How to start quilting you quilt?
As many have seen some of my finished quilts, I'm still a self taught quilter in general. I have an Innova with IQ robotics but I don't know if I'm quilting the correct way to get the most out of my experience and to have my quilt come out really well.
I normally baste the top and sides as I advance. I don't stitch in the ditch as my hands shake so badly even if I try to use rulers, I can't seem to keep my quilt foot up against the ruler. So my questions are these: Should I be basting the entire top, botton and sides before advancing to the actual quilting? Should I work from the top to the bottom or should I be starting in the center of the quilt when doing custom quilting? Should I try to stitch in the ditch of my blocks before I add the quilt pattern? I find when I baste as I advance the quilt that due to the draw-in, the sides don't always match up with the 1st row at the top and I'll tug outward to try to get them back to where they match up. I also find by the time I reach the bottom, I find a lot of fullness so I spritz and steam out as much as I can before proceeding. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong or in the wrong order. Any advice, tips would be greatly appreciated as my next quilt will be custom quilted again and I'd like to see this one come out better than the last one.