I've done both king and queen, mostly with stitch in the ditch. I'm looking for methods to do smaller portions. I've looked at Cotton Theory quilting, and some others, but haven't quite figured them out yet.

Oh yes, I wouldn't think of sending them out !! Have done three king size (120 x 110) and 115 x 110 and 115 x 110, also several queen size. I purchased two 2 x 4 ft adjustable height tables to set up next to my machine for support. They work great and I move them wherever I need them. Am getting into more complicated patterns now (via Leah Day) and again, - wouldn't even think of sending a quilt out.....Good luck, and most importantly: Have Fun!!

I quilt big quilts on my small home machine because I can't afford a laq, I start in the middle and do one quarter at a time. and move around the inner portion of the quilt, then do the borders last. I pin every 3 to 4 inches tho to hold it together better as I haven't figured out in my old head how glue basting could work and keep holding together.

I do it all the time. I have done both queen & king on my little machine. I want to some day get the Pfaff that has a longer throat. It is hard at times and it takes some manuvering but it can be done

I am not an experienced quilter, but I have taken classes to learn piecing, etc. All the classes have been QAYG! The quilts are much heavier than a normal quilt and there are a lot of "extra" steps. Not as easy as they would like you to believe. I, of course, being nieve, thought I could make queens for my beds. Well, one is almost done and I think I have unsewn more than I've sewn. The weight is very difficult when connecting rows to rows, etc. I suggest QAYG for bed runners, table runners, small lap quilts, but not anything of substance.

I did one this fall on my 830. But it wasn't easy--and I was exhausted from folding, rolling and turning. I did SID--maybe if I had done FM it would have been easier.

I am FMQ on a 100x100 on my Brothers1500s. I do a section at a time and it is not easy buy I can not afford to send my quilts to a LAQ. Also I s0pray baste my quilts instead of pinning. That makes it lighter and easier to "push" thru the throat. Pinning your quilt really adds to the weight of the quilt and makes it harder to "push" thru the opening.

I have spray basted my last two quilts. Both ended up with puckers in the backing fabric. How do you keep that from happening when using the basting spray. I assumed they were there because I moved the quilt around too much.

My last quilt that I quilted was a queen/king. I dreaded it, but I put it in my dining room on the table. because I could support the weight of the quilt by arranging it behind and to the left side, it wasn't really a problem. I also did something a bit different this time, I drew out the blocks and came up with quilting motifs for each different block, and border. I think, and my family thought it was my best quilt yet.

Made a queen size quilt and machine quilted it on my Singer, sitting on the kitchen table. Just rolled the sides up, started from the middle and worked out from there. Don't know if it was beginners luck, but there were no puckers on the back. I did have it pinned a good amount. Think if I ever make another one that big I'll baste instead of all those safety pins. Just can't afford or justify the cost of sending a quilt out to be quilted.

Starch your backing before sandwiching.

I clip my quilts with binder clips on a large piece of plywood and stretch taunt but not too tight. If yo stretch backing too tight then when it is released it will pucker. I start clipping on one side edge of the so I m doing about 1/2 the quilt and then after I have attached both batting and top then I move the top so the other half is on the board, clip the sandwiched half and then clip the backing on the other half etc. By doing it this way then I am only moving the sandwich 1 time. I do not start in the middle out. Also I have found that I get way less puckers on the top with spray basting then pinning since the top and backing are "glued" in place and will not move.

I've made many large quilts with a small-throated domestic machine. The key is table space so that the quilt weight is supported, not hanging. Work directionally as turning around that much quilt is difficult. Tight roll the section that must lay inside the throat. Lock the cats out of the sewing room! Wear quilting gloves. Frequently take breaks to pull your shoulders down and stretch your back. Don't try to do it all in one setting! Good luck!

I just did a king size in 22 inch squares hand quilted, then assembled them. I want to do another king and will likely do what you have mentioned above. It really is quite easy to add another section.

Wow...I'm surprised at how many of you quilt large quilts. I'm going to jump in with both feet! :)

Gayle

This picture cracked me up. Now there is a serious quilter!!

i do all my kings and queens on my small kenmore sewing machine and i do FMQ all over i do it in sectons with the batting only in the section i am quilting starting in the middle then when i am done doing the middle i spray baste the next sectoion and add the batting and so on till it is all quilted , doing the middle does require a bit of bunching up but not as bad when the rest of the batting is not on the rest of the quilt