Machine quilting - where to start?
 

I have a 48" square quilt, 12" blocks, that I want to machine quilt on my domestic machine. Have done some before, and have my design ready. Question: How do I start? Across the top row of blocks, and then move on down? Or start in center and work out to either end? Thanks for your help.

I always start in the center and work out if I am quilting with my home sewing machine.

Usually you start from the center and work out. Depending on how you basted your quilt sandwich, this may very important, or only somewhat important... How secure and "flat" is it?

Often, I will do some stitch in the ditch to stabilize things and then I can quilt whatever area I want.

Wendy is right, start in the middle and work your way out. Make sure that it is basted properly, because you will be turning it a lot.

Hi Lynn,
You can go to Leah Day's website and learn all about free motion quilting. I'm following her and she is great at teaching FMQ. Hope all is well.

If there are any "structural" SITD lines that you can use to anchor the quilt, I would do those first. Then I do 1/4 of the quilt at a time, starting from the center toward the outside.

Thank you all. Looks as though it's a consensus, which is kind of what I thought, but glad for your assurances. I pinned it with safety pins, but guess I could go back and baste also. I HATE basting, but probably should. Then I'll do around the squares, from the center out, and finally my design in each square. Really appreciate your help. Krish, I like your siggy - quilting is enjoyment and it improves the world. No dilemma at all! 8)

I recommend the Craftsy course on quilting a large quilt on a small machine; it is worth every penny. I actually have 3 classes and they all recommend spray basting the quilt. Then you S-I-D from the border to the center to stabilize it. This is supposed to keep the borders from distorting. http://www.craftsy.com/class/Quiltin...all-Machine/51 I think will take you there and here is her tute: http://obsessivequilter.weebly.com/t...rge-quilt.html

Thank you, Ashley. I'll check it out.

I just realized when you click on that link, it's regular price. It's on sale now for $30, but I don't know the link