, how well sealed, your sleeping style, pad insulation, etc.

I hope this helps. Good looking house wolf ;-)

Ok...so I'm almost finished with the quilt. I've sewn in all of the baffles and sewn up three sides (leaving one long one) and am about to start stuffing down. That's when I realized I need a SCALE!

QUESTION: Where do I get one? Any recommendations on what brand, model, etc.? I guess I'll need one that will be fairly sensitive (maybe .1 oz.)?

Thanks in advance for the help...

PS
Neil, thanks for the tips - they came in handy while making the quilt.

Hey Drew,
I wish I saw this post earlier.
I could have saved you a ton of time that it looks like you sent on it, (and some unnecessary weight as well).
Go to E-bay for the scale.
There are several types with good descriptions of them.

I can at least tell you a good way not to get down all over the place.
Use the back corner of your bathroom and tape up a large trash bag on both sides, (about a foot and a half up) letting it hang a little where it will face you.
Fill the trash bag up about half way or even a little more as long as its not spilling over.

Use a vacuum extension to stuff your down into and something like a broom handle to push it out into the bottom of each void.

All you need to do is put the vacuum attachment on the scale before you turn it on and it will zero out so you don't have to adjust for the weight of the attachment.

The trash bag makes a dead air space for the down.
I managed to only spill 2 lofted cups worth of down on my last project.

Edited by awsorensen on 05/27/2007 21:04:07 MDT.

Aaron,

I wish you would have seen this thread earlier, too! I didn't figure out a way to save my down until my last two baffles. Oh well - I know for next time.

Anyway, here is a picture of the quilt stuffed and ready for finishing touches (seams, velcro, drawcords, etc.)

Do you have a picture of the finished product. The last photo looked cool but there were still a couple of steps to go to finish.

Where did you buy your nylon? What kind is it?

Scott, I cant say how thrilled I am with the service and timely responses to my questions (such as yours) that I have recieved from AYCE (paul) at Thru-hiker.
It seems to me to be one of the better fabric sources. When it comes to down, go to Ed Speer- his 900 down is fantastic! I used 2 oz to overstuff a JrB sniveller (at 10 baffles, 5.7 g each) and it lofted up perfectly. The extra 2 oz of Speer's down (which came with a lab certified 927fp document) filled all of the open space in each baffle but without hampering the loft- I measured an even 3 1/2 inches (a 1 inch gain in loft, overall for a mere 2 ounces) over the past few "field" uses, finding at least a 12-15 degree temp gain. This quilt will easily push 25 degrees for me. Im a cold sleeper. Anyway, Speer isnt paying me to advertise any more than I already have :) so just buy it.

Momentum 90- ripstop from Thru-Hiker. I like it.

another idea, use your gram scale with a small trash can (bathroom size)on it and place Speer's 3oz. down bag inside. Weigh the whole mess and use a vaccuum hose w/ a piece of taped pantyhose at the end, where the hose attaches to the vaccuum. when you suck enough down to fill a chamber, the scale will give your measurement in - (negative) weight. Remove the hose and tap, or blow the down into the chamber. Tare the scale and repeat. This method lost maybe 20 down clusters that were easily sucked from the air without confining yourself to a tent, a bathroom or any other silly method. Pick a big a workspace as you want. I used a small 1 gallon shop vac with a 2" by 20" hose extension.
*note: dont use a powerful shop vac for this method!
dont taste the down! It doesnt taste like chicken!

Edited by fairweather8588 on 02/24/2008 15:50:37 MST.