How do you control your quilt when you are machine quilting???!!!
 

I have a Twin XL quilt that I am machine quilting.. and it is quite a handful. I roll up both sides and quilt in the middle.. but how do you guys keep these quilts in control?

I bought some Dritz Quilting Soft Grip Oval Quilt Clips.. these are OK but only when there is plenty of fabric.. otherwise they just fall off.

Is there anyway to make these grip tighter? Or what do you guys use?

I have those but have only used them on a large crib quilt. Stopped the other day at a friend's mother's house. Didn't know she quilted. She uses the only machine she has ever had. It's a Singer REd Eye and beautiful. What I found her using was she carefully rolls the edges of the quilt then puts a 2 ft piece of trim molding on top and on bottom of each side. She then uses the large clamps (black w/red grips) to keep them in place. By doing it like this there are no clamp impressions on the quilts. The trim molding is the vinyl that has been prepainted. Paint doesn't come off. She said she's been doing it like this for years. She does some beautiful quilting.

What a great idea!! That's why we seek the advise of out elders!!

I've rolled the sides then used clothes pins to hold the ends. Works pretty good.

I don't roll up the quilt areas that I am not working on....it makes it much more difficult for me to fmq larger patterns.....I "puddle"....which is basically just scrunching up the quilt around the work area.....I also keep my ironing board to the left of my sewing table to keep the bulk of the quilt off the floor and not pulling against me while quilting.....with all parts of the quilt supported, I just center my hands around the work area of the quilt to keep the fabrics smooth and taut, then move the quilt under the needle... I don't use anything special to grip the quilt, that just gets in the way for me....I did have problems this summer when the humidity was high, but I just worked on something else, but you will need to make sure the area around the needle is slippery.

Why roll it. Check out you tube for HM quilting. I also took a craftys class and sure helped me. Did my first king on my machine and didn't use clips. Check them out.

I puddle my quilt, too. I usually roll up the sides to start out but it gets unrolled pretty quickly...... It's too much effort to keep rolling back up. Since I start in the middle and work my way toward the sides, it get's easier as I go.

I used to roll the quilt under the arm, but later found out that accordion pleating is much easier to handle. Just make large folds to create the accordion pleating under the arm.

Should add that I tried bicycle clips a long time ago, when I still rolled. What I find is that anything like that ends up getting in the way. Loose accordion pleating lends itself to re-arrangement easily and does not stiffen the quilt the way rolling does.

Some people fashion "bungee-type clothes lines" from the ceiling to clip to the tail end of their quilt. This takes the weight off.You put the clips of the line to the ends of your quilt that are one the other side of the sewing machine, i.e. what you have already sewn. I haven't done it, however, if I were to quilt a large quilt on a domestic, I would surely try it.

Check out Leah Day's FMQ class on Craftsy. She explains about puddling the quilt and talks about keeping the weight of the quilt from putting drag on the quilt. Also, I think there is a thread with photos showing someone's system for holding up the quilt to keep it from dragging.

Thank you so much for your ideas and internet suggestions I am going to look at those. When I use clothes pins they fall off (maybe I buy the cheap ones) I tried "puddling" last night and I struggled.. I will do some reading and other options to consider

I tried the rolling up when I first started machine quilting. I found that made the quilt harder to control. After about a dozen, I got tired of rerolling and just cram right side under the throat and start quilting.

I'm with Jingle. Cram it under and go for it!

I'm a puddler!

What can really make a difference is lots of tabling in all directions to support the weight of the quilt. And be careful with what comes down in front, between the machine and yourself, as that can be counter-productive to letting you quilt with some freedom.

I have one of those new Pfaff quilt expressions machines and can control the pressure foot with my foot, so I can keep both my hands on the quilt at all times. That has made quilting MUCH easier.

You might also consider positioning your ironing board along side your sewing machine, at a right angle, to support part of the weight of the quilt. I am machine quilting right now, and I discovered this ironing board tip a while back and it really helps.

I also lower the height of my ironing board so it is the same hight that my sewing machine desk is.

The nice thing about using my ironing board is that it is right here and I can move it back "where it belongs" when I am done.

Dina

I puddle also - tried rolling, but found puddling works best for me.

Sounds like there are tons of puddlers out there!! Maybe I need to move to my dining room table like morelcabin does... then I will have more table space. I don't have much where I am working now THANK YOU

Nowadays I use the longarm to control the quilt, but before I got that I tried all sorts of things. I do have a big work space around the machine, and found that was very helpful. I tried rolling the quilt and had no luck with that, but I did like puddling much better. Then I discovered machine quilting in sections (Marti Michell's book) and that was the best solution for me.

I also spray sewing grade silicon on my extension table.

Great ideas. Thank u for sharing'o

Dunster...I got Marti Mitchell's book but it's like Greek to me. I guess I must be pretty dense to not understand it. I wish I did as trying to quilt even a twin sized quilt is awfully hard on my arms and shoulders.

I puddle also. If your table is large enough, it can also help to put it in a corner so the quilt can't fall off the edge. Machingers gloves also help grip the area you're working on.

That's exactly what I do- I just did my first one and it was a queen!! Success...

Another puddler here (although I call it "mushing"). My machine is on a large table, with another table to my left. I will often throw excess quilt over my shoulder as well. I use Machingers gloves, threads don't stick to them, so I don't have to remove them when cutting threads. The largest quilt I've done is queen...I don't have a king sized bed, so I've never made a king sized quilt. As long as I don't try to go any farther than the center of the quilt, I don't have trouble. I've actually become quite good at octopus wrestling!

I just learned I am also a puddler! I find it easier to have an extra table area to hold the quilt weight while I work. My best tip, however, is wearing garden gloves with the rubbery surface on the palm and fingers. I found I was gripping my quilt in an effort to move it around which was painful. Wearing the gloves allows me to keep my hands flat as I maneuver it. No more sore hands and smoother movements. Bought the multi pack at Costco for $8. Colors don't always match but as long as I have a left and right glove, I am good to go!

Thanks to a tip given here, I have purchased the quilting gloves from Amazon - they are awesome. I guess I will just move my machine to the dining room table this weekend and see how it works for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pL36...eature=related
Try this method, sounds fairly easy and if you have problems or need help, PM me and I will help if I can. Binding method like Marti talks about seems more difficult.

I was taught to roll the quilt but found that too awkward. Now I just puddle but when I first saw this method the lady called it "Bunch & Scrunch". I have a 6' table and that saves the quilt from falling.

Try using glycerin on your hands - it makes your hands a little tacky and isn't hot like gloves or awkward like pads. the glycerin won't leave any stains on your quilt and will make your hands softer. I got a bottle at WalMart phamacy and you only need a drop -the bottle will last forever.

Carol34446 - That YouTube video was great! She really made it understandable, and I love her method. Thanks for posting the link.

Thanks for all the great ideas.

I am currently quilting my first. Its a baby quilt. I am rolling also and have wondered the same thing. I have my machine set up on corner of dining table & throw llength over my shoulder. I do have to make sure quilt does not et wedged between me &table.

Another handy video is from Marguerita McManus (she's got several). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g14govA4pIM This particular video is how to build a cheap sewing & quilting table, and the beauty is that it gives your quilt plenty of room on the side and in back to move freely while you quilt.

The first explanation I ran across for my favorite method (splitting the batting into 3 parts) was in a book by Debra Wagner. Unfortunately, I don't know which book; however, all three of her books are fabulous.

This method is my favorite because no one will ever know you did the quilt in sections. I used it with 505 basting spray.

Basically I layered my backing and batting, with batting centered on top. I visually divided the batting into 3 pieces. I placed a cutting mat underneath the batting, used a permanent Sharpie to mark registration lines (horizontal marks) along where I was going to cut, and then cut the batting. Before separating the batting pieces, I used the Sharpie to also mark "top" of the batting and "right" (for the batting piece to be removed to the right side). Did the same for the left, then removed the left and right pieces of batting to a safe place. Next step was to peel down the remaining center batting and spray baste as usual. Then I centered the top over this and spray basted the center of the top to the center of the batting.

The center of the quilt is the hardest to machine quilt. Removing the batting from right and left sections means that you are stuffing just fabric under the arm of the machine, making maneuvering much easier. When quilting the center, I left about 6" unquilted on each side. This is important, because you need some space to re-attach the batting.

To re-attach a batting side, I simply laid out the quilt and peeled the top and backing apart (where the excess spray had stuck them together). I used batting tape (which is really just strips of fusible interfacing) to reattach a batting side to the middle batting, and spray basted that side. After quilting one side, I did the same for the other side.

With this method it's really important to mark the batting as you cut so that you can re-attach the batting pieces exactly as they were. If you don't mark, it's really easy to struggle with trying attach the left batting to the right side, or attach a side upside down or wrong side up. Don't skip the registration marks!

Hope this helps. I have not seen the Marti Michell book, but I expect she describes this method somewhere in there.

This is what works for me, to the extent that I can FMQ at all, which isn't great, but I'm still practicing. It might be good to watch this Leah Day video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nz0Q...=TL37x4B3u9qt0 especially starting at about 7:16. Patsy Thompson also has a series of excellent videos on the subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39I5A3iyCtw

Even with an ideal set-up it seems to me that quilting a large quilt is a tough physical struggle, but it's do-able. The biggest struggle for me is to overcome a tendency to bunch up all my muscles and approach it like a wrestling match. That really does not produce the results I'm after.

Prism99: good idea! I never would have thought of that on my own. I may have to try that next time..... sometimes I quilt diagonally, so I will have to think about it.. it should still work if I have my blue painters tape on the top of the quilt THANK YOU

When I first began quilting on my DSM I found the whole thing frustrating and a trial and thought "this is not for me!" But it got easier -- or I just got used to it -- with the second one. And now I feel more confident, it works much better, and I even enjoy it (mostly!). I tried rolling and still do that sometimes but I also puddle, depending on the quilt and how well it wants to cooperate. I should qualify all this by saying I haven't done any fancy quilting, just SITD and line quilting using a wavy line that is a pattern on my Brother Innov'is 450Q machine.

I've tried pegging, rolling and also folding, but in the end I've just settled for puddling, getting the quilt under there and go! It did help when I realised how dense I was being and finally got the dining room table extension out... Those extra feet have worked wonders.
That said, the ironing board may still be going into service in the next couple of weeks as I have a king size to quilt.