Originally Posted by Prism99
Originally Posted by CompulsiveQuilter
I'm determined to FMQ my first -on my domestic machine. I have an awesome, large template and the Ultimate Pounce (disappears with a steam iron). The template is a glorified meander. ------ but some say start in the middle and some say otherwise. What's the best way? And is an all-over quilting pattern easier/better than stopping and doing something different on the borders? 4" border - what pattern would you use there?
When hand quilting in a hoop, one always starts in the middle so any excess fabric moves to the sides instead of getting "trapped" in the middle.
When machine quilting, it's extra work to bury threads if you start and stop in the middle. It's enough if you start at one edge and work toward another edge. That way, if you run out of bobbin thread, you have only one thread per bobbin to bury. Starting in a corner sounds good. You could also start at the middle of an edge and work toward the other edge. The biggest thing to avoid is quilting the border first; you could have extra material trapped in the center that will not "quilt out".
The truth is that if you have prepared your sandwich well, by heavily stabilizing it with thread, pins or whatever you choose - you can quilt it beginning anywhere because it won't move/shift. However - if you don't, then you are at risk for everything from pleats to running out of backing if you've pushed your top too far over.
I did quilt with my Singer, until I got a longarm. All quilting, regardless of the machine used, needs to be stabilized in some manner. There are just so many things this process helps to avoid (waving borders, pleats, D-Cups, tucks, shifting blocks, wonkiness, etc.). So, stabilize it well, and you can begin and end anywhere since you only take out the area you are immediately quilting in.
(With the longarm, your frame stabilizes for the majority of your quilt, but you still may need pins, etc. depending upon how flat the quilt is and what your quilting plan is.)
Just my thoughts - hope it helps :)