Quilting Steps

[Liana]

I have been quilting on my long arm for about three months and want to know if there is any particular steps when quilting.  I am doing a on point bear claw quilt and foresee that i will be going back and forth on this quilt.  Is that common?  Do long armers who are not doing edge to edge do top borders then go done to the blocks.  I have been quilting the main portion of the quilt and then I go back and do borders.  Is there a right or wrong way to do this?  Is there a more efficient way to do this?  If you are quilting with different color thread do you do all the one color and then go back and do the other color.  Or is it a whatever you think is best type of thing the rule of thumb?  I am open to suggestions.

Liana

[SueD]

I would say it's personal preference and what you find most efficient.  My only suggestions is to make sure the whole quilt is stabilized (either stitched or pinned) before rolling it back.  You don't want to leave large areas unquilted which could cause your quilt layers to shift.  If it's not stabilized the backing rolls up on the take up bar at a different "rate" than the top.  It's like rolling up a magazine starting at the bound edge - when you get to the end, the pages aren't aligned like the bound edge.  If you glued the pages together, it wouldn't look like that.  You need enough "glue" in your quilt so it sticks together.   

I think there's a video from Dawn @  APQS showing that she pin bastes the outside edges if she plans on turning a quilt to do borders.  

Good Luck!

Sue