krysti

I just finished SITD all my 4 inch squares on my first quilt. I have a 3 inch border--do I quilt that as well? The batting said 2-4 inches. If I do quilt the border, how do I quilt it if I used SITD on the squares? And Finally, if I do need to quilt the border, it is red. I used white thread on the rest of it; but the white would really stand out, so should I use red thread on the border? Of course, this would show on the back as well, and the back is blue with Thomas the Tank circles. PLEASE HELP!

Thank you in advance!

QuiltnLady1

I would do some quilting in the border -- probably echo about 1/4" from the seam. It depends on the look you want -- if the white blended with the rest of the quilt so it does not show much, I would do the border in red. What I would do is use the white cotton in the bobbin and then get one of those micro markers in red and color any of the white threads that poke through (the bobbin thread has to be cotton for this to work). I have done a multicolor quilt in white and then used the markers to color the the top thread to match the patches. It has washed well.

sharon b

I would do a design of some sort in the border- and if you want it to blend in use red thread on top and blue in the bobbin - maybe do circles since there are circles on the back ?

krysti

Thank you both for the info on the thread; I think that is a smart thing to do. Sharon, I'm a little scared to try circles--I've never done any FMQ at all!!! And QuiltnLady, this is probably going to sound real dumb to you--you said probably echo 1/4 from the seam? That means from where the squares start, right? Ok; never mind that was dumb. Did you just mean one line 1*4 from seam, or several or ?

Cybrarian

You could do straight lines on the border spaced however you want them. Using painters tape on base of your machine to give you a guideline to put the edge of your quilt against is an easy way to keep your seams straight. Yeah your first quilt!!!!

MacThayer

Try practicing whatever you choose to do for quilting. Just make up a few "quilting sandwiches", make them as thick as your quilt, and give it a go. You can use paper towel for batting. That will help you to get the feel of FMQ, or even SITD or straight lines. It will also help you to get your tension set properly for that thickness of material. Make sure you're using a bigger needle : 80/10 or 90/12 (I think that's right, but I'm tired right now, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong). Only when you're happy with the practice fabric should you start on the quilt, especially if this is your first time. As we used to say in Graduate School: KISS: Keep it Simple and Stupid. Or in other words, don't go for anything fancy your first time out, or even second or third. And keep practicing. You'll probably have to reset the tension, and when you do, make sure your presser foot is in the DOWN position. This is very important, and not something I found in my manual, or most anywhere else for that matter. But it's essential. Don't know why, but it is.

Best of luck to you!

117becca

what about a cross-hatch pattern??? Just straight lines on a diagonal...