Originally Posted by Dingle
Originally Posted by Prism99
To avoid this problem, I start in the middle of an edge (say, the middle of the top edge) and sew all the way to the other edge. The second line of sewing is from the middle of a side edge all the way across to the other side edge. When using a walking foot and quilting straight lines, I don't think I would ever start every line smack dab in the middle of the quilt. Hiding all those thread ends would drive me crazy!
Being a newbie and reading this board other posters said to start in the middle and work your way out to the edge. This is suppose to help with the shifting of the sandwich. Does doing it your way not really make a difference?
Thanks
I mentioned this technique in the original thread here (no pun intended!).
Of course, it is always desirable to start quilting in the middle so any excess fabric is pushed to the edge. However, when quilting straight lines that go from one edge to another, it shouldn't matter as long as (1) you have a stable quilt sandwich (2) that your machine feeds evenly.
In my case, I use cotton batting, spray baste with a few pins around the outside edges, and I use a Bernina walking foot with my Bernina machine. This combination feeds very evenly for me.
This method of quilting using a walking foot from one side of the quilt to the other has been around for at least 20 years; I remember reading in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine about the man who pioneered it when machine quilting was still very new. The key is to have a stable quilt sandwich and a walking foot that really does feed the fabric evenly.