Disappearing Nine Patch and quilting it together
 

Hello everybody,

I am new at trying the disappearing nine patch and quilting it together. In fact, I've never had the opportunity to do much quilting but now I am able to do so (a little at a time) and enjoying it. I just finished two completed blocks and so far so good. My question is which do you prefer when quilting it together: quilt as you go method or quilt the whole quilt together? Also, do you recommend stitch in the ditch when quilting it together on your own machine? I'm thinking of doing stitch in the ditch if I make it through the whole process.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

I prefer to quilt the finished top. Tried the other, was not impressed with the results.

I haven't tried QAYG yet, but it's one of the things I plan to look into. It's certainly an appealing idea, as pushing a whole quilt around is difficult for me, and I therefore don't quilt as often as I would like to.

I have tried the quilt as you go (by machine). I am not very good at it. The quilts seem a bit stiff so I went back to putting top together and then hand quilting.

Hi -

Welcome -

What size quilt are you planning to make?

I can wrestle a quilt about 60 x 80 inches through my older (1980s) machine - but all I do is straight line or stitch in the ditch quilting.

There are few quilting questions that have only one answer.

SITD is easier with a big quilt and a domestic machine. I have done QAYG and it's a lot of fun, but you definitely have to plan on making it that way from the beginning. It doesn't work easily on all quilts.

I find that I can do some FMQ (I am horrible at it, so use stencils LOL) on a quilt that is 40x40. Anything bigger than that and I get frustrated and give up, or do SITD.

Also, with a large quilt you want to make sure you have lots of table space to hold the weight of the quilt - all the way around, otherwise you will get frustrated with the pulling and dragging of the quilt as you are trying to sew.

Good luck

Don't be afraid to do either. Maybe a test piece for QAYG, and see how you like it.
I like to quilt the whole top.

In my opinion, this is like asking all of us what we like better, red or white wine. We are all going to have different opinions, and our reasons for liking one over the other will vary from person to person. I agree with the others that say to try both methods to see what YOU like best. You may decide you like the ease of QAYG, or you prefer the look of quilting a whole top at once. And once you get more experienced, you may change your mind! I used to drink nothing but cabernet, but have branched out into white zinfandels, pinot gris, and tequila. Not at the same time, though. :D

I find that I am never happy with my stitch in the ditch. I can never stay exactly in the ditch. Instead, I prefer to 'echo quilt'--follow the seam line but 1/16th to 1/8th inch away. Much less frustrating and much less un-sewing.

If I'm doing QAYG for block quilts I like to do it in thirds: do stitch a third of your blocks together and then sandwich and quilt but leave about a 1-2 inch open part on the bottom, don't quilt all the way to the edges. (I prefer horizontal but you can do vertical thirds too.). The middle section you sandwich and quilt but be sure to leave the 1-2 inch part on BOTH sides, then leave the open part on the top for the last third. Then I stitch them right sides together doing the front, then the batting, then trim the batting so it's not too ragged then do the last bit. That last seam is tricky, I can usually get it lined up with the blocks so it doesn't show much but if I miss a titch it's ok. I've also done the QAYG where you do the full top and backing but you only put a third of the batting in at a time, from the middle outward. Much easier to "puddle" cause less bulk