ChrisB

This is the way I did mine when I quilted large quilts on the machine. But now i use my longarm. You do have such a great feeling of accomplishment after you finish one, even with the difficult job on the machine. I would always feel underneath with one hand to make sure it was smooth. Hang in there- you can do it!

jaciqltznok

do you have the bicycle clips to keep it rolled up???

weezie

I also put pins no farther than hand-width apart and I have a large area of support (around & level with my machine bed) so there is no pulling from the weight of the quilt. Nor do I roll the quilt ... I bunch up and can then easily shove/pull/move??? quilt portions wherever they need to go. I have no room at this time for a long arm/frame; I have machine quilted several very large quilts. I try to always do SID first, then examine the quilt thoroughly front & back before I do more intricate stitching in the individual blocks or pieces. Important for me is to not overdo at one time; I don't allow myself to get tired; better to take many days to complete a quilt than to do myself an injury.

feline fanatic

Like you, I attempted to do my very first bed size quilt by machine. I got the center block done and realized very quickly that I would ruin my beautiful top if I attempted any more by machine so I hand quilted it. Yes it took years to complete but it was worth it. Your top is so pretty, I would get a few more smaller quilts under my belt before attempting this, or you can do what I did and finish it up by hand. I love knowing how to handquilt as well as machine quilt.
I highly recommend Harriett Hargrave's book "Heirloom Machine Quilting" for loads of tips and advice. Diane Gaudynski's book "Guide to Machine Quilting" is also great.
To this day I will not machine quilt on my domestic. I got a LA.

LivelyLady

I do mine that way, too :D

seamstome

Personally I HATE the actual quilting part. For now, just go slow. use a walking foot, a table to hold the bulk, and you may want to try a silicon slider or spray on your machine...I have never done that but have heard of it. Next time, try a quilt as you go....the quilt you are showing is perfect for that type of quilting and you only work with a single square at a time.

blueangel

I sen d mine out to have someone else do it.

SouthPStitches

When you get to the point of nothing but frustration, you need to walk away from the project for an hour, day, week, whatever. Sometimes just finding the patience makes the project go much smoother. Other than small projects, I quilt by hand as I need to get a break from the machine.

abc123retired

No one ever mentions the method I used for quilting my large quilt with my DSM.
So here it is:
1. lay out your quilt-top, then batting. Making sure your batting is large enough find a nice way to divide in thirds. Each quilt is different so you need to look at yours and see what can be quilted nicely in the first go over.
2. mark two lines, with quilt markers, dividing the batting into manageable thirds. These lines can be gently waving and your markers should be on both sides of the line for matching later (registration lines)
3. cut and remove the two side pieces marking somehow "right" and "left"
4. Lay out the backing, spray the middle, lay down the middle section of the batting, spray and lay down the top
5. Now you are ready to quilt the middle section without all the bulk.
6. When this quilting is finished, fold back the top and the backing and with a wide zigzag stitch stitch the left side batting back in place (use the walking foot) spray this part and continue quilting, repeat with the other.
7. This method really works and it is easy to get that batting sewn together. It will hold with all the quilting you are going to do on it and the wavy line helps to disguise the joining.

Try this method on a table runner or small quilt and see if you understand the cutting, spraying, quilting, joining, spraying, quilting and repeating for you. That's what I did and found my next large quilt was not a struggle for me or my walking foot.

By the way, I think stitching in the ditch is the hardest kind of stitching you can do. It never goes as straight as one would like. Look closely at the picture of the hand quilted one on this thread and that stitching to the side looks great and is much easier even by machine IMHO. Also plan on leaving lots of ends (result of lots of starts and stops) and using an easy threading needle (spiral) to get them tucked in. I personally avoid pinning-they are always in the way.

Quilting a large quilt gives you quite a feeling of accomplishment-it just doesn't all have to be done at once-keep at it.

PaperPrincess

I agree, you need to start with something smaller. With larger quilts you can roll them, or you can nest them, sort of scrunch the quilt up. Additional support around your sewing machine to hold the quilt is beneficial, an ironing board works well. You don't want the quilt to hang over the edge and drag it in a specific direction. Finally you need way way more than 100 pins! You should not be able to put your fist down without touching a pin.