Thread: Where do you start?

You can start quilting at the outside edges if your quilt is glued. In fact, I recommend it.
Starting at the center is the right way to go if your quilt is basted traditionally. But if it is glued, you want to stabilize it from the edge first. The pressure from working with a large quilt sometimes causes the glued pieces to give way at the edges. The last big quilt I made and had glued, I sewed a line all around the outside, then put the binding on right away. Then I started at the edges and worked my way to the center doing SID. Worked beautifully.

Originally Posted by feline fanatic

Assuming you are machine quilting on a DSM. If you can, try to get your hands on either Harriett Hargraves "Heirloom Machine Quilting" or Diane Gaudynski's "Guide to Machine Quilting". Your library may have one or the other or you can order them from Amazon. They can often be picked up used for the price of shipping and I consider them invaluable resources for any quilter's library. Both authors advocate ditching your sashing first to stabilize the entire quilt sandwich then go back and do the detail work.

I suspected this was the best way but wanted feedback from those in the know. This is my first true sashed quilt!! Thanks for your help!!

Without a photo, it is hard to give advice. Usually I would SITD in the sashing and then go from there. I agree with feline fanatic. I have Harriet Hargrave Heirloom book in my personal library and still refer to it often.

I was always under the assumption to work from the middle out. I do mostly custom quilting on a frame with robotics and I split my horizontal borders sewing from the middle outward. My side borders I chunk to fit my machine throat depth. If I have sashing between my blocks I'll work from the middle block and again work outward. I may do all the blocks 1st and then go back to the vertical sashings or may just do them as they come in a row again working from the middle outward. This seems to help with the draw-in. I also don't baste my entire quilt before I start to quilt either. I do baste the side edges as I advance though.