I made a quilt, have it sandwiched but found one of the fabrics is almost impossible to get the needle through so I am thinking about doing a machine embroidery design on it. Has anyone done this? Any tips?

I have never done this, so I don't know for sure, but wouldn't the back of the machine embroidery show on the back of the quilt ? And that is uh, well, to be honest, not something you really want to see . Unless you take the quilt apart and then put the back on after you embroider, but then you still need to quilt. Just a thought.
Sharon

I am also interested in a reply to this question. I am assuming you would have to use sticky stabilizer, or dissolvable and basting spray. I had really good luck quilting pot holders and coasters this way...but how do you keep a quilt out of the way of the hoop when it moves around?

There are quilting motif's as well as stippling too, available for the embroidery machines. :wink:

I found a pattern that looks the same on both sides no jump stitches, I tried it with some scraps and it worke but I am not sure about a whole quilt.

First, if the quilt is not too heavy you can roll it and hold it (never leave it alone) to watch it while it embroiders. Second, with the 3 layers of the quilt you don't need stabilizer, because it is stable enough. Last, either oregon patchwork or emblibrary.com have some patterns just for quilting that show in the front and the back exactly the same.

I would not attempt with a design that has satin stitches, but if the design is just for quilting, it will work.

Maria

I have at least two programs for my emboidery machine that are quilting designs. Since my machine only does a 4" motif I would probably have to do it as a quilt as you go project. In that case I would hoop each block seperately. They are very simple line designs that would look like quilting. I would think that the sandwhich would be enough stabilizing.

How would you hoop each block on a quilt, so that each design is lined up correctly on each quilt block, and throughout the quilt??? (does that make sense)

I would do each block individually. As in any hooping you usually draw a line through the middle in both directions to line it up for the embroidery with a disappearing or washable marker.
After I had all of the blocks embroidered I would then sew them together in the flip and sew or quilt as you go method used by Georgia Bonesteel.
I am sure someone has a link to a tutorial.

I put a pin on the center of each block and the hoop it, attempting as much as possible to keep thet pin in the center of the hoop. Select the stitch to be used and adjust the position of the needle to start at the site where the pin is. Remove the pin (very important) and start stitching. The design will be centered. If the design is almost the same size of the hoop you will need to hoop in the the center because you will have very little space the move it around. Your machine came with a grid that helps you center designs.

Maria