how to quilt a queen size quilt
 

I am trying to finish a queen quilt started couple years ago but don't know what would be the easiest way to sew the sandwich. I had thought of trying large stippling. This is my first try at this. Have done stitch in the ditch on smaller items but afraid to do it on such a large quilt. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Have learned so much from all you wonderful people.

Have you practiced free-motion quilting enough to feel comfortable doing a large stipple? If not, a queen-size quilt probably wouldn't be the best place to try it out.

I personally find stitch-in-the-ditch too difficult so I refuse to do it anymore. It's because I'm a perfectionist and am bothered by the inevitable imperfections trying to stay exact. Plus my eyes get tired looking so closely.

If you have a machine that can do a serpentine stitch, you might want to make a sample of that to see if you like it. Basically it is SID except that the pattern of the stitch weaves back and forth over the ditch. Someone may be able to post a sample so you can see what it looks like. The weaving back and forth makes it a much more forgiving pattern than a straight stitch for SID, and you still get to sew with the feed dogs up.

On a different note, one of the biggest problems for machine quilting a large quilt on a domestic machine is the bulk under the arm. I posted a method of splitting the batting and quilting in thirds that cuts way down on the bulk. If you scroll down through the following thread, you will see my post with instructions on how to do this:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...ml#post4938857

I was so grateful for Prism99's suggestion about splitting the backing in thirds - I'm the one that purchased the quilt tops (all 90x90) from ebay (& by the way, they are beautiful) so I could have on hand something to donate when groups needed a money maker & I hadn't thought of the quilting size problem. I think her suggestion will work & am very anxious to try it. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to put on the labels since I am not making the tops just the quilting? My intentions are not to cheat - just to be helpful to any groups who might make a few dollars.