I've been quilting for about 3 years. So far, I've only made the tops, I've 'farmed' out the actual quilting portion. I've been looking into learning how to quilt my own tops. First of all, how does one learn how to do this? And second, what are some good quilting machines?

TIA

Dorian

You will get some good responses to your questions. I am learning too. I have only ventured on lap quilts and tablerunners. Welcome from Louisiana!

I started with something small and quilted in the ditch. I still do that frequently. One of my quilting buddies uses a decorative stitch in the ditch. I think a walking foot helps.

I'm fairly new to quilting myself. I learned everything I know from youtube videos. They're great because you can keep replaying them. I just got some books from my local library also.

Good luck! :D

Most of us quilt on our regular domestic machines.

Harriet Hargrave's book is really good for getting started. Here is a link to it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Machi.../dp/1571202366

The easiest way to quilt is to use a walking foot and make gently curving lines across the quilt. If you do this both ways, you get a curvy cross-hatching.

A lot of people start with stitch-in-the-ditch (SID), but I think that's actually fairly hard. You use a walking foot and try to stay either in the seam line or to one side of the seamline. Having to stay so precise makes me too anxious, so I don't do this anymore.

Free-motion machine quilting (FMQ) is what most of us aspire to. It can take some practice, but it is the most freeing. Harriet's book is all about FMQ.

Check out http://www.daystyledesigns.com. They have some absolutely wonderful tutorials on youtube.

Goodness, I could spend all day looking at this site. I love all the different patterns she has.

What is the best pattern for a newbie to start with? Some of her's look so difficult.

I would suggest meander. it is basiclly larger stippling. Shows no mistakes and is fast and fun, so you get the instant gratification a person needs when learning a new technique.

I agree. Meandering is a great place to start. I find it so relaxing. Just drop your feed dogs and start practicing.

Yeah, meadering is the easiest and it will teach you how to move the quilt around. I usally do a meadner if I have to finish a quilt quickly.