roguequilter

i have machine quilted several polyester quilts on my old Necchi. the largest was a queen size. they are heavy to begin with, and adding batt & backing doesn't make them any lighter! i started out using plain muslin, at the quilt makers request. the last one of hers i finished for her just a few years ago, on same old necchi. i have tried cross hatch, and in the ditch & outline inside each block patch. the stretchyness of the fabric doesn't lend itself to curves, swirls or any fancy quilt work. tho i may try one last top she gave me for me using spraybast which helped me conquer fmq on domestic machine quilting flannel quilts for grand daughters. all the polyester quilts turned out great. especially the fronts, occassional tuck in back easing over the difficult heavy seam lines. this is slow work. those seam lines are very thick, i basically hand turn the fly wheel when i come to seams & block intersections. and my quilter friend who was making these tops is 91 years young last summer. she started teaching herself to make quilts in the 90's using any fabric at hand "like mamma done". she uses all quilting cotton now & has the most incredible ability of matching fabric colors/patterns and just making up quilt patterns as well as making & using well known quilt block patterns.

forgot to mention, i hand baste w thread on 3-4" grids. i learned how to quilt out of books and this is how i learned to baste out of a book by joe cunningham & his partner at the time whose name i can't remember right now.