I am piecing a king size and would like to machine quilt it , but is this possible to do on a DSM? How do you do it? I think I need very basic instructions. I have quilted crib size but this is a different ball game!

Leah Day has a video for DSM quilting. Or just got to YouTube and enter quilting.

It is definitely possible. I quilted a big king size on a dinky mechanical Brother. It was stitch in the ditch and on the diagonal. I started at the middle where it was the hardest, and then it got progressively easier. There are also Quilt as You Go Methods which you can find by doing a search on this board or on google.

Did the same. 120x130 king. We had a platform bed. I used a Pfaff 1471 with IDT. Laying out and basting was a pain.
I refused to quilt anything except miniatures until I found QAYG.

I recommend getting Marti Michell's book, Machine Quilting in Sections. It shows several different ways to machine quilt a large quilt by dividing it into sections, and explains why (with examples) you would choose one method for one quilt, a different method for another quilt.

I echo Dunster's recommendation. Marti's book has been a big help to me. I've quilted an almost-king in sections and the assembly has been very easy. Soon I'm going to try her "low fat" method where you split the batting into sections (but not the top or backing), thus reducing the bulk.

AnitaSt

For me:
1) Scrunch the quilt into the harp, don't roll
2) Start in the middle and work out in quadrants.
3) Make sure to have a table behind your machine to catch the quilt (at least 3 feet wide) and a lot of space on your left to hold the quilt up. You want as little drag as possible.

Also- DSM means a lot of different machine sizes. Some have very very tiny harps. I have a Bernina 430 and can do it, but when I had my Brother XL-3010 or Kenmore 16221, I don't think there would have been enough space.

Leah Day has a fabulous video about quilting a king on a DSM (a few actually), but she uses an extended harp DSM. She uses either the Juki or the Janome that are made with a lot of extra space.

Marti Mitchell seems to want you to do a lot of hand sewing with some methods. I've got the book, and in some cases I can't figure out what she is talking about. I go back and look through it every now and then, and still nothing makes sense.

Yes, what Skittl321 said, that's the way I did it on my little Singer, then the bigger harp Juki, now thank goodness I have an 18" on a frame, but I quilted over a 100 quilts of all sizes the other way.

I can appreciate this. I am SUCH a visual learner and can't always "see" things that are written.

There is a class on Crafsy Big quilts on a small machine, but it involves a lot more hand sewing than my carpal tunnel hands can handle. S

o instead I bought a machine with a larger harp/ throat (Brother PQ1500s). Of course, buying a new machine isn't always the answer... I love having the extra space, but I've only done a twin on it so far. I'm not sure I would want to do a king sized. My sister did a Queen on her Brother Project Runaway... It *can* be done, with lots of extra space for holding the quilt up and lots and lots of patience!