Originally Posted by deedles215
I have practiced... I just don't want to get frustrated and tire my arms out on something so big that isn't even my quilt... lol! It's the muscling that I can't handle- moving the quilt around so much and rolling and unrolling, and balancing over my shoulder and moving around and then balancing the weight of it on the table, and holding in place... and just when I get on a roll and everything is in the right place? ...my bobbin runs out of thread. Or my cat flops over on my foot, over the pedal, and I sew a crazy line (not so different from my SITDing...hahahah!!) and have to take the whole thing out and rip stitches, re-roll, etc etc etc... and then I start swearing and wish I'd never started G D quilting in the first place, and take a walk to relax and then don't want to start again... lol! Anyone with me?!
As far as the sandwiching- I pinned, every 3 inches, just to be sure. I will try the basting spray, just don't know how to keep the spray from going all over the place..??
In my opinion, SITD is the hardest way to machine quilt. I don't do it any more.
You don't have to muscle a big quilt if you cut the batting into three sections. Marti Mitchell (I think) has a book out on how to do this now, although I first saw this method described in one of Debra Wagner's books. This is not the same as quilt-as-you-go; it is indistinguishable from quilts that have been quilted in one piece. A search on this board should show up some threads about it. If I can find an old post I made on the technique, I will link it for you. Basically you layer the quilt as usual, but then wavy-cut the batting alone into three sections and quilt just the middle of the quilt first. This makes for much less bulk under the arm of the machine.
As for spray basting, find a large flat sheet and spread that out on the floor before creating your quilt sandwich. The sheet will catch any overspray, and you can toss it in the laundry afterwards (because spray basting glue is water soluble and will wash out of the sheet). Also, aim your spray from the edge of the quilt towards the center to minimize overspray.
Instead of FMQ, try using a walking foot and doing wavy lines with it. This is much more free-form than trying to make straight lines or SITD.
Edit: OK, I found this old thread where I describe quilting in sections. Here it is:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-19096-1.htm