How to Make Your Own Tie Quilt for Girls

A tie quilt is traditional enough to please Grandma, but easy enough to keep your daughter happy.

Certain craft projects give parents a feeling of pride accompanied by a guilty sense of dread. "You're making a rug for the front hall out of recycled newspaper and old magazines? That's great, honey." Other projects are actually simple enough for a child to make, yet sophisticated enough to look beautiful without appearing obviously homemade. A quilt is one such project, and with an easy-to-do "tie" finish, you can proudly display your daughter's craft without that ill-concealed grimace.

Things You'll Need

• Quilt layers
• Pen or pencil
• Needle and thread
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Place the top layer of your quilt on a flat surface upside-down and smooth it out.

2. Place the middle layer of your quilt, which is usually the stuffing, on top of the first layer and line it up perfectly.

3. Put the bottom layer on top, also upside-down, and line up all three layers.

4. Mark where you want the ties to go with a pen or pencil. Make your marks 4 to 6 inches apart, going around the entire border of the quilt. These marks are visible on the bottom of your quilt, so keep them very small and light.

5. Thread your needle and place it into the first mark at one corner of your quilt. Pull the needle out the back of the quilt until all the thread comes through except for about 2 inches.

6. Place the needle back into the same spot, or as close as you can get, and pull all the way through.

7. Put the needle into the next spot on your quilt and pull it all the way through. Place it back into that spot and pull it back to the original side, pulling the thread all the way through.

8. Continue around the entire quilt, repeating Step 7 all the way around.

9. Cut off the excess thread, leaving about 2 inches after the last spot.

10. Make a cut with your scissors in the middle of every stitch, centered in between the two marks, so every mark has two 2- to 3-inch pieces of thread sticking out.

11. Tightly tie the two pieces of thread sticking out of the first mark together, creating a double knot. Cut off the excess thread.

12. Repeat with the other marks.

Tips & Warnings

• To make your quilt more secure, add more rows across the middle of the quilt.

References

• Quilt Smart: Quiltsmart 101: Completing Your Quilt
• You Tube: How to tie a quilt
• Mary Quilts: How to tie a HeartStrings Quilt