How in the WORLD? I have a super basic quilting question!!

I was thinking the other night about making a quilt. I made a little baby doll one and really enjoyed it.

But when I see these gorgeous quilts here, I wonder - how do you stitch all those beautiful patterns? How do you fit your quilt all the way on the machine?

I have a basic machine- are there special machines just for free hand quilting (is that called stippling?) Or, for making the straight lines up and down the quilt?

Thanks
carri

I have a hard time imagining how to fold up and maneuver all of that fabric too!
I've read how people sling it over their shoulder or hang it on an ironing board as they stitch.
Here's one post I can suggest:
http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/2009/03/quilt-along-14-freemotion-quilting.html
When I finish piecing my Oh Fransson's quilt-along-quilt, I'll admit that I'm planning to have someone else quilt it!

I think you roll it up & use a large table to put it on while you work. I have only done the small baby quilt. I know there are special long arm quilters that do very large quilts.

I forgot to say stippling is done on a basic machine with a open darning foot & a machine that you can drop the feed dogs on. I have a special stitch on my machine for small stippling stitches listed under quilting stitches.
http://http://www.handiquilter.com

A lot of quilt shops have long-arm machines they either rent out by the hour or charge to quilt a design for you.  They are either computer or hand guided (using a light and the pattern is on a big sheet of paper and somehow you can see the pattern through the fabric and they typically charge (a lot) for this service.

Some of the more expensive machines have longer "arms" on them - the space between the needle and the side of the machine.  I have about 5-6" even on my $600 machine so there is no way I could even attempt it on there  

I have been quilting for about 7 years and use my sewing machine to Free Motion quilt on sizes up to and including twin.  Larger quilts are either sent out to a professional long arm quilter or I quilt it in sections before I stitch it together.   Machine Quilting in Sections by Marti Michell  ( www.frommarti.com )  is a wonderful book that explains how to do this.

I also highly recommend taking quilting classes from a local shop.  Most offer classes in hand quilting and machine quilting along with basic to more advanced quilt making.

I hope you will try doing it yourself-- maybe begin on a tablerunner.  It is a hobby that is very addictive  -- in a good way!

THANKS so much everyone!!!!!

I guess I'll try little blankets for my kids' baby dolls.

I'm going to invest in renting and loaning out and that book! I have one more book from my birthday money - or maybe I'll try the library first.



Thanks for all of the great info!!!!!



Carri

I have made quilts on my grandmother's singer as well as on my new BabyLock Quest.  Quilt Clips.  You roll up your quilt and clip it with the Quilt Clips.  I bought some cheap(er) red ones from JoAnn when I first started quilting but the red clips never did the job right. I found some real Quilt Clips (they're blue) at a quilt shop and love them. They really make it easier for me to maneuver the quilt.

About the patterns - the best advice I've read and have actually followed is to drink a glass of wine before starting your free motion quilting AND to practice for about 10 minutes every day on 'scraps' before tackling a full-sized quilt.  I have a few books on free motion quilting. I'm sure you can find them at a library. They just show you what some patterns are that people have done and how you can do them as well.

Have fun!  Beth

roll it up and just go for it!!  I have a singer confidence 7470 so its not big by any means and my last quilt was 52 x 78 (roughly - ruffle binding-look for post if you want to see it)

It can get a little cumbersome for sure. One thing I like to use that i think helps a lot is fusible batting. I absolutely HATE basting w/safety pins. I will do as little as possible. I have had a lot of great experiences with the fusible batting and it makes it where the layers stay together while i fidget with getting it through the machine. I do "stitch in the ditch" and stippling the most. And usually both on 1 quilt.

I never knew you could go do your own quilting on a long arm at a store? i wonder if mine does that here. I would love to do that. I have played with the longarms every time i go to a quilt show and they are so fun. I wish i had room!!

I've machine quilted queen sized quilts on my regular machine - your shoulders are sore but it's well worth it to me to get a custom quilt pattern.  (I'm not big on stippling for most quilts.)  I don't roll the quilt I just kind of push it around so I get a nice flat area that I want to quilt in.  A good set of non-skid gloves helps move the quilt around - that's the only tool I use to machine quilt - I don't use clips or anything else.  I do recommend taking a basic machine quilting class to get the basics down - like the proper way to pin a quilt, etc.

Ditto- I have a plain old sewing machine and I have done quilts of all sizes on it.  The most recent was a 108 x 108, so it can be done, really.

The key for me with the huge quilts is to move my machine off my sewing desk (which is tiny) and onto my dining room table, which is pretty big.  The extra surface area of the table supporting the quilt goes a long way in reducing the strain on my shoulders when trying to move that big honker around.  I don't use clips either, just roll it up and go.

LOVE the wine advice.  I got similar advice once before a skiing lesson and it worked great.  I never thought of transferring that to sewing though!!

Trina

That is too funny

I never thought of getting gloves. I love all the great advice-it really helps me!

Thanks again everyone!!!!

I guess I should just try it, right?

After my shirt, I'm going to tackle a quilt


you guys rock!

carri

hello. i am so very new at this. i recently took a break from my job as a nurse to "destress." i have always wanted to learn to quilt. i am so new that i am currently waiting for the ups man to deliver my first sewing machine along with a lot of ebay won fabric to begin practicing. so i don't know if i can even classify myself as a newbie yet.

i have researched alot of information online however. in response to the topic of this thread, here is a link to a site i was quite impressed with. the topic itself is being discussed along with the solution to managing a very large quilt and freeforming.

best of luck to you....and me!

http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/machinequilting/mqlargequilt.htm