wannaquilt1

What the heck was I thinking when I thought I'd be able to quilt this king quilt on my machine. I've already pinned and stitched the border. Do you think a professional quilter could even touch it at this point? Help!

gramajo

It wouldn't hurt to contact an LAer to see what the answer would be.

Tartan

Borders are tempting but you really need to stitch from the center out on a sewing machine. I quilt 1/4 of a big quilt at a time and turn it to the next 1/4 and so on. I do the borders last because quilting the body of the quilt can pull up fabric. You would need to call and ask a long armers if she wants to touch it. Most long armers load the top and backing separately to quilt.

wannaquilt1

Well, I've already done the border so I guess I'll do better next time lol.

wannaquilt1

Now I keep thinking about it do u think I screwed up my quilt Cuz I quilted the border first? I'd hate to think I've wrecked it I've been working on for 3 years now.

popover

If quilting the borders first has pulled the backing a bit, you could always tie the rest so it won't be noticeable. Easier fix than ripping it all out again.

nativetexan

no, no, no.some quilters have done borders first with nothing going wrong. just don't quilt very close to border stitching and you shouldn't get puckers. Good luck.

yngldy

What kind of pattern is it? You said you pinned and stitched the border. Did you also pin the center part? Can you run down the length, doing a stitch in the ditch type thing, maybe on a sashing seam? If it is OK on the back, no pleats or bunching, do the opposite side of the quilt. Then across, etc. to stabilize the squares. Then I think you would be OK to quilt each block without worrying too much. If not, maybe you can do the charm tack method, where you pick a shape, like a big heart, little heart, and stitch here and there instead of tying.

Do the best you can, chalk the rest up to a learning experience, and quilt on!

bkay

If I'd spent 3 years on that quilt, I'd take out the border quilting and take it to a long armer.

If I understand how they do it, you need to take it to them in pieces (top, backing and batting separate). They load the backing on the frame first and then someway add the batting and top.

I'm taking a class this spring, so I'll know more later.

bkay

MadQuilter

Ann Peterson and some of the other quilting teachers talk about finishing their large quilts on a regular machines. Ann in particular accordion-folds half the quilt under the harp. She has no trouble quilting in the small area. I have not managed it myself but it is on my list of challenges to tackle.