quilting from the center
07-05-2016, 05:29 AM
#25
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 2,876
As Prisim99 said, if your layers are held together well, you can start wherever you like. I use Elmer's School Glue to make the sandwich, and it handles like one piece of fabric. Thick fabric. I usually sew at least a basting stitch around the outside first because the glued pieces could separate with a lot of handling. Mostly I quilt down one edge at least a foot or two in, then turn the quilt at the corner and do that on side two, three and four. Then there is just a small center left to do. Haven't had trouble with puckers.
07-05-2016, 05:32 AM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Portage, Michigan
Posts: 9,590
I just finished a 48 X 48 and did not start in the center. I started at one corner and worked on the diagonal from corner to corner. Then I quilted to the right of that diagonal then to the left, making a grid pattern on the diagonal. I then had areas that needed to have meanderings. Where you start may depend on the size of the quilt and the pattern.
Prism 99, I hate all the little ends that end up having to be tied off and buried too. So this time after each trip of meandering, again on the diagonal, I started with a filled bobbin and yippee I do not have any ends to tie off. It got pretty close a couple of times but I learned to slow down and watch the bobbin! I did not take any chances with "maybe" the bobbin thread will make it to the end. Just changed to a new bobbin and I am just sooooo happy!
Prism 99, I hate all the little ends that end up having to be tied off and buried too. So this time after each trip of meandering, again on the diagonal, I started with a filled bobbin and yippee I do not have any ends to tie off. It got pretty close a couple of times but I learned to slow down and watch the bobbin! I did not take any chances with "maybe" the bobbin thread will make it to the end. Just changed to a new bobbin and I am just sooooo happy!
07-05-2016, 09:21 AM
#27
Power Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Lowell, MA
Posts: 14,083
When I first learned how to machine quilt, I was told to start In the middle and work my way out to the edge, as this would mean less bulk under the machine throat. Then I attended a workshop at my Guild with a quilter/shop owner. She showed us how to properly pin baste quilts, and stated that if your quilt is sandwiched with lots of pins holding it together, you should be able to start quilting wherever you want. If I am machine quilting and doing a simple cross-hatching across squares or 9-patch blocks, I start in the corner and work my way across, first in one direction, then in the other and this has worked well for me. Granted, I have nowhere near the expertise of this machine quilter, but I have found her tips to be very beneficial.
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