molly oldham

Thanks to all of you so much! I knew I could depend on you for help.

todiesmom

I do a lot of straight line quilting and mostly do QAYG....my blocks are usually around 15" and I connect them with narrow sashing...you can do larger sashing but you have to sew in batting between. I don't mark...I use my Bernina walking foot for measurements....I start by finding the center of the block and use blue painter's tape as my first measurement...just follow that line with the walking foot and after that can just use side of walking foot for 1/2" or inside of foot for 14" ...or you can just keep moving the blue tape if you wish. Jacque Gerhing (Craftsy videos or has books) is an excellent instructor for modern line methods.

EmiliasNana

When I do straight line stitching I usually do a diamond cross hatch, spray baste the sandwich together and use blue painters tape (1.88" width). I start on the longest diagonal and tape, pinning in the center of the tape to hold as you feed it through the machine. Then I use a spacer tape positioned next to the first. Once that is in place, remove the first tape and position next to the spacer and pin. Remove the spacer and save for the next run. Now you can sew down both sides of the tape again. I sew in one direction on the right side, and the opposite on the left, so that the bulk of the quilt is always on the outside of the needle. Once you get those diagonals done, you still have to mark and sew the opposite direction to create your cross hatch. I just finished one without batting, using Minkie for the backing and I didn't have any distortion by doing it this way. I have done as large as an 80" sq. quilt on a 6 1/2" throat machine using this method.

purplefiend

This is the book I used when I was learning to machine quilt. It shows how to quilt a rectangular quilt in a diagonal grid, so that the bulk of the quilt stays to the left of the machine. "The Complete Book of Machine Quilting" by Robbie & Tony Fanning" (http://tinyurl.com/jtx3jj4)
I use the Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils for marking my quilt, it washes out easily. I never use the scarlet color as it won't wash out, the rose is fine.
Sharon

TexasSunshine

When I quilted on my domestic machine (now I longarm) I did what EmaliasNana does. I have a quilting space bar that is adjustable to keep my lines straight