Finishing a quilt
 

I hope this is the right place to post this - please say if it's not!
Like most things I do, I am doing a lot of reading and research about quilting - My current bedtime read is "Quilting for Dummies" on my Kindle.
I find the Internet very handy, although the info has to be searched out, and is sometimes not very detailed.
I was wondering - regarding equipment.....
I have a sewing machine that would allow me to "machine quilt", but I can't get me head around how you could use a normal sewing machine for a large project like a bedspread?
I will obviously start with something small and modest, but can anyone tell me how "finishing" a quilt is /is not possible by machine?
I hope this makes sense!

Do you mean the binding??

Check out these tutorials I just sent to another quilter.

Here are some videos from youtube about binding. I use 2.5 " strips cut on bias. You can use straight of grain but I prefer bias.






This is a good video of applying the binding. But use the binding tool directions in this video with the tool. I find the binding tool much easier to use than trying to get the binding continuous this way.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZR6ls_IsIo




This is the binding tool video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex2PajesRvU




Here is a video of hand sewing the binding down. (I do not iron binding in half. I roll it on a toilet paper roll)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INh6sVKJRrA

If you mean the quilting part, it can be done. I've quilted double bed size on a regular little Walmart machine with about a 4 inch throat. I rolled, folded, squeezed, etc. mine to get it to go through. You can also quilt in sections. Check out YouTube for some videos on that.

There is a great class offered on Craftsy called "Sewing Big Projects on a Small Machine" by Ann Petersen.

If you are asking about quilting, the actual joining of top, batting (or wadding), and back by a regular domestic sewing machine, you might check out Leah Day's site. She has TONS of information about how to quilt; from how to arrange your quilt so it's easy to maneuver through the harp of the machine; how to skillfully quilt free-motion designs; all kinds of good stuff.

http://www.freemotionquilting.blogsp...tart-here.html

The short answer to your question is you roll the quilt up tightly to get it under the arm of the machine.

Please forgive me if I misunderstood your question.

There are several techniques where you quilt small sections of the project, then join them. This is called 'quilt as you go' (QAYG). There are several ways to do this. If you do a google search, many options come up.
Here is a good book to start with (available on Kindle!)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193...pf_rd_i=507846#_

Machine Quilting in Sections by Marti Michell - http://www.amazon.com/Machine-Quilti.../dp/B000NNGZJE - great advice for machine quilting a large quilt in sections. It is not the same as QAYG. She explains several different methods and why you would use each one.