Originally Posted by Prism99

I would split the batting into 3 sections, which greatly reduces bulk under the arm of a domestic machine. Marti Michel (sp?) has a book out on how to do this, called Quilting in Sections (or something like that).

By quilting foot, do you mean a walking foot? There is a big difference between using a walking foot and free-motion quilting using a darning foot with the feed dogs lowered.

I advise staying away from stitch-in-the-ditch for a first attempt. I personally do not even try this anymore because I am always dis-satisfied with the results. It sounds easy, but I am someone who notices every little deviation and it is *hard* to stay exactly in-the-ditch!

The easiest way to machine quilt that I have come across uses the walking foot to create gentle waving lines from one end of the quilt to the other. You can do these in two directions to create a wavy grid pattern (although then there is a concern about potential puckers at the line intersections). Straight lines are a little more difficult in that any deviation will show up as a "mistake". With wavy lines, there are no "mistakes".

Also, you need to learn how to baste your quilt sandwich together. My recommendation is spray basting.

Another recommendation I make is to starch the backing fabric heavily before layering (I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water). This stabilizes the backing fabric to prevent puckers. I also spray starch the top (different method than I use for backing yardage).