Originally Posted by ckcowl

before you try ANY quilting design on your quilt PRACTICE! on a practice piece- sometimes a few 12" square sandwiches are enough to get the hang of it- sometimes it takes a little more- but don't jump right in on your actual quilt until you;ve tried your (design) on something smaller- removing lots of quilting stitches not only can take hours---but is quite frustrating-
much better to do a couple practice pieces first.
the practice pieces can be put to use later- as pot holders. placemats, runners- or even a raggy sampler----or quilt as you go project.
use a contrasting thread so you can see your stitches on your first practice piece so you can tell if your tension is ok- and how even your stitches are. Practice -- you will be happy you did