Well, about a year ago I made my first quilt - which I was proud of although a LOT of things didn't line up, and I honestly had no clue what I was doing other than following directions in a quilting book. I found myself enjoying creating something beautiful (even if it was only beautiful in my own eyes) and I am going for it again.

My parents bought me a Brother SQ-9000, which has the option of free motion quilting, and I'm eager to give it a go. My first quilt I simply tied, starting from the middle and working outward, with the batting sandwiched between the backing and the front, then bound and finished. I'd like to do a loose free motion pattern over my quilt, but I guess I'm just curious - Should I pin the entire thing to the batting and the backing, and unpin small areas as I go? Should I get iron-on stuff to hold it all together? What are the basic steps to assembling a quilt in this manner? I imagined I was going to put this whole thing together, and birth it - but is that possible if I plan on finishing with free motion?

I hope that I am not too confusing! I appreciate any help!

there are alot of tute for free motion quilting good luck

You could probably do it after birthing it, but sometimes it is difficult to hide the stops and starts, and keep it free of wrinkles.

What I would recommend is to layer it, use spray basting with a few safety pins for good measure. Quilt as desired and then bind.

Good luck!

Welcome. No you can't birth a quiltand free motion it both. It will not lay right. You will have quited in folds. You will need to pin or hand baste every 3in. or so,then as you come to thethreads you can either cut them or sew over them. Warning though if you quilt over the bastingthreads be very careful when taking them out, you can break your permanent threads. I hope this helps.

I free motion quilt and all I do is use a basting spray between each layer (backing to batting and batting to top). No pinning - ever. Has worked fine for me so far.

I do not birth it. I bind it after it is quilted.

Thanks so much :) I guess I have a few tutorials to watch, and some options to think about. I guess I wasn't sure what to do next, as the last one wasn't quite... well... pretty lol.. Now I see part of my problem last time.

Thanks so much for your help!

I spray baste it and then steam iron to make it stiff. Holds together beautifully!. Of course, you would have to wash it when the quilt is completed because it will stay stiff forever. For quilting on a machine, I found this to be the easiest for me.

You've got the general idea. Pin baste it, from the middle out making sure your backing is stretched tight before layering the batting and the top on to pin it. Then work it under your sewing machine until you're in the middle. Pick an area to work on, removing pins as you go. Once one section is done, start in the center again and work out on another section. Enjoy the process.
One website you might checkout is
www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com
Search some of the early posts on her site and you'll get some really good FMQ skills.

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but when I spray baste it my needle starts skipping stitches, so I always pin baste or sew baste.

Sounds like the basting spray you use is either not made for sewing or it's on too thick. Have you checked these two options out? You really don't need much spray to successfully baste a quilt together if you're using the right stuff. I like 505 but there are other products that work..