tie and quilt?
 

I have a quilt that I'm thinking of tying in the center and then quilting on the outer sides since my machine has a small throat and it would be so hard to go all the way to the center. Anyone ever done this and do you think it will work? I can't afford to send it out to be quilted as I've been at home all month with Shingles and lost out on a month of my pay! Thanks for your help!!

It's your quilt. You can do anything you want:) I have "tied" quilts using a decorative motif from my machine and even just a bar-tack. Good luck.

Pat

I have tied the center and ditched in the ditch around the boarder and it turned out beautifully.

just use a batting that is good for tied quilts- you don't want one that needs to be quilted every 2"-4"---batts that are good for tied quilts say so on the packaging-
besides using the correct batting there is no reason not to do it how ever you want- some people tie some areas, hand quilt some areas, machine quilt an area and even machine embroider---all on the same quilt- you can do what ever works for you-and appeals to you....if we all did it the same-following some rule we would all just make the same quilt over and over :) be adventurous!

Yes I have and didn't want to spend time or money having it quilted. It was a log cabin. I tied the center(blocks) to the back and not the front. Caught the corners of the blocks with the thread and other places for stability.
And then machine quilted the borders. It worked well and you didn't know it was tied.

my sentiments, exactly!

Do what you like - that is all that is important. If you want to change it later you can. As they say, no rules!

I did something similar recently....a small quilt with six Dresden Plate appliques, a narrow border and a wide border. I machine quilted around the Dresden Plates then tied the borders with thread that contrasts with the fabric it's on. Worked great and looks very traditional.