Quilting in Sections

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Would you advise quilting in sections on a single bed quilt with border for a beginner with an old sewing machine?



Submitted by Denise


NQC Answer

Hi,

Yes, I would recommend quilting in sections. When I quilted my first quilt it was a bed size quilt done on a basic Brother machine. I started in the middle and worked my way toward one edge, then went back to the middle and worked my way toward the other edge. I then repeated the process to again work from the middle to the top and then to the bottom. Essentially I quilted in quadrants.

This was the easiest way for me to ensure my backing fabric didn’t get puckers, and was also an easier way for me to maneuver the quilt on my machine.

Hope this helps!

Ashley

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9 Responses to “Quilting in Sections”

  1. Bernadette Mercieca

    If the backing of my quilt is aqua and the front is patterned should I choose aqua for my cotton (ditch quilting)? I was originally thinking white.

  2. rose pryor

    When quilting on a large quilt, after pin basting, would it be advisable to do the straight stitching in the ditch along sashings to "tack the quilt together" before tackling the freemotion designs in the blocks? Rose

  3. Jude Lowe

    I am new to quilting so am looking for basic instruction. I currently have a broken bone in my right hand so I am like,tied in what I can do.

  4. Madeline

    I did a log cabin queen size quilt back in 1978. I forget how I did it. My son still has it. Thanks God today I saw a video explaining everything. He is going to have a new quilt.

  5. Betsy Caron

    IA beginning ,what do you suggest??

  6. Mary Green

    I would have given a different answer...as I understood the question to be about making sections of the quilt, with top, batt, backing each, quilting them, and then joining them together. That is what I have done for large t-shirt quilts to be taken off to college dorms. These I assembled into strips with the backing extending about 6" past each side. I quilted each 3-layer strip but did not get near any of the edges. Thus I had working room to machine sew the first two strips together, top layer only. I overlapped the batts in the seam, cut one line thru them both, removed the excess and hand whipped them together. Then I trimmed down the 2 backings so there was enough overlap that I could fold the one on top the other and hand stitch this seam shut. After all rows were joined, I machine quilted along the space where the strips joined to fill in that previously unstitched gap. Then I sewed borders on to give stability to the sides. This involved placing the front border RST to the front, and sewing it down, thru all four layers (border, edge of quilt top, batt, backing). Once folded out, the final quilting is done in the borders. It sounds like a lot of work and many steps but sure beats struggling with the huge quilt on a home machine. You can email me if you have further questions...mgquilts@sbcglobal.net

  7. Mary Green

    I would have given a different answer...as I understood the question to be about making sections of the quilt, with top, batt, backing each, quilting them, and then joining them together. That is what I have done for large t-shirt quilts to be taken off to college dorms. These I assembled into strips with the backing extending about 6" past each side. I quilted each 3-layer strip but did not get near any of the edges. Thus I had working room to machine sew the first two strips together, top layer only. I overlapped the batts in the seam, cut one line thru them both, removed the excess and hand whipped them together. Then I trimmed down the 2 backings so there was enough overlap that I could fold the one on top the other and hand stitch this seam shut. After all rows were joined, I machine quilted along the space where the strips joined tomfill in that previously unstitched gap. Then I sewed borders on to give stability to the sides. This involved placing the front border RST to the front, and sewing it down, thru all four layers (border, edge of quilt top, batt, backing). Once folded out, the final quilting is done in the borders. It sounds like a lot of work and many steps but sure beats struggling with the huge quilt on a home machine. You can email me if you have further questions...mgquilts@sbcglobal.net

  8. Diane Gunnard

    Ashley, if you are quilting in quarter sections, are you using the embroidery hoop also ?

  9. Helen E.

    How do I find this evenings Q & A vido ????