First quilt top complete - next step?
 

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I just finished piecing my first ever quilt top. I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do about quilting it. I was originally planning on machine quilting it myself, but I'm concerned about whether or not I can do it without screwing the whole thing up.

I have a vintage New Home machine - no walking foot. I was planning on using a cotton batting. The quilt is about 42 inches square. Any opinions on whether my machine could handle quilting this? Or should I find a long-armer to do it for me?

If you want to quilt it put together a few practice pieces and do some practicing, get the hang of it before you start on the real thing. There is a learning curve.

I'm not familiar with that machine, but you might ask in the Vintage Machine Enthusiasts forum on this site to see if anyone knows of a third-party walking/even-feed foot for your New Home model. I know there are third party walking feet for many of the vintage Singers, so perhaps something is available that would work for you.

It is a very lovely flimsy. I personally love 100% cotton batting. If you can get a walking foot, my favorite batting is Warm & Plush. If not, perhaps one of the low-loft cotton batts by Quilter's Dream might be a better option. Or you could go with Warm & Natural as long as you quilt fairly far apart (quilting more than 2" apart can cause the stitches to pop in the wash/with regular stress from handling so I would probably quilt every seam). Start in the middle & work your way out in each direction on the center lines; then, you can go back & fill in each quadrant, working from the middle out.

Can't wait to see your finished quilt!

You could always hand quilt it using a big hoop.

I see great quilts in your future! This one is really great with precise piecing with all those triangles and your choice of border is perfect. Lots of great advise about quilting it in the above comments. Good luck on your choices and please show us the finished quilt after you finish.

Of course you could quilt it on your machine!
There is more than one quilter that quilts using a treadle .... some even doing incredible FMQing too.

There are lots of options as to quilt it, that are easy enough for first time quilting.
.... Take a look around at similar quilt designs to see how others have quilted them.

You've done a great job and congratulations to you for wanting to finish it right to the end, by yourself!

Good Luck ... and Welcome from Ontario!

How about machine stitching down each side of the zig zags and then putting a colorful embroidery thread tie in the center of each white square. Also need to stitch all around on the inside of the border. And do stitch all around the outer edge to keep in order till you put the binding on. When buying the batting, be sure to check the manufacturer's recommendation for quilting distance required for that particular batt. Lovely quilt!

You have received lots of great options above. I just wanted to pop in and tell you that you did a wonderful job piecing this beauty! Look at those points!!! Perfection!!!

What a beautiful quilt for your first one!

I'm sure you can successfully quilt it with your machine. If possible, I'd try to get a walking foot though.

Great job! You're hooked. Welcome to the world of quilting.

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Hi Shewanders... I just joined this board this morning, and have the same questions as you do. I'm about to finish my first quilt top, but I don't want to screw it up with the quilting part. Exciting and scary at the same time, isn't it? BTW, it looks great!

Wonderful job!
As it isn't a huge quilt, I would sandwich it using 505 basting spray. You can search it and find lots of threads on how to do that on this board.
I'll leave it to others to help you with the machine quilting except to say that I rarely use a walking foot, so if you can't get one, it won't be the end of the world, as long as your basting is smooth and strong, IMO.

Watson

You made a beautiful quilt top. I think your future holds alot of quilts that you will love to make. I send all of my quilts out to be quilted so can't help you there. I do know a walking foot helps and your top may be small enough that you are able to quilt it yourself. Good Luck.

you did some nice piecing for a first quilt. Great job and welcome to the club!

Maybe stitching in the ditch would be workable for both a skill-level and machine wise (no walking foot). I have seen plenty of people successfully quilt without one, but have heard it is easier with one.

Either way congrats and let us know how it turns out!

Pretty top! Congratulations!

Please please please ... do yourself a big favor and make some practice sandwiches (12" X 12" is sufficient) using the same fabric weight, same batting, same thread, and same needle size that you plan on using on the quilt. then practice the quilting design on the practice sandwiches.

I'm an intermediate/experienced quilter and I still make a practice sandwich with same fabric/batting/thread/needle combo with every quilt ... and every quilt design (if multiple designs/threads on a single quilt).

the sandwiches help me work in "muscle memory" for the quilt design, and even more important - it helps me work out tension/needle size issues on the practice sandwich before I make a mistake on my quilt.

Also, if the practice sandwich shows that you have "issues" or "changes" that you would like to make ... make ONE change at a time only. For example; your thread is breaking a lot. Change one thing at a time ... re-thread the machine completely - test sew. Change the needle - test sew. Change thread - test sew. Change tension - test sew. And so on, until you have eliminated the problem. Every combination of fabric/batting/thread/needle/top tension/bottom tension can change the final outcome.

Thanks so much for all the tips, encouragement and positive feedback! I hatched the idea of making this quilt when my best friend became pregnant with her first 14 months ago. I somehow had the idea in my head that it would take forever to cut and piece, so the fabric sat in a bin for about a year. I had a few days off after Christmas and decided to finally tackle it. So surprised to find it goes together really quickly!

I think I will make a sample "sandwich" and try quilting that before attempting the larger quilt. I will look into the spray basting as well.

For those who predicted more quilts in my future, I have already started collecting fabric for 3 others I want to make! My main hobby is gardening, and quilting gives me a great rainy season pastime. I love textiles, color, design and am a bit of a perfectionist - seems like quilting is a great fit!

Congrats on the nice quilt top! Good job.

I just did a quick search online and it looks like you could find a reasonably priced walking foot the your machine. Check them out. A walking foot makes lots of isn't essential, but it does make things easier.

You did a great job! I really like the colors you chose.

If you can do that kind of work on your first quilt, there is no reason you can't quilt this yourself. Congratulations on a fine-looking top!

pretty quilt! just an FYI--a New Home is made by Janome--what they originally called their machines. Nice machines!

Very pretty top! Great job! :)

Welcome to the QB, what a marvelous first project...your piecing looks awesome and I love the arrangement of colors. It seems you have been bitten by the quilting bug...enjoy!

You have done amazingly well, especially for a first-time project! Love your colors as well as the design. Yes, a walking foot is one thing that will be a huge help for this one and all future projects. I'd outline the chevrons with stitch in the ditch. Not sure what I'd do in the cream centers. An echo stitch might be an option or I like the suggestion of doing a simple tie there but recommend something such as pearl cotton or embroidery floss, even that skinny ribbon. Yarn is pretty before it's laundered but doesn't hold up well. As to basting. I use quilters' pins for mine. I have never used the spray but am told it can make a real mess of surfaces outside the edge of the quilt so be careful of that or put a sheet down--or take it outside . Again--great job with color choices and construction so far!

What a great job. Lots of good suggestions here. You have this!

Beautiful quilt top!

I would look for a walking foot. There are several companies that make walking feet that fit various machines and they are in the $30 range. I have gotten them for older Viking and Singer machines. I bought them at a shop that sells sewing machines but I'm sure they are available on line as well. I even got one that fit an old Singer with the slant needle. I have them for my Featherweights too.

I wouldn't start out with free motion quilting without a lot of practice first. Stitch in the ditch can be challenging as well as your stitching has to be very straight an accurate. Maybe some stitching done a presser foot away from a seam line would work. No marking other than perhaps at the corners.

At the beginning and end of a stitching I leave longish threads, tie them off and then using a big eye needle run them under the surface, bring the needle off and cut the threads off there.

Consider how you want to sandwich the top, bat and backing together. Some use pins, others hand baste, others spray baste and others (me included) use washable glue squiggled on in a fine line on the batting then attach the front and/or back. There are lots of discussion on this board about this step.

Good luck, you are off to a great start!

Or hand quilt it using the no hoop method. Nothing says love like hand quilting. And remember, this is suppose to be fun, no stressing!! And my golden rule, your quilt, your rules! https://www.google.com/search?q=no+h...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Welcome from IL. You did a fantastic job with your choice of fabrics, pattern and piecing. I, too, wanted to complete the quilts myself so started simple on my domestic machine: stitch in the ditch, cross hatching using painters tape as a guide etc. In no time I switched to an overall meander and then tried stencils. Just jump right in. The hardest part is the anticipation.

your first quilt is beautiful. i hand quilt, so i'm no use to you as to how to quilt it.
you did wonderful on this quilt. thanks for sharing your first with us. please show us more and let us see how you quilt this one.

The first thing to do is to toast yourself on a job very well done! Then, I would do something simple to start.I like to mix linear with wavy, so I would go down the seam line from top to bottom doing a wavy line. Example - upper left corner, start at top of 2 blue triangles, do a wavy line (think orange peel) and meet at the bottom of the line. Then proceed doing a wavy in the other side (in the white stripe), then a wavy into the white print. It should look like a snake or an elongated 's'. BUT, start at the center and work your way to the edge and then turn it around and go from the center to the other edge. Then you can turn it sideways and do it in the other direction or just stop. It is small enough that this would be ok. It is also small enough that it shouldn't be to hard to do on a home machine. But, it would be a great help for you to go online and purchase a walking foot. You will be very, very happy you did. Remember to not worry if not perfect (that is where the wavy lines help). The more you do it, the more comfortable you will be.

Pretty quilt top. With the size of it you should be able to quilt it. To start I would just do a stitch in the ditch.

Beautiful top with perfect points. I also believe you should get a walking foot. It makes the job much easier.

If this is your first quilt, I can't wait to see subsequent quilts. Your vintage New Home is quite capable of quilting this. It appears to be a smaller size which helps. I would make a couple of extra blocks and experiment before starting on this piece. (I use my practice blocks as mug rugs if they work out). Being new to quilting, I feel that the next step is to baste the sandwich together. I have learned to baste then check the back often during the process. some people use safety pins, but I just haven't gotten comfortable with that yet. When I baste, I am using a long tailor's stitch and trying to put my basting mostly where I am NOT intending to quilt. Most people try stitch in the ditch before moving on to other forms of quilting. I use clear mono filament top thread, so it doesn't stand out much. Good luck!

I agree ...great first quilt.

If you live near a quilt shop, they often have long arm machines that you can rent. Your quilt is beautiful.

Welcome to the QB! Great first quilt, love all the shades you pulled to "match" the border.

Welcome from central Michigan! Your quilt top is beautiful. I love the fabrics & the pattern. Good luck with the quilting & please show us how you finish it. Great job & Happy Quilting.

WOW! You've done a great job on your first quilt! Sure you can quilt it on your machine. Anything is possible. You will soon be teaching quilting classes because you are a natural! Welcome from Oregon and welcome to your new hobby/obsession!

Wonderful job! Since you did such a great job I have every confidence you can do the quilting.