Quilt top done...now the quilting questions..
 

As some may know I haven't made a quilt in years and then only stitched in the ditch on the old 1963 Singer machine that had basically one setting. I have a new machine and we have gotten to know each other better. She is a Brother 9050 with all the fancy stuff and stitches plus all attachments such as a walking foot, the free motion thingy and other goodies.

The quilt top is a scrappy D9P lap quilt. It isn't pretty but its not ugly either, but wanted to make a quilt for practice without getting into the good fabric. The questions don't involve patterns or design, but more along the lines of technical. I will be machine quilting and may likely involve a couple different designs so I can play around with learning to quilt.


1) I've read to start quilting from the middle and working my way out. But, if starting in the middle, how is the beginning stitch secured so that it doesn't come undo later down the road? Or is that even a factor?

2) Is there a certain setting I should use in regards to stitch length or width or just use a setting that is already programmed in the machine?

3) Can the walking foot only be used to quilt straight lines? Or can I do gentle curves? I know the free motion foot is used for random stippling and such.

4) Has anyone ever used the fancy stitches on the machine to quilt inside the seams (about 1/4" away from seam itself) on the small pieces of the quilt block? Or is that too hard as I would have to use the different feet with the different stitches?

I may have more questions, but these are the main ones, and I am on lunch and have to get back to work. Boo Hoo! Thank in advance for all the help.

How are you basting the quilt? That can make a difference. I prefer spray basting because it holds all the layers together better without shifting.

Starting in the middle is great for hand quilting. For machine quilting, I much prefer to start at an edge and finish at an edge. Some people bury their threads that are in the middle of the quilt. Leah Day has a great tutorial on how to use a "cheater" needle to do this more quickly. It's probably more common for machine quilters to secure the end of the stitching line with 3 or 4 very small stitches, then cut threads close.

A walking foot can be used to quilt gentle curves.

I experiment with stitch length/width as a lot depends on the batting and how thick the sandwich is. The thicker the batting, the longer the stitch that you want to use. It's a matter of seeing what looks best to you.

To prevent puckers, I like to heavily starch the backing before layering. This is especially helpful if you are crosshatching or doing other quilting lines that will cross each other. (Spray starching the top helps too.)

I start quilting in the center and do a back stitch and always quilt next to quilting. After changing bobbins I start the same way and end the same as starting. Never had any quilting come out.

Thank you, Prism and Jingle. You have answered my questions. I appreciate it. I plan on spray basting and using Warm and Natural batting. I will have to see what the local Wal-Mart actually carries as I may be going online to order. As soon as I got those, I will either start playing/experimenting or asking more questions. :D

1) I've read to start quilting from the middle and working my way out. But, if starting in the middle, how is the beginning stitch secured so that it doesn't come undo later down the road? Or is that even a factor?

If using the same thread as the background or primary color of the top then I might do a couple back stitches, I usually leave tails and bring bobbin thread up and bury the threads into the batting. Some will do several short stitches to lock the stitching line.

2) Is there a certain setting I should use in regards to stitch length or width or just use a setting that is already programmed in the machine?

This depends on whether you are quilting with walking foot or fMQ. For Walking Foot. I will bump the length up a bit - perhaps a cople clicks to accommodate the batting. If FMQ, you don't need to set the stitch as feed dogs are dropped and you are controlling the stitch length. If you have not done FMQ and you don't say you have, I would suggest lots of practice first and not use the quilt as an initial practice piece. It takes learning the technique.

3) Can the walking foot only be used to quilt straight lines? Or can I do gentle curves? I know the free motion foot is used for random stippling and such.

Gentle curves can be done. They can't be too tight and is easier not to have to turn the quilt too much.

4) Has anyone ever used the fancy stitches on the machine to quilt inside the seams (about 1/4" away from seam itself) on the small pieces of the quilt block? Or is that too hard as I would have to use the different feet with the different stitches?

Fancy stitches can be done but takes some effort. First, fancy stitches for forward and back. The walking foot should only be ued with a stitch that goes forward with almost no back motion. Also, if you lengthen the stitch it might not show the stitch as originally programmed since most are small tight stitches. So I would choose carefully the stith used and select one that works with the walking foot.