To serge or not to serge
 

I'm new to quilting, making my first big (queen sized, for my bed) quilt, and a friend mentioned that quilts with strips have a tendency to have seams fray out. I'm planning to hand tie this quilt because I like the loft, can't afford to pay someone to LAQ it, and I'm pretty sure it'll be too bulky to machine quilt at home. So why not use the brand new serger I got for Christmas to put my strips together? I know it will use more thread, but should be sturdier, right? Any other considerations I haven't thought of?

I've made a quilt by serging the blocks together for the reason you stated, it raveled a lot. The quilt turned out great. But I've found it's harder to get that 1/4" seam and make sure the seams lined up without hitting pins. It can be done. There's a quilt called the 6 hour quilt and it's made with a serger. Enjoy your new toy. It's really amazing.

Serge it. I have made a quilt that I serged. It does better if it is just a strip quilt rather than a lot of little pieces. I didn't like the results with the squares that had little pieces.

Good advice here. I don't have a serger. I haven't had a problem with strips fraying either. I have made lots of quilts and use a closer stitch than most.

I have not had any problem with my strips fraying, but what the heck go ahead a serge it.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]453341[/ATTACH]. I made a twin size using my serger. The quilt is from Serge and Merge by Sharon V Rotz.

Why would seams on strips have any more tendency to fray than seams of the same fabric made into blocks? I've never had strips of any width fray just because they were strips. They've frayed because they were loosely woven fabric, but not because of how they were cut. Serge if you want to, but you may just be adding time, effort and expense needlessly.

I have never had this happen, and have never heard of it happening to any other quilter, either. You should ask her where she got this information. I'm quite curious.

Or if theseams were less than 1/4 inch.skimpy seams will pullout - so can a skimpy serged seam.

I tried making a serged quilt... didn't like the bulk in the seams... plus, it seemed harder to get the seam to NOT pucker, and it seemed harder to press the seams nice. You could try using it to make something like a table topper, or placemats or something else small, and see if you like it or not. I was a seamstress, and sewed my own clothes for years, and never had a serger, and my seams NEVER came apart unless I sewed the garment too tight :? Enjoy