lynnie

i started out tying. i've used buttons too. I've used the button attachment stitch to secure the quilt layers. I did it on a quilt i was giving away and didn't care to put any more time into it.

quiltedsunshine

You can do a bar-tack instead of machine quilting.

And there's the "international stitch," where it's not really tied, but the thread tails are inside the quilt, and it's one long thread all the way across.

And the "circle quilt" way of doing things is a lot of fun. I do denim quilts that way. And flannel baby quilts are great that way, too.

Tiggersmom

Back in the old days.......early '70's we cut with scissors, double knit fabric and tied using yarn ....yuck. Hard on the knees and back.

lclang

Tie or use big stitch quilting. Also can use buttons, bar tacks, etc. I like a machine serpentine stitch for utility quilts.

sewingitalltogether

I did tie the crazy quilts that I did. There was just too much embroidery and buttons to machine quilt. Used embroidery floss and tied it on the back.

paoberle

I have been sewing and doing embroidery (traditional and crewel - I embroidered a May of the US in about the 5th grade for a school project. Wish I still had that!) since I was about 10 years old - I'm almost 70 now. As a young adult, I learned to crochet, knit, cross stitch, needle point, and rug hooking. I always wanted to quilt, so about 10 years ago I took a beginner's class and have been hooked ever since. I hate machine quilting, except on small items. I usually tie large items and either tie or hand quilt small items, but am getting ready to attempt a larger quilt. I have done appliqué and want to do more. I have hand quilted with regular quilting thread and done large stitch quilting with pearl cotton. My next goals are to make a large quilt using a lot of appliqué and to try doing some quilt art.

grammasharon

I hand quilted until "art" decided I could no longer hold the tiny needle and then I began tieing my quilts. Do have an occasional one machine quilted but can't afford to have them all done. How I tie has become so easy that I no longer have the back/neck/shoulder problems. I saw the technique on a quilt site but with my memory don't remember where but... I have one of those folded quilting tables from Joannes and some medium sized clamps from Walmart auto center. I mark the center of the table using the wooden sticks used for grilling taped down then I mark the center both ways of the back by finger pressing it and clamp it down. Do the same with the batting but I mark the center with a small safety pin and remove it after I get it clamped down. Then the top. I can reach across to the center of the table very comfortably from both sides. Once that section is done I move it another direction and clamp it down until I have it complete. Hope this makes some sense! Wish I could remember the site I know it had a video. If anyone knows where could you please post link. grammasharon

RuthiesRetreat3

I made a puffy biscuit quilt with scraps (so no color pattern to match). At each corner, of each patch, I "quilted" with a button sewn through all layers. The buttons do not match; I used grandma's and mom's button boxes, shopped Goodwill and other used-clothing shops and also got buttons from some of my patients who had button boxes at home. The randomness is amazing. Everyone loves it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to take photo and transfer here.

Wanabee Quiltin

I have seen charms and buttons sewed onto the quilt instead of tying. I also saw where they take thin ribbon and use that to tie with a pretty bow, my friend loves to do it this way for baby quilts. I have seen where they use an embroidery design to quilt it. I once used a decorative design on my simple sewing machine and that worked out great. I made small bows and then used my zigzag to tie the quilt together. For baby quilts you have to be very careful in what you use as they might choke on it.

MargeD

One of the first baby quilts I made were for twins, a boy and girl. I used a simple colored square, snowballed on opposite ends in muslin. The squares came together with 4 triangles in the middle, like an hourglass. I had just acquired my Janome 4000 (the twins are 12+ now), so I purchased a big variety of rayon thread, some plain, some variegated and tried out my embroidery stitches to quilt them. After making a 30-34 inch center, and making two quilts, I decided to just add large borders of blue and pink gingham. The parents loved the quilts and I had fun playing while quilting. I have often used Rayon thread for quilting, from lap to twin size, and I like the results. So far the quilts seem to be holding up nicely.