I can't believe I'm starting another quilt before finishing my first. I'm really sort of a beginner. Anyway, I've chosen the Log Cabin for my second quilt. I want to sew the top, batting, & backing all at once. One pattern said to cut the squares (top, batting, backing) all the same size, and another pattern said to cut the batting and backing slightly larger.

Any suggestions.

Plan A is to hand piece the whole quilt. Plan B is to just get the top done and worry about the rest later :lol:

I would go with plan B but that is just me, I tend to shy away from any and hall hand work that I can,

Generally you cut the batting and backing a bit bigger to make sure that you have it covered,

The log cabin is a great pattern, do you have specifics to do it all at once or are you winging it?

If you are hand quilting as you go, cut the back and batting a little larger. then , when it is quilted, you trim them down to all the same size before sewing them together.
And don't feel bad, most of us quilters have more than 2 quilts going at the same time. LOL

I'm really winging it. I saw the pattern in a book from 1979 and really liked the puffy look by sewing all 3 pieces at one (if that makes sense). I would love to use my sewing machine, but I'm 'machine challenged'. I don't sew, my machine is new, and I can't get the tension on my bobbin corrected for some reason. I remember the word tension from an 8th grade class...a few hundred years ago.

If my first block doesn't go well, I just might have to dig out the instruction book again!

I can't say much about the winging it as that is what I generally do, I have done some quilts just from pictures,

Take a few to practice on, cut the batting and the backing square out, and your strips for the block, place the center square in the center and tack it down, place your first strip on , right sides together and sew, I would finger press out especially if you are using poly batting, it will melt if you iron it, then continue in this way,

Do you have measurements for the block?

do you have a drop in bobbin or a front loading one that the little piece pulls out?

Squares are suppose be 7" finished. I have a drop in bobbin, and it's plastic! When did that change :shock: ?

OMG...this just might be a little overwhelming!

It will be fine, I promise, I hate the plastic ones and they use them usually for the bobbin sensor, if you are not worried about the machine telling you when your bobbin is getting low they still sell the medal ones and I recommend them, I have mostly metal for all of my machines, two of them insist on it in fact,

Are you sure that it is the bobbin tension and not your top? thread the machine and stitch a straight line out on some scrap and tell me what you see, or if you can take a picture of both sides and post it and then we can tell what is up with it,

Here you go. Hopefully the pics will turn out ok.

This happens to me too sometimes when my bobbin thread isn't wound tight enough on the bobbin, or maybe it is a bobbin that doesn't quite fit your machine?