donnai

I am going to machine quilt a quilt with a decorative stitch on my machine. I have never machine quilted anything and this is going to be a queen size quilt. I have questions that I know you all can help me with. Do you need to use a walking foot if you spray baste? what size needle do you use? Since it will be straight quilting, can I start at the top and stitch all the way to the bottom or do I need to start at the middle? Is their anything else I should know. thanks for your help. I really need it.

DOTTYMO

Defiantly use a walking foot.
I do I line through the middle two ways but I do start each of therefrom the centre.
If you are using a fancy stitch from the machine ;
Ensure you have a large hole in walking foot and plate below.
Check you like the back and front of stitch
You will need plenty of thread as this method does take plenty top and bottom so be prepared.
Also go slow but I have found very fast altered the stitch.

Enjoy.

ckcowl

a walking foot is definitely a plus- has nothing to do with the basting method- has to do with the 'bulk' of the sandwich- the ability to (walk) along the fabric instead of pulling on it---- problem is---decorative stitching---many walking feet can only be used with a straight stitch- so, a *hopping foot* may be a better choice (sometimes called a darning foot, or a free motion foot)
starting in the center helps everything smooth out toward the edges- avoiding creases/wrinkles forming in the body

before starting work on your 'real' quilt you should put together a couple practice pieces with top/backing/batting on a smaller scale (often people use 12"-18" squares for practice) and try out the different stitches you want to use- see how it pulls, distorts the 'sandwich', get the hang of the process. when you are comfortable with how your practice pieces are coming out- then start on the 'real thing'

meyert

I don't think I can use the walking foot on my machine with the decorative stitches. The store I bought my sewing machine from sold me some quilting needles that I have used. I don't what size a quilting needle actually is. When I ran out of those I just using a 14 or 16.. depending on how heavy the quilt sandwhich was. I did diagonal straight line quilting and I did not start in the middle. I went from top right hand down to bottom left. But I am not one to show my quilts - so what others may see as I problem may not bother me at all. I recommend using the blue painters tape to mark the straight lines. Someone here gave me that tip and it was very useful. I had better luck with the wide tape (maybe 2") the 1" wide tape would not stay stuck

nativetexan

me too, not sure you can use your walking foot with anything other than a straight stitch.

QuiltNama

On my machine, I can use my walking foot for decorative stitches but, not all machines you can. Check the machine manual. Decorative stitches use a LOT of thread so you might want to do every third row or so and some straight stitching in between. When I first started quilting, I layered the back and batting, then started the top about 3 or 4 inches down (used a basting stitch to hold them together), and quilted from the top down. Had no teachers and just figured that would work, and it did for many years and many quilts. Now I LA and can give you no good advise on where to start quilting.

thimblebug6000

I can use the walking foot if doing the serpentine stitch, but any stitch that has any back tracking like leaves etc usually ends up a little garbled.

Dolphyngyrl

Most you can only use walking foot for straight and zigzag stitch. I would sprya baste and SITD around borders to provide more stability than do your decorative stitching on your blocks

DogHouseMom

My very first quilt I decided on a decorative stitch with metallic thread. It was a disaster. The biggest reason is that I was not using a walking foot. Once I discovered that ... problem solved.

So yes. But as previous posted pointed out, make a practice sandwich and try it there first.

Jeanne S

I use a walking foot when I spray baste--in fact I use a walking foot on all my quilting as I just do straight stitch quilting. I use a size 16 titanium needle from Ogan. And I quilt starting in the middle of the quilt but stitch from top to bottom, gradually working to the sides. I do alternate every few rows from top to bottom then bottom to top to try to minimize shifting.