I have never worked with chenille. But tied sounds best if you do not have a walking foot. Welcome from Mass.

I know exactly where you are coming from. I too found early in my quilting a simple block type nine patch w/chenille. I too bought the kit...came home and made that quilt. The chenille was difficult to cut trying to keep it straight..for it wanted to move. Once the top was done and I spent the next 2 weeks still dechenilling my sewing area...I sent it off to be quilted!:))I decided at that point it was too thick for me and I was sick of the shedding;))Love the look and the texture but geeze what a pain! If I were to quilt it on my machine the only way would be to thread baste it due to the thickness. And, then go w/it from there however you want...movement such as stippling (which would have to be big stippling or you will loose the plush)or straight line quilting done w/a stitch reg. that replaces the sewing foot you have on your machine at the moment. Keep us posted on the progress!! You are one determined quilter that I am sure we will see some great quilts coming from you!!:))Skeat

If you're talking about actually handling the bulk of the quilt while you're trying to quilt it... I feel your pain. This issue is what has stopped me so far, from trying to make anything bigger than a table runner or wall hanging.

I don't know how people manage beautiful quilting on bed sized quilts, made on little bitty sewing machines (non-longarms).

I really don't know how you manage the bulk of a large quilt through that small opening in the sewing machine. Even the small projects I work on can make me wanna pull my hair out.

Maybe that's why a lot of people just make the quilt tops and then send them out for quilting by someone with a longarm machine. But I don't want to and can't afford that. Plus, I want the satisfaction of being able to do it myself.

So, question to you quilting veterans... How do you manage the bulk of a quilt while quilting on a standard sewing machine? I know about rolling up the excess and all that. Even doing that, doesn't seem to help much. :?

I think haveing a walking foot would ease some of the frustration. It feeds top and bottom layers together at the same time. Soem people call it the even feed foot.

Welcome from Indiana!

I think I'd either tie this one or send it out to be professionally quilted. Please don't get discouraged and keep on quiltin' :wink: :wink:

I have found that rolling the quilt makes it too big to fit through a small throat. I tend to pull through the sides and try to get as much in fron of and behind my sewing machine as possible. Much easier for me to manage. I do not try to turn the quilt, just pull it out, turn it, then re-feed. I was able to do a queen-size this way. Not quickly or easily, but it can be done. Good luck and keep us posted!

I encourage the quilter to do the tying. The satisfaction you get from completing it yourself will be great. And the practice will be good. Use a floss that blends well with the chenille. And good luck. You will go far with quilting.

With chenille as bulky as it is I would do the tying, that will leave the quilt looser and a better 'feel' to the quilt, the quilting might not show up and/or detract from the chenille.

I know that my mom uses her tiny machine to quilt, but she uses a method she calls "quilt as you go" ?? I am not familiar with how it works, I have a long arm.

But I tried long ago to do a baby quilt on my regular machine and ended up in tears. At that time, I had never heard of a walking foot. It bunched up on me too. The bottom fabric and top fabric are not moving at the same pace.