Do I need to pull up my bobbin thread?
 

I'm getting ready to begin my first ever machine quilting and I am really nervous! This is my first quilt and don't want to mess it up. I will be using my walking foot and doing simple straight line quilting next to the seam lines in my blocks. My question is, when I begin my stitching do I need to pull up my bobbin thread to knot and bury it later with every start and stop? Or can I backstitch at the very beginning and will my binding hide it? My quilt has borders on it. What is the best way to start and stop your straight line quilting with a walking foot? Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

If you start and stop at the edge of the quilt you can just leave a tail of thread, and let the binding hide it. When starting or stopping within the body of the quilt you do need to bring up the threads before starting or after stopping so that you don't wind up with a tangle on the back. You can tie or bury the threads or do back stitching, stitch-in-place, or small stitches before you bring up the threads. My preference is to tie and bury. I don't think it takes that much longer and it's less visible, but for many quilts (especially if quilting in the ditch) you wouldn't see back stitching or small stitches anyway.

Dunster pretty much covered the basics.

Starting in the middle of the quilt, you can sew all the straight lines in one direction. Then you turn the quilt 180 degrees, go back to the center and quilt the remaining lines. I always do all the long seams first. That seems to work best.

It is important that you have a taut sandwich so you don't get puckers. Have fun.

When my daughter started quilting, the first quilt she made, she stressed over every single stitch..it was making her crazy. I dragged out my first quilt and showed her all of my mistakes...then my last quilt..and told her to lighten up..there will be mistakes, and bad days..but you have to go into it with the attitude of fun and enjoyment. NOBODY will ever see all of your mistakes..try to relax and realize that with every quilt, we all learn and grow..no quilt is perfect. It's got to be fun, or you won't do it again! Enjoy the process, and know it won't be perfect..but that you will get better as you go.

Dunster has given good advice and exactly as I do... if you are coming in from the sides with your FMQ, the binding will hide and anything in the middle I bring my threads to the top to bury... just remember to relax and have fun. It gets easier with each quilt.

I learned the hard way, on my longarm and had bird nests of thread on the back of my first quilt - but also forgot to put down the presser foot lever, so not only had the bird nests but the top thread left many many loops on the back as well. It is really difficult to unpick those errors - Dunster and others have given you great advice.

I usually pull the bobbin thread up and then back stitch, but that's because many of my quilts are for charity. You never know how the quilt will be treated or how often it will be washed. If the quilt is for "show" or a special gift, I tie off the threads as I go. Good luck - and enjoy yourself!

I would suggest you practice on some muslin and scrap batting first. Then you can get a feel of feeding a quilt sandwich through the machine and check your stitch length and tension.

I love crosshatch quilting. It looks good on any quilt. I start in the center either diagonal or horizontal across. Then turn the quilt and start over to make the grid. I usually do 2 1/2" inch spaces between lines for a large quilt. No ends to bury, it's fast, easy, and looks fantastic. I think I do a better job of crosshatching with my walking foot then the local LA does on her big machine. And I stitch over my applique if I have any.

I wouldn't start learning to machine quilt on something you're worried about messing up. I think it was Leah Day who said it takes two or three quilts to get the hang of it. Do you have some tops you don't care as much about, that you can quilt first?

Agree. If you have already practiced I suggest piecing a small wall quilt and go for it. I recall how nervous I got when I FMQ on a nice quilt top
It got real and it took me out of my comfort zone

Result was not perfect but it got me to the next step of FMQ confidence.

Happy Quilting

I also am an advocate of practicing first! Use a muslin sandwich or sew some scrap blocks together to practice with. I am starting to learn to long arm (rent time) and find the learning curve steep. So, I will go next week with a couple of sandwiches to practice on first because I don't want to mess up the quilt I made for a wedding. First step is to define your concept of 'quilting' your quilt. Free motion quilting means many different things to different people. Is the use of stencils free motion quilting? What if you do feathers? You can draw them; use stencils; or just use the machine needle and your imagination. This is purely personal, but, I do not like overall quilting that looks like a mattress pad and don't want to use that technique. So, as others have said, practice, practice and decide what your definition of quilted is. Then, with each project, grow your skills from that point. But, most of all, enjoy the process.

I like OnebyOne's idea and will use it myself on an upcoming quilt.

Thank you for all of your helpful advice. I have practiced on a small sample quilt sandwich and feel that that I can jump in and do the straight line quilting with my walking foot. I watched a couple of good video tutorials by Leah Day that were very helpful in pulling up my bobbin thread. I know I need to remember it's my first one and I'm sure that I will have mistakes. Hopefully, I'll have time this weekend to start quilting it. Wish my luck :) Thanks again!

Confidence will come with practice, and just keeping telling yourself "the next one will be better, but I'm doing my best on this one."

A few other things to remember:

1. As was mentioned above, make sure your sandwich has no puckers , regardless your basting method. You can't fake that. Iron it all super flat and smooth from the middle outward.

2. You might "hit a wall" or get frustrated when you're quilting. Stop. Take a break. It doesn't have to be finished all in one sitting.

3. Use gloves. If you don't, you won't get a good grip on the fabric. I use cheapie garden gloves from Lowe's. Rubber palms provide some "grip" to the fabric.

4. You might have your doubts about how your quilt looks before it's done. Even those of us who've been doing this a have a moment in the quilting process when we say to ourselves, "What was I thinking?" Or "this doesn't look good" or "I hate this thing!" But after you've quilted it, something magical happens--you fall in love with it again. Sometimes you love it so much that, if you are making it for someone else, you might really be tempted to keep it for yourself. That's a great feeling!

And then, after your binding is on and you have finished your first quilt ever? That's a proud moment, mistakes and all! And you will be so eager to start your next one!

Thank you zozee for your comments. Yes, I've already thought to myself, what did I get myself into? I began quilting it yesterday with my walking foot and had to rip out a few times. I can't believe how heavy the quilt is and how hard it is to maneuver on my sewing machine. I had no idea! I have a Singer Confidence Quilter and there isn't much room even with it rolled up on the sides. But, I am committed to doing the entire quilt by myself including the quilting. For me personally, I wouldn't be able to say that I made it myself if I had someone else quilt it. I already know that some of my lines are not the same distance apart, but I know the next one will be better :)