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I took a quilting class this summer and for reasons beyond my control was unable to attend the last few classes. I have everything ready to go and the person doing the class had said I should do a straight line for my first quilt to keep it simple. I chose a yellow brick road pattern and I'm not really sure how far apart the lines should be. should I stay with the lines of the blocks or would that be to far apart? any suggestions would be great. Jen
I am sorry that you had to miss the last of your classes. Glad that you are seeing the project through. Hope you are now totally addicted, just like the rest of us. :)
The distance apart the quilting can be of depends on your batting. If you bought packaged batting, it will tell you how far apart you can quilt it so that it won't shift. This varies by brand and can be as much as 8 inches apart. Other than that consideration, it is totally the decision of the maker.
Do you have a walking foot? That helps a bunch doing straight line quilting. Have fun whatever you decide. :)
Thank you for the reply.... I do not yet have a walking foot because I had a hard time finding one for my machine. My mother gave me an older Kenmore that was made in 1989. When I opened the case I discovered it still has the packing around the presser foot and had never been used! I just recently discoved that they no longer make ken more and that it has what is called a super high shank. Luckily it had quite a few attachments with it. The walking foot was not one of them note was the darning foot. I recently found the walking foot on the Internet but have not ordered it yet. I did find a super high to low shank adapter but have not been able to find anything that says if you can use it with a darning foot or not and I am still pretty new at this. As for being addicted... Absolutely with out a doubt! I all ready have several other patterns I am anxious to try but wanted to finish this one first. Thank you so much for your help, I will look on the batting package again. Jenny
I would just straight line quilt about 1/4" from the seams going from top to bottom maybe. If you don't cross any lines you have less chance of puckering. Check to see if you can raise the foot a little more by adjusting the pressure of the foot. If you can do that and not have so much pressure of the layers you may be able to cross hatch or something like that.
Thank you also Marilyn, the more input the better! I am so pleased with how it turned out and how it looks without being quilted that I'm afraid I will screw it up. lol
Hi Jengie, I am also new to this and am reading as many posts as I can so I can pick up tips. The only machine quilting I have done is flannel rag quilts. I am currently working on a quilt top that my husband and I think his grandmother made. I think it needs to be hand quilted because it was hand pieced. I am putting off the machine quilting a bit longer so I can work on my hand quilting project. I am unsure if my 1980's era Singer will be able to quilt but I will give it a try when the time comes. Could you please post the picture of your quilt when you finish it? I sure would like to see it!
I too am relatively new to quilting (about a year now) and have only ever done straight line quilting. I share your agony though as I also am always frightened before I start quilting that I will ruin the good work that I have done on the top and sometimes back. I don't know if this is recommended by more senior quilters but I usually increase my stitch length to 4.5 (normal sewing is 2.2 on my machine). I have practiced free motion quilting on scraps but haven't mastered it enough yet to give it a go on one of my quilts. Good luck and be brave!
You could always go to your local quilt shop if you have one or send it in to Missouri Star and have them quilt it. I think it would be worth it if you are worried about ruining it. I know exactly how you feel!
Oh Rosie, I too have been quilting only a year and have mainly done strait line quilting. I LOVE piecing the tops but dread the quilting part. I just finished ripping out three full boarders of quilting, and wish I would have read your post about lengthening your stitches before I had originally stitched those boarders! Mine were tiny and tight and such a pain to remove. But, it's done now and so I will lengthen my stitch before I redo them correctly. The cuteness potential was the only thing that saved this quilt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosie59
April,believe me I have thought of that also, that being said if I never dive in and do it I will never figure it out! So because it is a lap size I thought I would do it myself... Anything larger and that is probably what I will do in the future. It would just be nice to know how to do it for smaller projects though.
April, believe me I have thought of that also, that being said if I never dive in and do it I will never figure it out! So because it is a lap size I thought I would do it myself... Anything larger and that is probably what I will do in the future. It would just be nice to know how to do it for smaller projects though.