peaceandjoy

Holy cow, I am crazy impressed! Love Baptist fan and that you can do that with not only a DSM, but one with a small throat amazes me. Is the quilt shown one you are working on now?

My machine is flat to the table (built years ago w/ 2 cheap cabinets from Lowes and a piece of wood across top), but i have a lot of shoulder problems as well as arthritic hands. Pushing, pulling and tugging are a no go for me. I only do large bed-sized quilts. Hence, I quilt by check.

NJ Quilter

I only just started to machine quilt. I'm on quilt #3 at the moment that is a large king that I am doing on my domestic machine. It is definitely a struggle to get the balance of the quilt through the throat but it's doable. That said, because I've been quilting my fingers to the bone for the last couple of months, I have developed tendonitis in my elbow from all of the pulling/pushing in addition to the 'mousing' on the computer. My elbow will be really happy when we are on vacation for 2 weeks, lol.

Friday1961

Yes, indeed. Maneuvering the quilt sandwich through the machine's throat space is the worst part......in my opinion. It's not only the bulk you have to fight but quilt drag, especially if your machine is not recessed into the table and you have to move the sandwich over the rise of the machine base.

Some quilters "puddle" the fabric, as in let it scrunch up in a kind of loose wad, others made a roll, like a long sausage and feed it through that way. I do both, depending on what works best for me at the time. But it's never a picnic! At least not for me. I've read here of quilters quilting a king size quilt on a home machine but I can't imagine it, and I salute those who have done it!

Lady Diana

I found that this was very helpful with movement and weight issues when quilting. I purchased this from Patsy Thompson https://www.patsythompsondesigns.com...-x20288596.htm
She has another one that is a little less expensive. But I love the two, since I can move them to the side or back of my table.

Ellen 1

I thought this was interesting. I have a longarm and I quilt Everything on it, regardless of size!! Haha. The only free motion I use my domestic machine for anymore is making stencils.

Sephie

Having the machine bed level with the surface of the table is, in my opinion, essential for your quilting comfort. I just bought a used Janome 7700 that has an incredible 11 inch throat and a sewing extension table. I've quilted one baby quilt on it and I didn't enjoy it for a number of reasons, the biggest being I could constantly feel the drag of the quilt on the extension table because I haven't built a foam topper for it yet! I really think I would've liked that quilt better if I'd just done it on the baby Janome, but I felt like I really should use the new to me machine. My bad.

Even if you don't have room to set up a second table, ironing board, or anything, maybe you have room for something like a tray table? Those are small, portable, and easy to fold up to stow away when not needed. Pretty cheap too. Heck, you could even use the leftovers of your foam to make a tiny topper for that too! Hmmmm....

Thank you for the compliments on the quilt. I finished it at the end of 2017 and posted my method here: FMQ Baptist Fans on DSM

It's certainly doable, but you have to want to do it. It was a neat experiment, and I'll be doing it again on my Rainbow Quilt for my 4 year old. I did buy a EZ Circle Cut ruler/template this time because I read it could be used as a tracing template too. Crayola Washable Markers barely fit in the slots so the line is very thin. I'm not sure if it only worked because I'm using a super puffy batting or if it would work better on a thin batting? More testing needed! However, my fans are much more even this time, so that part is good.

Lilbits: like you, I like knowing I've created the entire quilt from start to finish. The quilting is actually my favorite part of the process, but sometimes I'm just so ready to be done with the whole thing that I rush through the quilting part and kick myself afterwards. I really need to let some quilt tops marinate before quilting them, but I haven't been able to do that yet.

If you're quilting on your dining table, are your dining chairs tall enough that you can push them tightly against the table edge so that the quilt can't fall off the edges? Then you only have to worry about what's going on to your left, and the ironing board/tv tray table should solve that issue? You can also buy a very inexpensive folding card table too. I like the ironing board because the height is easily adjustable and it obviously had another use I love multitaskers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]612668[/ATTACH] I loved this quilt. I ended up giving it to my mother in law because she really liked it too. The pattern is Boho Girl by Amy Smart and I used a few fabrics from the Art Gallery Paperie collection plus a bunch of others I pulled from my stash.

Rose_P

I just want to add that I agree about Marti Michell's methods. I'm working on a king size quilt and will be adding the batting and borders only after I finish quilting the center. It makes the process much easier, and I know from previous experience that her fusible tape will work extremely well for attaching the remaining batting when the time comes. Her book, Machine Quilting in Sections is good, too, if you're not ready to commit to Bluprint.

If you are trying to find her books or videos, note that her last name has no "t" in it. Maybe I'm the only doofus who spelled it wrong and couldn't find much until I figured it out.

stitch678

If a large quilt is a project you want to do another time on your small machine...use one of the many " quilt as you go" tactics, either in blocks or rows. Many lovely quilts are made this way! Enjoy quilting again...life is short!

tuckyquilter

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I'm sure the quilt looks perfect.
My biggest beef with folks who "teach quilting on home machines" is that they have models with 11" throats or maybe even larger. They have room for their hands, etc. Many of us don't have that luxury, nor can afford a machine that may cost several thousand dollars.

I too struggle with quilting on my normal machines. The biggest throat I have is 8.5" on my Singer Treadle. I still do FMQ on smaller quilts the normal way..But being able to so the column thing is great. The only thing I do different is I make my entire back in one piece and only add the column and batting to the project for each column. Check her four (4) tutorials out see if that will work for you too.

tuckyquilter

A gal in the QB chat suggested this to me some time back and I've been using that for smaller quilts. Makes it all so much easier and I can actually spray baste without having to have someone help me. I still use Candy Glendening's method for large quilts.