katyharmon

Hi everyone! I just joined today!

I am working on my first ever quilt. I did not use a pattern, but it's a basic scrap square pattern for a twin bed. I basted it using pins, and started to quilt using my standard presser foot (Brother XL-2600i). It has basically shifted my entire quilt top and now it's starting to bubble up and I'm worried if I keep going it will end up off of my batting/backing.

I am just quilting diagonal stripes. I started from a corner and should have started from the middle. I've only done about 10 rows.

Should I rip them out and start over? Use my walking foot to stitch the ditch? Just start in the middle? Keep going? Send it off to be completed? I know it's not going to be perfect, just want my2 year old to have it for her big girl bed.

Thank you!!

GagaSmith

Hi and welcome from upstate NY. Sorry to say this, but yes, I would rip out what you have done and use a walking foot. You could still quilt diagonal lines. I would go from corner to corner then reverse the direction for the next line of quilting. (Start at the upper left and quilt diagonally to the lower right, then move over however far apart your lines will be and quilt from the lower right to the upper left). Hope that makes sense!
Also, you can quilt your lines farther apart than you want them and go back and fill in more lines if you want them closer together.

Maureen NJ

I do recommend that you use your walking foot. I know some say to start at the middle with SID but I start at the ends and have no problem. I pre-wash all my fabrics and thread baste using Sharon Schambler's method but I don't think that should make a difference. I think it is your presser foot. I would continue with the rows you have not done with the walking foot and rip out the other ones while watching TV! Just another thought. I have not stitched diagonally until after I have done the horizontal and vertical rows. Could the distortion be because of the bias? Welcome to the board. You will learn so much. The people are wonderful here. So knowledgable!

Zyngawf

I think the problem may be with using the standard presser foot. They aren't meant for quilting. For straight line or in the ditch it's best to use the walking foot. I vote yes on taking it out and starting over. Don't feel bad. I think we all have done something like this at some point. I had a thing like that that was a lot of stitches to take out, so I did only so much per day and put it aside. It took me two and a half weeks to undo, but it was worth it. Everyone on here will tell you to walk away, before you get overwhelmed or too frustrated or start hating it.

MFord

I agree with the others - you probably want to rip it out and start over. Ugh! No fun at all, but this is a learning experience (up until the very end, I expect!). Did you pin baste your quilt sandwich? I personally like to use an adhesive spray (get the kind for quilting, it washes out), but I also pin every foot or so - especially along the edges and the corners, as you sometimes don't get the spray evenly over your work. I would also use the walking foot. It makes a huge difference! You may still get some stretching though, so keep your eyes open and kind of ease the fabric on top all the way along your stitching. You'll get less "bubbles" that way.

Prism99

I almost never rip out and start over, but this is a situation where I would do it.

Once you have the quilt layers apart, I ***strongly*** recommend heavily starching the backing. I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" this onto the backing using a large wall painting brush (kitchen island works great for this task), wait a couple of minutes to make sure the fibers have had time to absorb the starch, toss in dryer, and iron with steam. This stabilizes the fabric so it is much less likely to stretch, distort, or pucker while you machine quilt.

I also recommend that you spray starch the top before layering. Spray starching is not quite as strong as the above method, but works better with a top.

Spray basting keeps the layers together better than pin basting. This is because the basting spray keeps all 3 layers in continuous contact with one another. With pins, the layers are in contact only where the pins are.

What kind and brand of batting are you using? Polyester is more slippery than cotton, and there is more of a tendency for layers to slip and slide with polyester. Spray basting also has fewer problems when you are using cotton batting.

My recommendation for basting spray is 505; it tends to work well even on polyester batting. Another possibility for you would be glue basting with Elmer's. There are tutorials here on the QB about how to glue baste a quilt.

Depending on your pattern, quilting diagonal lines may mean that you are quilting primarily on the bias (especially for the backing, but also may be the top). The bias of fabrics stretches more easily than either the straight or cross-grain. Although it's certainly possible to quilt diagonal lines on a quilt, as a beginner you may find it easier to quilt crosswise or lengthwise lines. In any case, spray or glue basting plus starching will help eliminate the problems you ran into.

tellabella

Use lots of pins...at least a hand width apart...the basting is a great option..and maybe lower the tension on your presser foot..

katyharmon

Thanks so much, everyone! Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I was just hoping to knock out a quilt for my daughters first birthday... now she's 26 months and I really need to finish.

Will pull stitches tonight and go from there based on everyone's helpful advice. I sure do appreciate it!

tessagin

I agree. I did a diagonal tis way also. Love the thread basting technique Sharon does.

nativetexan

walking feet to help a lot. Now, i've moved the top fabric myself and ended up stitching a bit more backing fabric on where it would have ended up missing. So, rip it and use your walking foot, or add more batting and fabric if it looks good enough otherwise. Good luck.