Baby quilt question

Hi,
I'm new to quilting, and I decided to go without a pattern to make a quilt for my December baby boy. I think I did a great job so far, but I'm now about to "sandwich" the back and front fabric, with the batting. I don't even know how to call that step. I realize that using my regular sewing machine foot is not an option, as it won't allow me to turn smoothly. What kind of foot should I use? Also, I'm a bit clueless about what to do. Am I supposed to create a pattern with the stitches? Should I use straight lines guiding the stitches with masking tape?

Thanks for your help!

If you want to try machine quilting, I would suggest finding a "walking foot" for your machine.  It really is the only way to go.  If you want your blanket to be really fluffy, then start by marking with a water soluble pen/chalk strait lines every 5 inches (or whatever number you like).  The more lines you make, the less fluffy it will be.  You can also use masking tape instead of the pen marks. 

On baby blankets, I prefer Squares so I sew straight lines all in one direction from right to left.  Then I turn the quilt and do straight lines, again from right to left.  It's not the "right" way but I find it much less frustrating than other methods.  Remember to loosen your tension too, otherwise you will get a lot of jams and bunching of the fabric. 

Good luck!
k

tape works great to mark lines (it's faster than marking with a pencil and ruler) but use PAINTER'S tape (the blue kind you get at Home Depot).  It doesn't stick as much as masking tape and if you sew through it, it doesn't leave residue on the needle.  (I picked up this tip from another fabulous blogger).

If you don't want to do straight lines, your darning foot is the way to go.  It's allows "free" motion - and therefore that sort of quilting is called free motion quilting.  Makes sense!  I'd recommend a lot of practice doing this before you dive right in on your quilt top.  It's not all that tough to do though, once you've gotten some practice under your belt.  Good luck!

What a great idea about the painter's tape- thanks for sharing! What a time saver!

I'm glad I popped in here.  I'm about to make a special family quilt for my husband's family gift swap.  I plan on hand sewing everyone's name on it, but I've also been toying with the idea of machine quilting it. I've never done it before and had no idea I couldn't use my regular foot.

I made a little baby quilt for a friend using the instructions from Bend the Rules Sewing.  It is lightweight with flannel instead  of batting inside and has scalloped edges.  I put the right sides of the front and back together and the flannel piece on
the "wrong" side of the backing fabric.  I sewed all the scalloped edges (traced them out with a template from the book first) then trimmed them and turned the quilt right side out. Then I ironed it and pinned all over the top to keep it straight.  Once that was done I top stitched around all the scallops and closed the opening.  I used a long metal yardstick and one of the fabric marking pens that washes out to make the quilting guide lines.   Stitched the lines, washed it and it was ready. 

It is the first quilt I've ever made at all. The best part is that it looks like I actually know what I'm doing!   Instead of doing a straight stitch on the quilting I used a little vine stitch.  I'm really happy with the results, now I just have to pack it up & send it to Holland!

Thanks for all the tips! Quilting as been so rewarding so far, it's great to create something from all of the scraps I collected. I bought a darning foot and tried it on scrap fabric, and took the decision to go with straight lines and painter's tape, as it is going to be way easier for my first quilt. I will definitely try the Bend the rules sewing quilt next time, it's so pretty! I really like the one in Doodle Stitching also. I guess quilting will be a new hobby for me as I enjoy it so much, even though I'm not even close to mastering the art!

Thanks again for all the tips, and I'd like to see all of your quilts!