I sandwiched my quilt and now I am not sure how to finish it. I want to hand quilt part of it and stitch in the ditch the sashing and the borders. What do I do first the handquilt part or the ditch part? The quilt is laid out two blocks wide and 3 blocks long with 3 different borders of different lengths with a 2 inch sashing. Each block has been hand embroidered and each block has the dots for handquilting. The sashing is in the middle and of course as it goes down it stops and starts so do I ditch it around the blocks? See so many questions. need to get this done it is a birthday gift for my granddaughter for next month. Please help me.

Do you have it all basted and ready for quilting?
I would do the stitch in the ditch after I have it all pin basted in place, and then go to the hand quilting.
The basting is good, but the stitch in the ditch you will be doing will stabilize it even further ....
Then, you should be able to hand quilt to your heart's delight.

yeah it is all ready to go. So I should stitch in the ditch. Do I go around the blocks first and as it is two blocks there is no middle block so start any one? I thought you had to start in the middle but the sashing is in the middle.

Thanks

The stitch in the ditch will stabilize the entire quilt which will expedite the hand quilting. Please post a pic when you are done. (I am always so jealous of someone who is actually getting to finish a quilt.

I am not a real expert at all of this, but starting in the middle is the IDEAL ... I have done quilts from one corner to the next, working on a diagonal.
You have sashing between your blocks, and you want to stitch in the ditch along the sashing, correct?
If that is the case, by all means, go as close to the middle sashing as you can ... the main reason for starting quilting in the middle is because on home machines the throat is so small, that the easiest way to move the bulk it to start in the middle, working toward the right (your roll will get smaller, while what is laying off to the left of your machine will get larger), then, roll the quilt back up, turn it around, and starting on the other side of your sashing stitch in the ditch on either side of the sashing. To get the side to side sashings stitched, roll the quilt narrow ends in toward the middle sashing, once you have that rolling done, you will be able to stitch at any interval from the middle to the outer edge (in both directions, just one direction at a time)
Now ... another reason for working from the middle outward is in case there are some bubbles that have to be worked out, but I wouldn't worry about that in your case.

One more thing ... if you are doing stitch in the ditch, it is best that you have a walking foot for that operation. It will help cut down on the "kisses" on the back of your quilt.

As a handquilter for hire I always start in the middle. I don't handquilt in the ditch on anything instead I echo quilt the seams in the sashing etc. I stitch about a 1/4 inside the seam line. It has always been my theory that the quilting reenforced the stitching that assembled the quilt. When I machine quilt I use a decorative stitch that overlaps on both sides of the seam line. If you stitch inside the seam what will keep it from coming apart at the seam.
As a handquilter I can stitch the borders etc. almost as fast as I can machine quilt with the added bonus of being able to watch TV or even hold a conversation while quilting.

Whatever you do I hope it turns out beautifully.

Mary

I can't wait to see it. Please post some pictures. It sounds great.

Dont be jealous it isnt done yet. Very aprehensive cause it is for someone else and not just for me. It is my first one that was not a kids panel and then I still have to bind this, very very nervous.

Thanks everyone for being there. I also have a practice piece to work on after this for free motion.

And yes I do have a walking foot and have tried it out already. I live in a 5th wheel trailer and only have a small table to work on so I dont have a lot of room to work. We have a clubhouse in the park and I used it last week to sandwich this but it was soooo hot i lost 3 lbs just sweating. I could go down there and use a big table but I will sweat to death. It has air conditioning and I turn it on but it takes hours to get rid of the heat. It is not used in the summer so no one else turns it on but me.

Perhaps you could turn on the AC the night before and set your alarm for four or five am ...?
I am pretty sure you can get the bulk of the stitch in the ditch work done before noon .... way before noon <g>, but since I live in a high desert, I know the heat gets intense from about nine thirty on ...
It sounds like you have a pretty good plan and the quilt will turn out beautiful!