Sometimes machine quilting your quilt is just not in the cards, and you’ve determined that learning how to tie a quilt is the perfect solution. 

Maybe you’re in a rush, or your next quilt’s materials just came in and you don’t want to wait for this project to be finished, or maybe you are running out of thread and are just to lazy to go to the store (maybe that ones just me).

Or maybe you just like the nostalgic vintage feeling that a tied quilt gives. 

Whatever the reason, this quilt is simply destined to be tied and now it’s time to determine how exactly you want to go about it. 

Did you know that not all tying has to be done by hand? Or with yarn? Or even using a simple knot?

The world is your oyster when it comes to tying your quilt and it no longer has to be a simple knot if you like a little spice in your quilts!

So today I’m going over how to tie a quilt many different ways, with different materials, and even a few variations of each method thrown in for good measure to get your creative juices flowing. 

Why do you tie a quilt

First thing’s first. Why do people tie quilts. 

Starting at the beginning with the fundamentals, a quilt needs some sort of support through the center to keep the batting from disintegrating throughout the center. 

When I was a kid, I remember my grandma had this really old comforter that had a whole bunch of batting that migrated to the corners. There was almost not batting through the center and just wads and wads of batting at the edges and corners. 

Over the years, washings, and use, the batting was not secured enough through the center and it slowly started to break apart and just move around freely throughout the inside of the comforter. 

To avoid that in our future quilts, we have to secure the layers to the batting to provide a support system.

While most quilters opt for top stitch quilting, the minimum you need is actually much less dense and allows you to simply tack the layers together periodically throughout the quilt which lead to quilt tying!

Tying a quilt allows you to provide that support to the batting while also being a very quick, cheap, and easy method to finish a quilt. Here’s a few reasons why you might prefer to tie your quilt:

• You are in a rush and want a quick finish
• You simply don’t like top stitching
• You ran out of thread to top stitch with and don’t want to leave the house (is that just me?)
• You’ve already gone shopping for your next quilt and are more excited to start that project than quilt this quilt
• You just like the hand quilted charm of a tied quilt.

Whatever your reason, tying your quilt is a fantastic way to finish off the project with a bang. 

How far apart should you tie a quilt

No matter what material you use to tie, what stitch you might embroider, or what method you like, this next section applies to everyone. 

How densely do I really need to tie?

Check the packaging of your batting, however most batting requires a tie at least every 4 inches across the quilt in any direction. 

Not a fan of pulling out the ruler to perfectly measure? Me neither.

The rule of thumb is if you put your hand down anywhere on the quilt it should be covering at least one tie – more is better. 

To be sure that you are tying densely enough to support the batting inside all you have to do is make your first tie where ever you like, using whichever method below you like, and then cover it with your hand! 

Then choose the location for your next tie somewhere just around the outside of your hand. 

You can do this randomly or you can make this more methodical in a grid fashion across your blocks. 

The decision is up to you! 

Whether its your first time or your hundredth time tying a quilt, the next few methods are going to start from the very basics for the beginner quilt tier and then work my way up to some tricker variations for the seasoned quilt tier looking for some inspiration.

I’ll also include a few hacks here and there to help make the quilt tying process go quicker so you don’t want to chop your fingers off from all of the tying 😛

How to tie a quilt using yarn

This is the classic way to tie a quilt. This method will give you that antique hand-tied look to your quilt and although none of these variations are terribly hard, this is the technique that most quilt tiers start with. 

Start off by grabbing a rather long length of yarn. The less times you have to thread your needle the better so the longer you use, the less time you’ll have to thread it. 

Just make sure it’s not so long it becomes unmanageable. 

Using a hand quilting needle with a larger eye, thread your yarn through it. 

Once you’ve decided where your ties will be throughout your quilt, start at the first location and starting from the top, push the needle down to the back of the quilt and back up to the front about 1/4”-1/2” away. 

Pull the yarn through the quilt, but be careful not pull it all the way through. Leave a tail of at least 2-3 inches on the top of the quilt from where you entered. 

Snip off the long length of yarn leaving at least 2-3 inches on the other side of the stitch as well. 

Using the two ends of the yarn left on top of the quilt, tie a double knot to secure the tack in place. 

A Hack to Make it Quicker

Start by cutting a long length of yarn and thread the yarn through like you did the first time leaving a 2-3 inch tail on top of the quilt. 

Instead of cutting off the yarn and tying now, go over to your next location to tie. Repeat the process, simply pulling the yarn through until just before you start pulling out the previous tack. 

Keep going until you run out of yarn length. 

Once you’ve threaded all of the tacking points as far as you can go, go back through and using scissors, snip the yarn between your tacking points to separate the ties. 

Now go back through and knot all of the ties. 

Not stopping between each tack will make the process go by significantly quicker.

This process for tying with yarn can be done with any material you like. Although I’m going to show you some different ways later one, this classic method can be done using embroidery floss or ribbon as well. 

Quilt Tying Alternatives: How to tie a quilt without knots

So you don’t want to sit there and tie knots on top of your quilt all day with little tassels hanging off of it. 

Maybe you want the simplicity of tying your quilt without the tediousness of physically making the knots. 

Or maybe you just want something more secure, a bit subtler, or just more modern. 

Either way, you have two great alternative options. 

• Machine Tacking
• Embroidery stitches

Machine tacking is an easy way to tie your quilt using your sewing machine instead of tying by hand, and using an embroidery stitch allows you to have a little fun with an embellishing design without having to tie knots everywhere. 

And if you like the look of a tied quilt and simply don’t want to do the hand stitching, I have a great fun hybrid coming up that combines the look of a hand tied quilt with the speed and security of a machine tied one. 

Embroidery Stitches: Tying a quilt with embroidery floss

Tying your quilt using embroidery stitches is (in my opinion) the easiest way to add immediate hand quilted charm to your quilt without committing to an entire quilt worth of hand quilting. 

If you are interested in getting into hand quilting and aren’t sure if it’s for you, tying. Quilt with an embroidery stitch is a fantastic way to dip your toes in the hand quilting water.

In the example photo above, I used a simple “X” in the center of the blocks of this baby quilt to tack my layers together. 

There are tons of other great decorative embroidery stitches you can use to tie your quilts, some include:

• Leaf motif
• Satin stitch
• Star stitches

Interested in seeing examples of these stitches? Check out this great guide from Hailey Stitches for these and more!

How many embroidery floss strands should I use 

The idea is to go for a strength that will last, so when tying your quilts with embroidery floss, it’s ideal to go with all 6 strands of the floss. 

For my baby blanket above, I knew the quilt would be washed fairly regularly (as all baby items typically are) so I went for the added strength of doubling up my stitches and have 12 strands going in each direction. 

If you are tying a quilt that will be more of a “show” piece, hung on the wall, used in the living room, or any other use that is a lower wear and tear setting, 6 strands will be more than enough to keep you secure through the decades. 

How to tie a quilt by machine

Tying a quilt by machine is a great method of tying quilts when you need something done quickly, or you want it done very cleanly. 

Part of the charm of a hand tied quilt is the rustic quality of the frayed ends to the yarn or embroidery thread. 

But sometimes thats simply not the look we are going for. Tying a quilt by machine gives you a clean finished look without the fuss of tying each tack by hand. 

And with each tack actually being many stitches on top of each other, machine tying a quilt is, by far, the most secure quilt tying option in this list. 

So how do we accomplish this machine quilt tying?

The concept is actually very simple once you break it down. All we are going to do is a zig zag stitch that only goes a few stitches forward, a few backward, and a few forward again. 

The dense zig zags will cross over themselves and actually look like a thick band of thread tying everything together. 

So to do this, set your stitch dial to zig zag, and set your stitch width as wide as it will go and your stitch length a relatively smaller number – closer to 2. 

You can play with these settings on a scrap piece of fabric to make sure you have things set the way you like them before starting. 

Then all you have to do it go forward and backward a few stitches and break the thread! 

Fun Variations on Machine Tying

Although my personal machine is limited to decorative stitches that work in a line, many higher end machines have decorative stitches that are actually motifs! 

Your machine may have preprogrammed stitches like hearts or leaves that the machine can automatically stitch for you that you can use as your quilt ties. 

The key to using these (if your machine has the option) is to set the machine to that stitch motif, start the stitch and then press the button to only complete one stitch. 

Your machine will know where the end of the motif is and automatically stop after a single motif so you don’t continue making the design in rows across your quilt. 

This one is fun to play around with so see what your machine has and tie away! Your creativity is only limited by the choices on your machine 🙂

Tying a quilt with ribbon

Ribbon can be used to tie quilts using the classic method we looked at using yarn earlier, however the one thing that can be a bummer about tying a quilt with ribbon is that it is definitely one of the least secure options on this list. 

Because of the thickness of it, its tough to get a strong knot and a secure stitch. 

A great hack exists for this though. A hybrid between the machine tying and the hand tying look, you can literally have your cake and eat it too with this next method, and while it is ideal for using with ribbon, you can use this method for yarn or embroidery floss as well. 

Start by cutting lengths of ribbon about 4-5 inches long. One for each tie you want to make on the quilt. 

Bring your quilt over to the sewing machine and set the needle up at your first tie location using the same zig zag stitch settings from earlier, but don’t start stitching yet. 

Grab your first piece of ribbon and twist it once or twice in the center. Set the twisted ribbon half way through the machine so the needle is in the middle of the ribbon length. 

All we want to do is zig zag stitch over the ribbon to keep it in place, just like you’d do if you were machine tying your quilt. Take a few zig zag steps forward, backward and forward again, and break your thread. 

Ribbon tears and frays easily so all we are trying to do is trap the ribbon under the zig zag of the stitches, not actually put the needle through the ribbon. 

Note: I had to adjust my stitch width down to meet the width of the ribbon. Too wide of a stitch will expose your machine stitches around the ribbon. Adjusting your zig zag width down to only be as wide as your ribbon will help hide them. 

Once your tack is made, you can go ahead and knot your ribbon like usual! 

This method is great because it gives you the security of a machine tack, but the look of a hand tie, which is most definitely the best of both worlds!

Do you tie a quilt before or after binding

Typically whatever quilting method you use should be completed before binding. 

During the quilting precess (especially when machine quilting) it is common to get stretching in your quilt top that pushes it out of shape. 

Related:
How to Square a Quilt

Additionally when you are quilting, you want to start off the edge of the quilt as often as possible to avoid loose ends of your threads in the center of your quilt later on. 

The tying process does not usually distort your quilt shape as significantly as machine quilting, however, it can cause a bit of a tuft to your quilt edge that you may want to square up.

Waiting to bind until after you’ve finished tying your quilt will give you the flexibility to adjust if necessary. 

No need to gamble when you don’t have to, you’ve already spent a ton of time piecing the top and tying all those knots. You deserve to be 100% happy with it by the end. Binding ahead of time throws a potential risk into the mix that you just don’t need. 

How to tie a surgeon’s knot for quilting

When you are constantly washing a quilt, or giving it to a child, or simply know its going to be a very “loved” quilt, you want to be sure that those ties aren’t going to untie at any point. 

Many quilters that tie quilts search for the most secure knot to use in their quilt tying. 

Introducing: The surgeon’s knot

It’s very simple and only a slight difference from the normal double knot you are used to. 

Create your first knot like you would tying a shoe, except before you tighten it down, twist the ends around a second time. THEN tighten it down. 

Tie your second knot like you would any regular double knot. Nothing new to add to the second half. 

Not too crazy right?

So let’s talk about why this knot is relevant to both quilter’s AND surgeons. 

Adding in the extra twist at the beginning gives you more surface area of the yarn, thread, suture material, etc. touching in your knot. 

This means that the yarn has to overcome more friction before it can come untied and this is helpful in two ways to us quilters. 

It isn’t as likely to loosen up in-between our first and second knot giving us a nice tight knot right up against the quilt top as opposed to a loosey-goosey tie that you can see daylight through. 

It also helps later on for the same reason as more surface area make it harder to unravel in the future after many washes. 

While a double knot is usually plenty for a quilt tying adventure, if you find the material you are trying to tie with is particularly prone to loosening, this surgeon’s knot may be the perfect answer to making the process easier. 

What is the best thing to tie a quilt with

Bringing this around full circle here, which of these methods are best? This is simply one quilter’s opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. 

The best thing to tie a quilt with, is the machine tying method.

It’s by far the most secure, and least likely to come apart over time. What’s the point of using fancy materials to tie quilts with if they are just going to unravel, or fall apart in the first couple of years? 

We aren’t making these quilts to be disposable, these should last for generations! Using a machine tack will make sure those layers stay together as long as possible. 

I do however, LOVE the hybrid method combining a traditional tie with a machine tack. I don’t love the idea of sacrificing the look of a hand tied quilt simply for stability, so I love that the hybrid method allows you to get both. 

The look of hand-tied quilt with the security of machine tacked. 

So what’s the best material to use? While ribbon certainly looks nice, yarn or embroidery floss are far more secure over time. 

Does that mean you can’t use ribbon, no not at all, this is your quilt, and it will certainly hold. Just be sure to make sure your ribbon ends are secured so they don’t begin to fray too soon. 

Time to Try It Out!

You’ll be needing a project now to get started practicing your quilt tying! 

And I’ve got the perfect one for you, and its free!

If you liked this article and want more quilting tips and tricks sent straight to your inbox, be sure to sign up for our newsletter below and as a welcome I’ll send you a free copy of our Vichy quilt pattern to get started tying those quilts!