machine quilting
 

:( I am fairly new to machine quilting on my Gracie big frame. My Bernina 1260 only has a throat space of 7 1/2". How do you get to the middle when the throat is full of quilt? You have to keep rolling the quilt as you work. HEEEELP !!!!! Sandy's mom

It sounds like you need to take the quilt off the frame and remount it with the unquilted bottom half at the top now. As long as you've gotten to the middle you should be ok. If not, you may need the assistance of someone with a machine with a larger throat.

To quilt a quilt which is too large to get to the middle, you'd have to do something creative like quilt the center one-third of the quilt first, with only the center one-third of the batting in there, take it off and attach each other one-third of the batting one at a time to quilt the top and bottom one-thirds of the quilt. Hope this makes sense. It doesn't sound easy, but it should work.

A thin batting would allow you to get farther in the quilt than a thick batting, of course.

Yes, this is why the larger throat machines are best to put on frames.

I have a Bernina frame and have been using my Bernina 440. I have quilted 3 bed size quilts - full and king - but it's a challenge. First of all, I always use Warm and Natural batting which is thin. You could also use flannel. Also make sure you are using pins to attach the backing to the leader. Anything that is thick, like Red Snappers, takes up valuable space. Make sure you roll the quilt tightly on the take up rail. As you go the quilting area gets smaller so plan an easy quilting pattern, like a meander.
Fortunately Santa brought me a Bernina 710 which has a 10" throat and I am looking forward to using it on my frame in the near future.
You may want to keep your eyes open for a gently used machine that you can use just for quilting on your frame. Some dealers offer good prices on reconditioned mid and long arms.

I would agree with the previous post that you need a DSM with a bigger throat to use with your frame. I have always quilted on my Bernina 1530 with proper support and have won many ribbons. I built a table around my Bernina so with the proper support, I never need a frame.