Originally Posted by QuiltingHaven

I have been quilting for a little over two years now after I retired from teaching. I have several older machines, Singer 301,301A and a featherweight that get most of my use ( I have 3 new Singers and several other older ones) however, I use the three main ones for machine quilting. I create the quilts in 3 sections - top, bottom, and the middle. I piece them then I get the backing ready and the batting. I sandwich the three sections and quilt on the machine - in the ditch or around the squares or triangles or the pattern. Then I machine sew the top section and middle section together on the front of the quilt on the machine leaving the backing open - hand sew the backing togther, then put machine sew the bottom top to the middle, and hand sew the backing together over the backing.
And I sew the binding on the top of the quilt by machine and hand sew it over to the back. Now I have also done several "quilts as you go" because we were traveling and I could take sections of the quilt with me to hand quilt in the car. Here is a picture of a section of my latest quilt.