I am getting ready to put my first king size quilt on my frame. I know I will be doing an edge to edge design, so here is my question. To help offset shrinkage, I know I should stitch from the center out. Would I achieve the same effect if I stitch left to right, right to left alternating each row?

Thanks everyone!
Mona

thats how i do E2E but i've never measured before and after to gauge shrinkage compare to any other method of doing E2E

Mona, I don't know what kind of setup you have, but I longarm professionally, and I never work from the center out. If you have the quilt tensioned properly with side clamps, you shouldn't have a problem. I do baste the top edge of the quilt, and the sides that are visible within my quilting area before starting. Then when I advance I baste the next section of the sides.

But here's one tip. Measure your quilt top in several places - top border, through the center, and bottom border. Often you will find that the borders are larger than the center - let's say you have top=92", middle=90", bottom=92". When loading the top, match the center to the center of your frame, then measure out 45" to the left and right and ease the edges of the quilt in to that measurement. Notice that you are using the 90" measurement, NOT the 92". This will allow your quilt to end up nice and square, instead of having flared borders and a 'skinny waist'.

Thank you.... you know we have classes for making a quilt top, but I've never seen a class for quilting on a frame.. Thank you so much for your help!