Originally Posted by
Tothill
You do not need to take the top apart to quilt it in sections. You can use pieces of batting. One in the middle, and work you way out. Marty Michell prefers to have the batting cut with wavy lines, not straight using this method. She said that it lessens the risk of the join becoming a permanent crease int he finished quilt.
So you have your intact top. Place a long piece of batting in the middle, baste your sandwich to just this piece of batting. Quilt the middle. You will be rolling up the excess backing and top, but as there is no batting in it yet, the bulk should not be a problem. Next add another section of batting to one side, baste, quilt, repeat until you are done.
I have done that one. It was not a pleasant experience. I did, however, finish the quilt. Even though I marked the batting (W&N) and quilt very carefully to indicate which piece fit where and which side was up, they didn't fit. I tried to use fusible to join the pieces, but I had the scrim on top and it just stuck to the iron. If I remember correctly, I ended up zig-zaging the batting together even though it didn't fit. It, too, was an early quilt and I love it anyway. It's not an experience I would want to repeat.
I have a baby quilt to quilt that I have been stuck on since early this year (lots of family illnesses this year). (Moira warned me it was a bear, but I had already bought the fabric.) As soon as it's done, I'll revisit this one and figure out the best approach that gets me a finished quilt.
Also, it's not beyond the realm of reason that I might even like it better than I did two years ago.
Thanks for the suggestions.
bkay