janjanq

I have a Babylock Ellegante sewing/embroidery machine. I'm basically a piecer, not a quilter. The only quilting I've done is stitch in the ditch and only a little of that. I have several embroidery designs for my machine that are designed for quilting in the hoop. I have eight pieced blocks in blues, white, and pink. I'm thinking of alternating these blocks with 8 plain white blocks. Once the quilt top is sandwiched I thought I'd try quilting the plain white blocks in the hoop using thread colors that match the pieced blocks. The pieced blocks I'm thinking of SID, or maybe quilting in the hoop as well. Due to my lack of experience in quilting I'd like to hear from people who have done quilting using a sewing/embroidery machine design in the hoop. Were you happy with the results? Did you embroider the blocks edge to edge or center the design in the block? Any do's or don'ts? I would love to see pictures of quilts quilted in this way. Thanks.

PaperPrincess

I know that lots of folks use their embroidery machines, but I never got the hang of getting the weight of the quilt off the embroidery unit to let it do it's thing in the center of a large quilt. I do use my endless hoop for borders, and have done several QAYG where I quilted the individual blocks then joined. If you google "quilt with embroidery machine" there are sites and videos with info.

Crqltr

I have quilted quilts that sounds like yours. I pinned like crazy so it wouldn't shift when hooping. I did a stitch in the ditch around each block then centered my design. I think they turned out great. I do not have quilting skills to do my own feathers, ect.

Stashelf

I use my Dream Machine for quilting. I usually do enough SID to keep everything together. I fill as much of the block as I can. My machine scans so I can tell how much to enlarge the design to fill the block. I only use designs that are single stitch not triple stitch. The new upgrade for my machine lets me add stippling if I want around a design. I like the way it turns out. It takes time to do a large quilt as you are basically hooping every block.

newbee3

I would do the embroidery on the plain blocks before the sandwich the quilt than just quilt in the ditch when it is sandwiched

Cari-in-Oly

I made a wall hanging similar to what you want to do. Half of the blocks were machine embroidered native designs and half plain blocks. To make the embroidered blocks I cut my fabric at 10" square and cut to size after embroidering. After the top was finished I sandwiched and quilted it with a basic SITD around all of the blocks and then did a machine embroidered feather wreath in the plain blocks.

Cari

Dolphyngyrl

You can do it, but I don't recommend anything large as it is hard to support the quilt. If the design doesn't shift it looks nice like quilting you pay for. I am still trying to get the hang of it and I only did a 2yd piece

Cybrarian

I have a BL Unity and just purchased a CD of block designs as this is something I want to try also. My personal opinion, based on your description of what you want to do and your skill level; if I were you I would "quilt with embroidery" each block and assemble the quilt with a QAYG technique. I think this path is very doable and will give you the results you are hoping to achieve. Just my opinion-looking forward to pictures of your finished quilt!

NanaCsews2

I have the Ellegante also. I have done several this way and find I am very happy with the results, and for me right now I don't see the need to spend so much time learning and getting things right with embroiderying layer. I use the tearaway stabilizer on the back, spend an evening watching shows while tearing it off and picking out any little pieces once each piece is embroidered. You may want to start this way and see if this is all you need to do to finish your projects.

Gay

There are many ways of quilting in the hoop. You can also embroider on your fabric and batting, this way you may not need stabilizer. The backing is added later.
1. You can embroider squares and quilt each block 'sandwich'. The backing square is usually ½" larger (trimmed after all sewing is done) to allow for joining. When you join a row of blocks, you can cover the join with a strip perhaps 2"wide, (vintage quilts look fabulous with lace strips).
2. Join a row of embroidered blocks (with or without batting) then cut the backing the same size, tack on at the joins, and quilt. You then lay the next row on top, face down, backing on the bottom, and sew together. You would then add in the batting, tack down and quilt.
The quilt needs to be supported so it doesn't drag on the embroidery unit, which is why I prefer the first option. I won't even bother trying to embroider the middle sections of a quilt because of all the bulk in the throat area.

The queen of QAYGo I think, is Jenny Haskins.com, who has a lot of quilts and cd's with her son Simon. In USA, Margaret Moorehead is an agent for them. There are a few others.

Hope this helps you, I have seen some beautiful embroidered quilts done this way.