Here is some information about quilting in thirds that I found somewhere and have used:
- Start by making the whole sandwich -- unfortunately there is no getting away from laying out the entire quilt (unless you are doing QAYG)
- Fold back the top only on the left side and cut away the outside third of the BATT ONLY – I use a wavy cut so there is not a straight line.
- Before moving it, mark the top and bottom on both sides of the cut line so you get the top and bottom on correctly. Use something like A/A, B/B. Set that piece of batting aside. The letters will show you precisely where to put the piece back. Your cutting line does not have to be perfectly neat since it will fit precisely against the other piece.
- Once the batting has been removed, roll the top and back and pin so they do not flop around or let sewn to the back by accident. Use safety pins – or something on the end of the straight pins to keep from getting poked.
- Repeat the process on the other side, folding back the top, cutting the batting, marking on both sides of the cutting line. Use different markings for the top and bottom here (like C/C and D/D).
- Roll the top and backing together and pin in place.
- You now have a long skinny quilt. It should fit under the head of your machine with no trouble.
- Quilt to within 2-3" of the sides. Some lines of quilting will be stopped in the middle of a line. End the stitching so it will not ravel loose but you will be going back and sewing over those
places.
- When you have completed the middle, lay the quilt out again. BE sure to spread the whole quilt out – otherwise you can get ripples.
- You can choose either side to do first. Unroll the top and back.
- Smooth the back out against the table and tape the loose edge. Put the batting back in place.
Carefully match the cut edges and the lettering – don’t overlap, just abut the edges.
- Using a needle and thread, make a big XXXXX row of stitches to attach the two pieces. Unroll the top over the batting and pin securely in place (or spray baste).
- Put the bulk of the quilt to the outside of the machine so you are dealing only with one third to quilt.
- Be sure that you quilt across the join as the first part of your quilting.
- When you repeat all the steps for the last third, you have to rotate the quilt so the bulk is still to the outside. (I normally start from the top of the center section, then I do two of the thirds from top to bottom and the final third from bottom to top.)
- The borders should be done last and can be done with the bulk to the left (or outside) of the machine during the whole process.