Dealing with big quilts in small workspaces?
 

I'm working on a king-size tee shirt quilt for my sister and her husband.

Here I've got 10 out of the planned 36 blocks laid out on my own double bed. This is going to be biiiig.

It's already outgrown the biggest flat surface in my apartment to lay it out on, and I'd rather not use the floor.

Any hints for working on big quilts in not-so-big apartments?

You might look into the Quilt As You Go method. It is the only thing that works in a small apt. My quilting studio is in my living room but it is too small to pin baste anything larger than a wall hanging quilt. The only other option is to get down to your LQS and see if their classroom is available for you to work in. I found those days to be the best and funnest way to meet other quilters.

I use blue painter's tape and tape the blocks on a wall while planning a layout. Don't leave them on the wall for more than a few days at a time or the tape will mess up the paint. Don't ask me how I know that! The tape allows you to move the blocks around without replacing it. I take a picture of the layout before I take it down so I don't have to start from scratch each time I put it up.

I'm curious...if just 10 blocks are covering a double bed, and you have 26 more blocks to go, what are the measurements going to be on your king sized quilt?

Think about how you are going to quilt such a big quilt. The bigger the quilt
the more difficult it is to put through a sewing machine. I would also
suggest some QAYG method.

They're a bit more spread out there than the will be in the final product, but I am expecting it to be about 100in square.

I have done QAYG before and been satisfied with the results, so I'll consider it, though I'm also talking to a local longarmer about hiring her to quilt the finished top.

I'm in the process of finishing a 106 X 116 quilt. I quilted it on my sewing machine and the edges I did on my embroidery machine. For the life of me I can't get the hang of QAYG. My next quilt is going to be thinking outside the box that will also be kind size so any suggestions for QAYG would be greatly appreciated

I did a king size, it was a lap throw that morphed, on my domestic Singer. I used lots of roll holders, we moved the machine away from the wall and then slow and steady went the process. Not on the floor? Don't see how that is possible, but you can try. It can be done, but I don't do king size anymore unless it is a QAYG. Don't let the quilt see the fear in your eyes and you'll have it made.

Playing devils advocate here but are you sure you want to make a king size quilt? Will they really use it on their bed? Usually a t-shirt quilt is geared toward one person, so a lap/snuggle/over the back of the couch size may make more sense in the long run. Could you somehow make those blocks smaller, not sure as much blank t0shirt space, trim more to the design? Just a thought, unless you are determined to go king.

I lay them out in sections, dividing the quilt in half or thirds as needed. I mark each block with row and block number - A1, A2, etc. I like to sew the sections together, then connect the sections. It's easier for me to work with smaller subunits of the quilt, then join them to complete the top. I suppose you could do it row by row if that's your preference.