I need a cheering section-instruction please!
 

So......I have a quilt top that is 87w by 113 long. I was going to put it on a quilt frame and hand quilt it but I am overcome by some urge to try and conquer it on my Viking Rose. Crazy..right?!?!? Nothing fancy--if I machine it -I will menander. I have never done one quite this large on my home machine. Am I crazy? Should I hand quilt it? Not taking it to a long armer as I'm doing this for my daughter for a wedding gift. Paying for the wedding has taken all my extra $$. What is your experieced thoughts??

I would first try seeing if I could get it THROUGH my machine before trying to sew anything on it.

Scrunch/wad/puddle/roll - whatever you would usually do to be able to stitch on it.

Would I be able to get the center of it under the needle and be able to maneuver the fabric around?

If you can, just shove that puppy into your machine! I don't know how big a Viking Rose is, but I FMQ'd a 120" square quilt on my Janome 6600, that has a 9-inch throat. Worked fine and that was my first ever FMQ quilt.

I don't roll up my quilt, I just cram it in there and flatten out the immediate area I'll be working on. The rest of the quilt puddles around the machine. Just flatten your work area as you go and make sure you don't have a corner of the quilt sneaking in underneath. Support behind and to the side of the machine helps greatly.

I've done one that size on a Brother 1500. It has about a 9 inch throat. I'd say it can be done. I, too, am a crammer not a roller. Get as much table space as you can. I use every folding table I can fit into the room, but it works.

I just cram it in there, too. :D

I have a friend who quilted a king sized quilt on her grandmothers' featherweight. I'm not saying I'd ever attempt it but I guess if there's a will there's a way! Good luck! :thumbup:

Just make sure you have support for the quilt to your left and at the back of your machine. I would not worry about the size of your throat, I machine quilted many of my quilts that won top prizes on my Bernina with a 7" throat. It is most important to have the quilt supported so the weight does NOT tug while you are stitching.

Rah! Rah! Rah!
There's your cheering section. I have never quilted anything that big so I can't give any advice. Just wanted to cheer you on.

I have quilted that large on my home machine. So I know it can be done. Have you ever FMQ on your machine before? If not you might want to practice on something smaller first.

Otherwise - go for it! Here's me cheering you on!

RAH! RAH! REE! Kick em in the knee! RAH! RAH! RAS! Kick 'em in the ...... other knee!