King sized quilt on small machine?
 

So I have finished one SITD baby quilt, and the top of a lap quilt... that is the extent of my quilting experience right now. I have two more quilts lined up before I would even get to this, but the wheels are already turning...

The other day my husband told me I should make a quilt for our king-sized bed. Do you think that is something I should even attempt on my little Bernette 25? I am fairly certain I couldn't do the quilting myself... I don't think I could fit all that batting and fabric in the throat of my machine. But do you think I would be able to at least do the top?

There is a Craftsy class for this. It's called Big Quilts on Small Machines. I signed up for it, didn't get around to taking it, now I have a machine big enough to quilt a king size.

You should be able to sew the top easily. It's just a matter of one block at a time, one row at a time, then sewing rows together. I had a Bernette 55 (I think that was the model) that I used for classes and retreats, and never had a problem finishing tops with it.

Don't quilt in one piece. There is a video but the way is to divide the king size when you have made the top into 4 sections. Sandwich and pin or spray baste . Now decide how to quilt. As you quilt leave about 1inch from each edge. Two quarters finished join by sewing top piece then lay flat and fit together butting and stitch together easier to hand stitch.then I match back sections folding one under as a seam and I hand stitch . Now finish quilting off to join the two sides. Sound a long job I find it goes very quickly. Then quilt and join the other 2 sections.the most difficult and heaviest part comes now join them all, get hubby to help. To keep weight off the machine with same process.
Binding next.

I highly recommend Marti Michell's book, Machine Quilting in Sections. It gives several different ways to machine quilt a large quilt in sections and shows examples that help you determine which method is best for your quilt. I used several of Marti's methods before I got a longarm.

yep doing a large quilt in sections would be much easier. two or three sections or even quilt as you go rows. Have fun deciding.

yes to all of the above suggestions -in sections you can google it or there may be youtube videos showing how also

All the above refer to QAYG, quilt as you go. I have two 9" machines and can quilt double to queen sizes on them. No need for king size, no bed that size. QAYG would probably be my choice for it.

Yes it is possible. You can piece any size quilt on a regular machine. At least that's what I've been doing. I quilted a king size on my dinky mechanical Brother basic machine. It was stitch in the ditch and I started in the middle and worked out. There were times I was really squooshing it through, but that was just for a little bit. I did it "on point" so every pass was less under the machine. I made sure to prop it up around the machine. It came out fine. The son I made that quilt for now wants another one. I may do it in sections, or QAYG, depending on the pattern. Or, may use one of my vintage Singers with more space.

Great! Thanks, everyone! I will definitely start looking into QAYG methods. It is good to know making a quilt for our bed is possible even with my little machine. One day I hope I can justify a long arm machine though! But given this hobby is pretty new (started in June) I think I should wait a little while. I keep drooling over the fancy machines every time I go to the quilt shops, I wonder if I can justify one by next Christmas??

I'm just now quilting my second kingsize on a domestic machine.
I use a bamboo batting and I find it much better to work with than hobbs for such a big quilt.
However....I've been quilting a few years now and therefor had a lot of practice......
The piecing of the top wil be no problem at all!

Since you asked about piecing the quilt top, I'm sure you can do that. My very first quilt was a king size as a surprise for my daughter. I hand pieced and hand quilted it. (No one told me I should start small! LOL) It took me over a year to do since I was working full time then. Ever since then, I have machine pieced everything on an old Viking, a trusted work horse that I love, with no problem. You might consider hand quilting it which would give you the chance to experience it, and make it a little more special for y'all. I love to do the hand work, but it is more tedious and slower. Just a thought! Good luck!

I made this quilt on a viking 118 which has a standard throat space and quilted it with straight quilting stitches and SID. It can be done . [ATTACH=CONFIG]433010[/ATTACH]

Beautiful quilt!

If the top is intricate piecing, one of the methods in the book that was mentioned talks about not having all the batting in. Like just make the quilt sandwich with only a strip of batting down the center, quilt it, then add more batting to the sides of the previous batting. Removing the batting removes a lot of bulk.

There are a lot of videos on youtube on how to quilt in sections.

This is a very interesting concept. I wonder if anyone has actually done this, and if so, what they think of this method. Sure sounds like it would work. I guess you could just baste the additional strips of batting to the strip that was in the center, and work out from there. Would love to hear from someone who has done it this way.

I have only just finished my second ever quilt - it's a queen size and was done on an inexpensive domestic machine with a standard throat. I 'stitched in the ditch' for the quilting (there was a lot as I used several jelly rolls).

I won't say it was easy, and it was made a bit more difficult because I used a heavy, high-quality king size flannel sheet for the backing. I did a lot of rolling of both sides and at some points had those rolls over my shoulders.

Despite the awkwardness of it, I certainly won't be shying off doing another one.

This is a queen-sized quilt I made for my mother, on a DSM with a regular-sized throat--using the quilt-as-you-go method. I made a similar quilt for our king-sized bed, also.

(I hope this posts, as I have never posted a picture before.)