Originally Posted by cande
My neighbor made quilts this fall for Christmas presents for her grandkids. She doesn't take constructive critism very well so I kept my mouth shut but she used the batting that says it should be quilted or tied every 4"-6" and she did it more like 8"-10" apart. I wonder what they will look like after they've been used and washed a couple of times..
I can tell her exactly what it will look like, which isn't good! :( I know this from experience. The first quilt I made was a bargello quilt for a wedding. I didn't know anything about quilting and I am entirely self taught. (Didn't take a class until I'd been quilting for 12 years.) I had no idea that you were supposed to quilt every 4-6 inches and so I quilted a heart here, a heart there...needless to say when she washed it the batting bunched up and ended up somewhere at the bottom of the quilt. :oops: Trust me, that's a mistake you only make once!!!
As for the quilting and how far to do it from the edge, I agree with Amma. (I seem to say that a lot!) If I'm doing an all-over pattern or a meander type stitch I will go all the way to the edge and even a tad over. If I have a specific pattern I make sure it is half an inch from the edge. Once done, I then stitch 1/8th inch from the edge as a sort of stabilizer using a regular running stitch. This stitching gets covered up by the binding so no one knows it's even there but me.