How do I actually "quilt" lol
 

Hello. I am very new to quilting. I have finished two very basic top - a christmas tree skirt and a lap quilt.

I have no idea how to quilt them.

I am doing the lap quilt in a class. She is going to teach us how to layer and how to stitch in the ditch. Should I just leave it at that? Or should I do more? Suggestions?

The christmas tree skirt is my own project. I bought batting and basting spray (see how I am already picking up the lingo??? lol). But I am not sure how to quilt it. I was thinking that snowflakes would look cute -but how does one do that? Can you do it by machine? or do you have to hand sew? Do you have to find a snowflake pattern and draw it on? Do frixion pens really reappear in the cold?

So many questions, so little quilting time left before xmas...

(Note -the recipients of these christmas gifts will not expect perfection - they will appreciate the love).


Thanks gang!

Frixion pen ink will only reappear if the fabric isn't washed. I love them. Yes, you can do machine quilting. I think you might want to learn the stitch in the ditch first. Then you can explore doing something more "exciting." Your piecing looks very good. Go lightly with the spray basting -- your machine will love you for it.

I think that your tops look great! Also, at this point I would probably go with stitching in the ditch. One thing I've learned about doing the actual quilting, is if it's not going to show up, don't put a lot of detail in it. Your fabric selections are great, but would probably obscure any quilting. Stitching in the ditch will enhance the squares.

Your work is great. Just keep on doing it.
I agree, start with stitch in the ditch and learn more later.

Both quilts are cute!. I think stitch in the ditch is a good starting point for machine quilting. You'll be surprised at just how difficult it is to wrestle the quilt sandwich through the throat of your machine. Another option is to tie the quilt together. I've never hand quilted, so can't comment on that.

I think I'd tie the quilts since it's so close to Christmas and then, if you want and the proud owners will part with the quilts, quilt the snowflakes later.

SID was very hard for me in the beginning. If it were my tree skirt, I'd cross hatch it. A nice X through all the blocks would allow for some nice long rows of sewing and not too much turning. The borders could be SID or included in the cross hatching.

your tops look great. try practicing SITD on another practice piece. if you can't do it well enough for your liking, try sewing a line a short distance from the seam... use a point on your presser foot as a guide. this is the way i started out and it really got my confidence up.

Cute quilt tops!!! The frixion is said to reappear if the temps get down to freezing, but my quilts never get frozen. Wash the quilt when finished, and you shouldn't have to worry about the frixion reappearing.

I just want to say that your tops look great. Nice piecing. I have no suggestions on quilting. I'm pretty new myself and can only do SID, meander or cross hatching with my walking foot.

I agree with Lisa Wanna b I find the stitch in ditch difficult with a small throat machine. The diagonal lines would be the way I would do both of these. Yours look great by the way. Be sure to let us know how it goes for you. Quilt on!