I am still experimenting with different ways of keeping everything under control when I am quilting a large quilt.
I have tried rolling up both sides and quilting on the middle portion but this is a real pain because I have to stop and re roll etc every few inches. I have tried the 'puddle' method of just letting it all fall where it wants while I work on the middle.
My preference at the moment is to let it all 'puddle' around me with a table to the left of the machine to take most of the weight and bulk.
I have tried the Flynn Frame for smaller projects but I am directionally challenged and can't get my head around the fact that my machine is sideways.
What do other quilters do?
Your ideas would be very helpful. (No, sending it out to be quilted is not an option!!) :?: :)

I am definitely a puddler.

i roll :D

I'm a roller - love the way you asked the question!

Definitely a puddler! Lucky to have a kitchen table behind my machine and a second (my Nana's old table) to the left. Works quite well as I was also frustrated with trying to "organize" the surplus. Good luck!

I make large accordion-like pleats for under the arm of the machine. I find this allows more flexibility with the quilting than rolling does, and I can still "puddle" a little around the needle if I want.

For the left side, I just let that spread out. It helps a lot to have a large surface flat with the bed of the machine for that.

I puddle. Tried rolling and messed it up, so changed that.

Mostly I puddle on either side of the needle. I think it's easier to handle than rolling, but I have a Viking Sapphire, so I have more space to work with. I accordian fold the part in my lap. Seems to work better for me that way.

UUUUUHM. I've never heard the term "puddler".
So maybe I do or maybe I don't. :mrgreen:
Okay whats puddler mean :shock:

It means instead of rolling, you puddle or scrunch up the quilt while you are quilting.

Oh, well that makes sense. Yes I'm a puddler then.
Thanks for the explanation. :-D

Most of the time I have rolled, but sometimes I "puddle" it, depending on what type of quilting I am intending to do.

I tend to puddle my quilt too, but I accordion the part that's in the middle of the machine because I find it easier to handle.

I'm usually a puddler, but sometimes I try rolling and it's such a pain for me I go back to puddling.

That didn't sound right.

I remember seeing one of the well known machine quilters talking about this. She said if you are doing fmq, you should puddle so you can have more freedom of movement. That made sense to me. I tried it both ways but the puddle wins hands down!!

Ditter

I'm a roll-pudd or maybe a pudd-roll :wink:
Which means I do whichever I gotta do.
But mostly, I admit, I'm a puddler

I'm a roller. I let the bottom of the "scroll" of fabric double over in my lap and then start at the top and FMQ down the area between the two rolls, doing about an 8" wide swath at a time from top to bottom. Then reroll, and start again.

Another puddler here.

ACK! When I first started I was told to roll them and use the bicycle clip type things (which don't work worth beans), so that's what I've always tried to work with. It's a real pain. I'm converting from roller to puddler!

I puddle and put the sewing machine on my big kitchen table so I can spread the quilt out, working on a lap quilt now

I "puddled" and I "rolled," depending on where I was on the quilt; and I remember I was "frustrated" a lot of times, too! Good luck!

you know, there's medication for that ;-)

Hmm, at my age, I sometimes puddle when I roll! (Sorry)

Til I got my frame I was a puddler. It worked best for me. I didn't like rolling it.

LOL Thats okay Pam I puddle also, in fact my neighbor does too come to think about it!!

I have a really cute neighbor girl that lives across the street from me and she came over to talk to me while I was working on my '51 Ford earlier today. I am getting it ready to paint so after I hosed it off I asked her if she wanted to take a spin around the neighborhood.

Of course she was all giddy to go ride in an old car (shes 26) and we took off down the road. She told me she liked fast cars and wanted to know if I would "get into it" for her. :mrgreen:

Little did she know as soon as we were on the main road I nailed it and after spinning the tires through third gear she was squealing like a little girl. When we pulled up to my house we got out and I looked at her pants and she peed all over herself!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

God love her she was so embarrassed, but she thanked me for the ride and told me that she didn't want to go that fast again

Billy

Thanks for this craftybear. She did a great job explaining, made it very clear.

I roll, although I never thought of it that way. hahahahahaha :-D

That's how I started too, but even on my first attempt I ended up puddling because keeping the darned thing rolled just wasn't working. I was also frustrated with having to constantly pick up the stupid clips from the floor where they would land after falling off the fabric roll, not to mention that the rubber grip edges of the clips would "grip" my machine when I was trying to push-pull the roll through the opening in order to turn the quilt around.
Nope, puddling definitely works better for me. :D

OMG, Billy, that is so funny!! (Hope she didn't mess up the inside of your car :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: )

When I quilt, I'm a puddler too.....

I puddle. I started out rolling but it quickly became a pain in the neck - I felt like I was constantly re-rolling. Puddling seems to work much better for me.

Thanks for the morning chuckles. I knew I could on this post for that sooner or later.
:-D

Me too, puddle. Or as I call it Stuff and Fluff.

I roll until it unrolls and then I'm a puddler.

That is pretty much what I do I put the leaf in my kitchen table and I scoot down all the wat to the end of the table, then I take my card table and put it at the end of the table to make an L shape. It works pretty well. I have quilted a King size this way.

Ha, this post gets better as we go on! Thanks for the chuckles as well as the info. After reading all these great replies I reckon I will stay a puddler. :lol:

I sort of do a combination of both. If it works to roll, I roll. If it works to puddle, I puddle. Sometimes if the weight of the puddle starts to pull, I roll.

I start rolling but usually end up in a puddle :roll:

I puddle . Jolo