obsessedquilter Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 I have a round robin quilt to do. It is one of those quilts that has the main block in the center and then people add borders every month. I\'m a new long arm quilter and my instructor showed me to start at the top of the quilt and work my way to the bottom. I float the top and baste the sides as I go. My question is.... Can I start in the middle of the quilt instead of the top as long as I baste down the sides before reaching the middle. Is this asking for trouble? I\'ve also been wondering if I can baste down all the sides first to get it out of the way. My gut is telling me that it is probably not a good idea. Hopefully someone with lots of experience can take the time to answer my queston. Thanks, Janet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 You can, but you COULD get into big trouble if you don\'t leave enough at the top or enough at the botton of your backer and batting....When you start at the top you evenly bring the quilt down and you don\'t have to worry about tucks and surprises that could happen if you start in the middle and work out. Even with basting down the sides, you could run into trouble....say you baste down the sides and then you jump to the middle....the middle will quilt differently than what you have the sides basted at so there is a huge chance you will quilt in tucks or not be able to get a correct tension either top or bottom. When hand quilters do that they don\'t have the tension we have so when they baste down the quilt, it doesn\'t shift and stretch like a LA quilt can. Your instructor showed you the correct way that most of us do it....some do a partial float others pin both ends of the top before starting. THE only way I would even consider doing this is if I did a complete SID top to bottom and then went back to put in the designs or custom work that needed to be done. Good luck and should you decide to do this baste and then quilt, let us know what you think of it....it might change the way we all quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 There is a post on here somewhere...where I asked about that and Dawn C gave me a whole list of how to\'s..I saved it to a file on my computer...I\'\'ll cut and paste. I can\'t find it there either. I\'ll keep looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=6741&page=2 Whew - I had to go way back for that one. The direction Dawn gave when I asked about the order of quilting is about halfway down the page. My question is, why do I talk so much?? Gosh, I have a lot of posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Mary Beth-- It\'s not that you talk so much....it\'s just that you have so much to SHARE!! (Yep, that\'s my story and I\'m stickin\' to it!!) Can\'t wait to meet you this weekend! Fun times ahead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 No, I\'m the one who talks to much on this chat. I am a chatty lady...... Mary Beth, you\'ve got me beat by 1000 posts, but you probably started on this chat way before I did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hi Janet!! Starting top to bottom is fine for pantographs and most quilting in general.... BUT If you are going to do extensive quilting, you will need to go through the quilt and stabilize it first by either stitch in the ditch or close basting. I keep thinking of Donita Reeves calling this process "giving the quilt bones"! ( LOL!!! ) This way, you wont get puckers in the fabric around the tightly quilted areas. If you need more info, just drop me an email. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I\'m quilting my mariner\'s compass with the curved flying geese right now. I loaded the backing and pinned the top edge of the quilt. Then I pin basted down the sides. I stitched wavy lines over the whole thing using Vanish and white bobbin thread. It stabilized it enough that I can quilt it. I\'m doing a lot of rolling and re-rolling, working one color at a time instead of one area at a time. There are 8 different thread colors I\'m using. After stabilizing it I stitched around the center circle and then did the compass. Then I went back and did the other parts. This may not be the best method, but it appears to be working for me. I\'m hoping it comes off the machine looking good. If not, I\'ll know not to do it that way again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hi Janet - like others have said, I too would recommend that you do all the SID first to stabilize your quilt. Then release it from the top roller (unless you\'re doing a full float) and then you can roll back and forth and quilt anywhere you choose without having to worry about shifting, stretching or tucks in the back. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessedquilter Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Thanks for all of your responses. The stitch in the ditch makes complete sense. It is what I would have done if I was quilting on a domestic machine. I\'m glad I asked instead of learning the hard way and making a giant mess. Mary Beth, thanks for the link to Dawn\'s response. I printed it and saved it for future reference. BTW, I happen to be making that same quilt. But, it isn\'t going to be finished anytime soon. Just as well, I need to work on my machine quilting skills for a while. I\'ve only had my machine since Christmas time and I\'ve been playing with the Compuquilter a lot more than practicing my free hand skills. There are just not enough hours in the day.... Thanks again everyone! Janet in MI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.M. Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 What do you mean by a full float? Also , do you measure the quilt before or after you quilt it? Thanks Jean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Hi Jean, I full float all my quilts. A full float is when only the backing get pinned to the roller canvases. The batt and the quilt top are then pin-basted to the backing. I started floating when I realized that I was getting "bunny ears" at the bottom corners of my quilts. I find that I have more control over making small adjustments as I roll and quilt. Some quilters just release the quilt top from the roller when they get down to the bottom. I chose to not attach it in the first place. I think it is just a personal preference. Floating works for me. Does that mean that the quilt top and batting is on the floor around my feet? Yes. I have big feet (12 AAAAA/AAAA) and I just give the quit a gentle kick under the machine. Of course, I have to be careful to sweep threads off the floor between quilts. . I would hate to pull a neon pink thread end up into a white quilt. YIKES! Are you asking about measuring as it refers to the pricing? I price by the square inch. I measure the quilt (top and backing) during intake so before I quilt. The size does not really matter to me after I have done my work on the quilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnldy Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Whatever you do, DON\'T do the sides all the way down first and then go back...how do I know that? Cuz I thought I\'d take a "short" cut one time a long time ago and tried it. My shortcut cost me about 10 hours of frogging, thanks to the huge pucker that formed on the back. My last custom quilt (blocks, sashing, borders, etc) that I did, I pretty much used Dawn\'s method. It worked really well. Robin Vista, CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindasewsit Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 Geee!!! I wish I would have read this post before I just worked on my quilt....especailly yours, Robin!! I quilted my whole border, all the way around. then started on the blocks. I just looked under the quilt and it is NOT good!! It\'s all full in places and I even have a couple of pleats I JUST turned off my machine, and came up and got on the computer.... I had to just walk away cause I\'m ready to cry!! This quilt is going to be given to a silent auction for an adoptive couple at our chruch.... can\'t give it this way!! I guess I might as well go down, take it off and start ripping.... oh MY!!! Not what I had in mind to do today! linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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