Newbie-questions on quilting first quilt

[agh]

I have been practicing quilting on muslin and think I am ready to quilt my first quilt.

I plan to do an allover stipple.  I plan to pin to my leaders.  Now I have lots of questions.

1.  To make sure quilt is square-do I use my channel locks and stitch the edges first or just pin in place and then stitch body of quilt and before I roll, then stitch edges of quilt??

2.  Is it best to make sure with every roll that the quilt is square by checking with the channel locks or by putting painters tape on roller and checking that way??

3.  This quilt will have 2 borders-would I put painters tape at the location of both borders to help keep square??

4.  When doing a stipple, do I start from one side and work my way across the quilt and then

return to the left side and start the next pass on the left side working left to right??

5. Can I use some medium spools of Mettler thread instead of a large cone spool of thread??

6.  The blocks are 12 inch square and then pieced 12 inch blocks-if all lies flat, I should not need to pin the blocks before quilting-is that right??

Any other information that I might need would be greatly appreciated. 

[nanbrug]

Hi there and welcome to forum. I will try to help you the best I can. I always start with your top and try to make sure that the top is square not to say all quilts are square. In my experience very few are square. I use channel locks to check and make sure its running straight and also I have a tape measure mounted on my roller bar and that helps you see right away if you are straight. If the quilt is fairly square I don't pin it. I try my best not to use pins for safety reasons of not wanting to run my machine over accidently. The painters tape works well too. When I stipple I start at left and work way across then I advance and start on the left again. It's all what your comfortable doing but I do row at a time because I can adjust the quilt if necessary stopping at each row and then advance. Hopes this helps alittle bit for you. Just make sure the top of your quilt top is square first and you should be fine. I don't know about the thread situation I only use large cones. Maybe Linda will chime in she always has good advice. Good luck and let us know how it goes for you. Also make sure you tack down your top and sides and this will help you keep it straight before you start stippling.

[Sheagatzi]

1. - assuming that your quilt is square, which many of the ones I do is NOT square.   I use my channel locks to get a good horizontal line and baste down the top of the quilt.    I use a border seam, not the edge as a guide.   Then I smooth out and try and get the vertical edges down straight, then baste those down, just in the section that is in the frame (not the whole quilt)    Then, I quilt the area. 

 

2. I use both -  I use the tape (C-clamps for me) as guides to make sure my quilt is advancing straight.   I use the horizontal channel lock to keep my horizontal seams straight - tug and tease a bit where necessary.  I do this on each advance. 

 

3.  I put tape (clamps)  wherever i feel necessary to guide my quilt straight. (usually have about 4-5 clamps, but if you want to use them for each vertical seam, go for it!) 

 

4.  I just did a stipple  yesterday -   sometimes I fill the whole space and work left to right.  Sometimes I do about 1/2 the space and work left to right ,and then fill in right to left.   It really depends on my path and how my 'groove' goes for that section!

 

5.  Yes, you can use medium spools! 

 

6.  I don't normally pin blocks, unless the quilt is really wavy and wonky.    using that tape,  basting down the sides as you go, etc keeps your quilt laying flat.   

 

The best advice I can give is -  go for it.  Your questions will really develop more and become clearer as you quilt more quilts.  

 

Basting the edges gave me a lot of grief for the first 20 or so quilts -  so I would use a tack down baste stitch rather than what I do now (set the machine at 8 and stitch across)   The fabric bunches a bit along the edges (for me it did at the beginning)  and until you get that hand finger fabric machine coordination,  the baste stitch was just a little calmer and easier.   

 

 

[jimerickson]

Agh:  Some clarification needed.  When you say "spools" of Mettler thread what do you mean?  Are they really spools, or just small cones?  A spool to me is something with ends - two of them.  A cone has only a base.  Cones feed off the top.  Spools rotate to give up thread.  If you really have a spool, you'll need to use your horizontal spool holder for the thread, not the normal cone base.  The spool holder allows the spool to rotate, the cones set still.  The small cross wrapped spools without ends will work either way.  I however would not try and set them vertically on the cone holder.  I'd be afraid the thread might catch on the bottom end of the spoolonce in a while.  I'd put them on the horizontal spool holder and let them rotate as well.

 

As far as pinning goes, I don't think hardly any of us pin the top edge of the top.  Rather we baste or sew it down using our channel lock to get it parallel to the frame.  I'll put an occasional pin about 2 inches below the edge to help position the the top for my stitch down, but as soon as the the horizontal line is stitched, I remove them.

 

I'm like Andrea, I found stitching down the side of the quilt problematic.  I think it's because very few quilts have all their seams properly pressed.  As a result, as you quilt, the top gets wider, and I would end up with a ridge of extra fabric at the edge, and would have to cut out my side basting.  Now I just put a couple of pins in the side to hold it in place and remove them when I get to the edge.

 

I stipple (meander) either one way (left to right), or both ways depending on the quilt and what I'm doing with it.  I generally will fill the entire "roll" as I go rather than do half one way and half the other.  If I decide to quilt both ways, when I get to the opposite side, I then roll the quilt.  I prefer to stitch left to right, and if the piecing is a problem, or if I'm meandering around things, I'll begin at the left, stop at the right, and begin again at the left.

 

 I find it easier to fill everything in the "roll" in one pass rather than doing two passes.  With two passes, I sometimes get lost and end up with more or less open space in spots than I want.  I also tend to fill diagonally rather than just vertically.  I've found that, that way I get a more pleasing random look.  Similarly, I will leave an occasional open space at the bottom of the row that I fill in with the next pass.  This helps eliminate the horizontal row look of the meander.   Good luck with your first try.  Jim   

[ffq-lar]

I'd like to offer that if you attach your top to the leaders you lose the ability to adjust the sides straight, unless the top is perfectly square and perfectly loaded. I float so I can adjust as I go to keep the top square and to be able to isolate fullness in the area where it occurs instead of pushing it down the top.

Everyone shared good advice. It takes a village, you know!