CQ HOWs

[Grammie]

When beginning a CQ quilt do I do SID first and then begin again doing the blocks and background fillers and if there is no SID simply begin with blocks and work my way through the quilt ? Do I do my background fills after all the blocks are done or do I fill as I work my way through the quilt. Guess I'm concerned about puckers and such. Which is the best way to approach this? I mean sometimes you might discover some uneveness after your halfway down. Seems you would need some room to work out the waves.

Also to keep from bumping your clamps are you attaching some leaders to the side to simply have them farther from the edge of the quilt? Sometime the backings are just 3 inches bigger on each side. I hope to get all my customers to leave at least 4 inches and 6 is even better but I'm not there yet. Training takes time. lol

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Judi]

Grammie -

I don't have a CompuQuilter - it's on my wish list! - but I just finished a

quilt like this:

I did a panto on the outer wide border, then SID on the next border,

then went to work on parts of the blocks. Using SID where I wanted,

doing my overall and basically just making everything stable as I went.

I do what I can with that thread color I am using.

The body of this quilt had 6 big blocks, 30" by 30" each. As I advanced

the quilt I basted the edge and SID the other border. Then I went back

and did the design work in the center of the blocks. At this time all layers

are nice and snug together. Then I turned the quilt and did the panto on

the long sides in the outer and my leaves in the inner border. (Both had

different thread colors) No puckers.....

Honestly, there is a middle border too that I was just not sure what to

do there. When I was at the bottom I had and idea, did that, went back,

did the top one - then turned and did the sides.

(I have photos on my camera I want to share here, I just need to play

with them first so that they are not huge this time!! LOL! I am still

learning too!!)

Here is a hint I learned from Dawn Cavanaugh at the APQS showroom.

Her classes are great by the way, and I highly recommend them!

Anyhow - instead of using the clamps, leave them hang, pull-up the other end - just the elastic - and pin that end to your quilt side.

Works great! No more bumping into clamps! I have turned mine around

and never use the clamps now! Most of my quilts I am lucky to get 3"

and I have done many with only an inch to spare.....yeicks! I can do this

with no problems using the pins though.... give it a try!

I don't even need to use the silly rulers (that would fall as I advanced) anymore - no more weight from the clamps! So much better!

[Guest LA]

Hi Tammie,

You will need to quilt the borders & the body of the quilt as

you progress through the quilt. I find that I dont really need to do much SID with CQ, but incase I do, I disconnect the CQ to do a quick SID, then reconnect & off I go with desired CQ design.

I hope this helps??!!

Originally posted by Grammie

When beginning a CQ quilt do I do SID first and then begin again doing the blocks and background fillers and if there is no SID simply begin with blocks and work my way through the quilt ? Do I do my background fills after all the blocks are done or do I fill as I work my way through the quilt. Guess I'm concerned about puckers and such. Which is the best way to approach this? I mean sometimes you might discover some uneveness after your halfway down. Seems you would need some room to work out the waves.

Also to keep from bumping your clamps are you attaching some leaders to the side to simply have them farther from the edge of the quilt? Sometime the backings are just 3 inches bigger on each side. I hope to get all my customers to leave at least 4 inches and 6 is even better but I'm not there yet. Training takes time. lol

Any suggestions would be appreciated.