Thanks for your information on machine quilting. This seems to be the best advice I have received.

By the way................I am a Vol Fan, but I'm not a hater of other Fans. I'm so glad that you helped me even though we may be rivals.

God Bless

When I machine quilt, I sew in the ditch down each side to anchor it first. Then I fold it so that I have a section to work on and go from there. As I finish a section, I refold the quilt to do the next section.

:)

Thank you for the information.

Have a good day.

I can see that you are a serious quilter. Thanks for the info.

Have a good day.

For those of you that are just starting machine quilting:

If you find that you really, really just like making the tops, it is ok to have someone else quilt them for you. The quilts get finished, and you get to move on to a new project. Some people get their joy in finding the right fabrics and in putting the tops together. I struggled for a long time trying to wrestle tops in my home machine. I wish someone had told me sooner that it was ok to find a partner in the project!

The other thing about this is, you'll have input to help in making your quilt-making better. Let her/him know you are open to suggestions and critique. When I finally started sending my tops to a long armer, I found that some of my troubles in quilting on my home machine were construction issues on the top. My LAer made me a better top maker.

Try to quilt a quilt on your own, AND hire someone to quilt a different top. You'll then have the information you need to set YOUR priorities!

Disclaimer: I'm a LAer now. But I did give this same advice years before I started LAing!

Use a walking foot and do a grid, center of quilt first.
I do free motion on the borders cause all your quilt is to the left of the machine so its not to hard to handle that way. Use a simple continuous line stencil like leaves or hearts.
I hope you have a large throat sewing machine, it makes so much difference when stuffing the quilt thru.

I just plunged right in last night. This is all new to me. I actually machine quilted on a small 30X30 wall hanging. I was pleased. With more practice I'm sure I'll get better. I had trouble keeping my stitches the same length, using a fab-u-motion attachment.

The advice I can give you is this:

*It is going to take practice.
*Make sure you can lower or cover your feed dogs.
*Have a walking foot and a darning foot.
*You HAVE to have a machine with enough throat space. For my birthday my DH bought me a new machine with 9 inches of throat space. SO EASY TO QUILT NOW!!
*Buy some good books about machine quilting. I love my books.

Good luck with it. I can stiple and meander, and am learning free motion with designs and such. The hardest for me is relaxing my shoulders..and getting the stitch speed/hand movement speed in sync.