Read to Quilt - Need Help with How

And the answer is...... it depends! VBG A walking or even feed foot is the easiest way to machine quilt- you don't have the learning curve like you have for free-motion quilting. First consideration, if your intersections of seams do not match perfectly, SITD isn't the easiest way to quilt it. Every time you approach an intersection, you'd have a decision to make about which way to go. If you want to use a grid, it would be easier to go thru the middle of each 6 in. block- vertically and horizontally. You could eyeball that, measure and mark with masking tape or a quilt marking pen of some type, or use the little arm thingy that usually comes with most machines- you line up the previous sewing line or seam and run the arm along the length as a guide while you sew the quilting stitches. Starting in the middle and working your way to the edges is what is most often recommended. Alternating top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top is optional. I'd think that would be asking for trouble but YMMV. If you want to quilt on the diagonal, then quilting corner to corner of each 6 in. block would be easiest- use one of the methods I described above. Starting in the middle and working towards the edges would be the same as V & H quilting. Your batting should tell you on the package how far apart you can safely quilt it. Warm & Natural allows you to quilt 6 to 12 inches apart, if I remember correctly. Some battings only allow the quilting to be two inches apart. Any more questions? ;-) Good luck!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

On Feb 20, 8:04 pm, "tnhelen" wrote:

I think I may have less problem with vertical and horizontal. I have purchased the walking foot for my machine but never used it so I definitely must practice with it.

So I can just forget SITD and do the grid? The instructions on the batting say 3.5 inches.

If I do vertical and horizontal - do you mean I would quilt each block vertical and horizontally individually? Or go the whole length vertically from top to bottom starting in the middle? If I do it this way, can I do all the vertical quilting before starting the horizontal? I guess I don't know what method to use (which way to go when) so it won't pucker.

Thank you so much for answering these questions.

The easiest thing to do is sew a straight diagonal line from corner to corner on each block to make a X in each block. If you have sashing between the blocks, stop sewing at the edge of the block, do a few anchoring stitches, lift the needle and move the quilt over to sew the next block, skipping the sashing. Go back and snip the thread that crosses the sashing areas after you are done quilting. You can do that without needing to draw out a grid pattern to follow, and it looks pretty good too. Debra in VA See my quilts at

Maybe I am making it all too hard but seems like it gets harder and harder as I go along. One thing for sure Quilting is NOT FOR WIMPS!!!

Thanks.

OK, take a deep breath now ... and another. See, I bet you feel better already.

First of all: if this is your first quilt, so what if you get one or two tiny puckers on the back? My first one (and a few more after that!) did, and it is still dearly loved by the 4.5 year old!

This is what I would do:

Decide if you want to quilt vertical, horizontal, diagonal or whatever. But make it a patter where you can stitch from edge to edge of quilt without tying of - much easier for a start. You might consider doing vertical and then diagonal for a "hanging diamonds" look (I think that's what it is called).

Then you stitch - this is how I'd do it:

Vertical: Start in the middle of the top edge of the quilt, stitch to the bottom, stop, cut thread. Move back to the top, and across to the right a bit (depending on how close you want it), and stitch again.

Now, why not do as you suggested, by going down, then up? Two reasons, I can think of: (1) You will pull the fabric in different directions on each pass, may not matter if you baste well, but I wouldn't personally take that chance and (2) you have to handle bulk of quilt differently - if you do it the way I suggest, you first roll up the right hand side of the quilt, and then just gradually unroll a bit of it each time you go back to the top to start a new stitching line.

Once you've gone all the way to the right hand edge of the quilt, turn the quilt around and stitch from the bottom, but in a similar fashion.

Then you can do the horizontal/diagonal quilting.

Some people do advocate doing first of all an "anchoring cross" (middle vertical _and_ middle horizontal) of the quilt, but I have not had good experience with that for the sort of overall grids I'm talking about here.

When you stop and cut the thread, you can also check for major puckers - better to discover them sooner rather than later. I have been known to pick out quilting only locally, smooth things out, pin the h*** out of the spot and stitch again, when this happened to me.

Most importantly - this is supposed to be fun, it is only fabric, and the baby will love it.

Hanne in London

hmharris wrote:

Thank you! I needed these directions too. I've been avoiding some machine quilting for a month or so now.

I think what helped most is that you made separate paragraphs -- the white space tells me when to breathe!

Thank you to everyone for explaining in such detail. I think today's the day! At least for my deep breaths!

If the package says 3.5 inches then believe that and don't vary from it. You do NOT want the batting shredding and bunching up from quilting too far apart.

Yes, you go all the way from one edge to the other. Knowing that you have to quilt 3.5 in. or less apart, I'd suggest quilting SITD on all the seams plus going thru the middle of each 6 in. square- in both directions. That would make your quilting 3 in. apart in all directions. There's no real tricks to using the walking foot other than don't go too fast. Many of us have found that the screw that holds the needle in the machine will loosen and the needle will fall out and break if you go too fast- check the screw periodically and keep it tightened. And do not tug or pull on the quilt sandwich as it feeds thru the walking foot- let it do it's job by just guiding the sandwich.

*IF* it were me, I'd quilt edge to edge in down the middle- either V or H. Start in the middle seam sewing edge to edge. Then work your way over to one side sewing each seam edge to edge and parallel to the middle seam's line of quilting. Do stop and check for puckers after every line of quilting. Then quilt in the other side of the middle seam in the same direction- one line at a time until you work your way to the other side. You'll have all the parallel seams quilted in the same direction. Turn the quilt and sew the other seams- start in the middle and work your way over to one side and then the other side. You'll have all the SITD done both V and H.

Then start quilting thru the middle of each block going either H or V. Use the same middle seam to side sewing edge to edge with parrallel lines of quilting as you did on the SITD as before. Do both directions and you will have a + inside each 6 in. block. This will make all your quilting lines 3 in. apart.

I don't want to put any additional pressure on you (VBG), but SITD is easier if you stich just slightly to the side of the seam on the side opposite the direction the seam allowance is pressed. That means if the seam allowance is pressed to the right, then your needle should hit just slightly to the left of the seam. You can use your hands to slightly spread the seam open for the needle to get right into the seam, too. The stitching will disappear into the seam. If that is too much, then just keep as close to the seam as possible.

Another "if it were me".... I'd unbaste that quilt top and go buy a batting that didn't need such close quilting! I use Warm & Natural or Warm & White exclusively. Both are 100% cotton and cling to the cotton fabric- it makes quilting much easier. You'd cut your quilting in half if you switched to a different batting that can be quilted at least 6 in. apart- you wouldn't need to go thru the center of each block in both directions. And I sure do hope you haven't chosen a thick, fluffy batting. If so, good luck- you are in for a real battle. (shudder!!!)

Leslie & The Furbabies > I think I may have less problem with vertical and horizontal. I have

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...

My personal favorite is diagonal grids. You can start in a corner (top left?), stitch through the diagonal of each block along the way and end up at the opposite side (lower-ish right). Don't stop! Put the needle down where the seam allowance intersects the raw edge (or maybe when you run into the border if there is one), turn the quilt, and keep going through the diagonals until you reach the next edge (bottom left-ish). Etcetera. Eventually you will reach a corner. Then you pick one of the opposite corners, probably, and repeat the process. Depending on the proportions of the quilt, 2 passes might be enough to go through each square in a big X. Then you can decide if it needs more quilting than that. I recommend a walking foot. Roberta in D "tnhelen" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...

after much joy reading thru all the varied responses to the question... i have a question for ya on your method Roberta.

rather than sewing on a diagonal from one corner til ya reach an edge, turning and continuing til ya reach another edge and so on... how about starting in the middle sq or nearest sq to the middle. turn at each corner of a sq you come to, sort of a spiral with straight lines til you reach an edge. then finish off any corners of the quilt that missed on the spiral. no doubt there will be some if the quilt is a rectangle. should go round and round if the quilt is a square tho. no idea if that makes any sense. it just seems to me this would help in keeping the back more or less puckerless and also keep the back spreading outwards, keeping it flat, as you quilted it.

i did a single 12" block for a wee wallhanging that way and luckily it worked out fine. there were quite a few pieces in a traditional pattern. i was SITD and the particular block somehow managed to turn the right # of times and cover every seam. amazed me. turned out pretty good too. so do ya think that would work on Helens baby quilt? just starting in the middle and turning it round and round at each intersection.

bet no one read to the end of this msg as it might not make any sense to anyone but me, oh well. jeanne

I did

and yes it did to me :-)

Hmm -need to draft some squares on a piece of paper. Probably would work better on a square quilt. You'd then need to go back and do a spiral in the other direction to get both diagonals? The downside to a spiral -seems like you'd have to turn the quilt a lot more.

I seldom if ever have puckers on the back doing a diagonal grid. In fact, the bias direction makes it simple to ease in any little pre-bloopers. Roberta in D

"nzlstar*" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:erl71p$e8a$ snipped-for-privacy@lust.ihug.co.nz...

Kay I agree I have been wondering when I get this quilt top finished just how the heck am I going to figure out what to do next other than putting the sandwich on it. I know to do that much.

I have another question, when sewing clothing and such you back stitch to make sure the seams don't come un done what do you do when quilting, I know you don't back stitch but how does it finish off?

Jacqueline in KY

Jacqueline in Kentucky, USA

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Jeanne, I read from start to finish but none of them make a lot of sense to me since I have yet to quilt anything. I did get my nephew's fleece blanket done in time for his birthday and I enjoyed that, now wish it had been a quilt, but hopefully will do that when he graduates college or maybe even pharmacy school.

Jacquel>after much joy reading thru all the varied responses to the question...

Jacqueline in Kentucky, USA

to reply leave out the nopam in snipped-for-privacy@nospamgmail.com snipped-for-privacy@nospammountain-breeze.com

Most patchwork has so many intersecting seams that they seldom come undone. Also, with strip piecing methods, securing seam ends just isn't practical. Answer: use a medium to short stitch length and don't worry about it! All seams will be covered in the finished piece, and the whole thing will have many lines of quilting so it doesn't shift around. Roberta in D

"Jacqueline" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

I think it helps that we DON'T press seams open too.

Some of us do, sometimes! . In message , Kay Ahr writes

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:10:21 -0600, Jacqueline wrote (in article ):

You don't back stitch because most of your seams will at some point be crossed by another seam. Does that make sense? The only time I do any fixing is if I'm doing free motion quilting (just sew in the same spot for a stitch or too), or sewing on my binding (I use the fix function on my machine).

Maureen

After I pressed the send button, I realized that I do too sometimes. But not often enough to backstitch over those seams.