Justamom410

I just finished piecing my very first quilt top. I used pre-cut squares (don't know the term...fat quarters maybe?) and put 2 borders on it. I'm self taught via You Tube and a Quilting 101 book...I'm looking for advice on how I should quilt the top. Keep in mind...I've never done this before. I don't have a walking foot for my machine either. I've seen "tied" quilts...but not sure about it. Any suggestions or advice is welcome.

Diane007

pretty fabrics

Diane007

Check out stitch in the ditch and free motion on you tube and see if you feel comfortable with either.

I would suggest some thing with some curves....
practice on a scrap sandwhich
hope this helps


Nice

Dal Lady

Nice color choices. I am fairly new to quilting just a little over two years. With my first quilt tops I used large serpentine lines and as I practiced more got a little more adventurous. A walking foot would make it easier it helps to keep the quilt top, batting, and fabric back moving as one. But you can just use lots of safety pins to keep things smooth, drop the feed dogs on your machine and move the fabric manually. Squiggles are fairly easy, start in the middle and keep smoothing as you go. Practice first with scraps pinned with scrap batting in the center, sort of a mini quilt. This way you can see how your machine moves and it gives you a chance to experiment with style and stitch length. Hope this helps. I'm self taught as well, keep up the good work.

ruthie

A medium meander might work very nicely. I quilted a lot of quilts on my domestic machine with just a hopping/free motion foot. Worked just fine for me.

Jingle

I do a large meander and I love it, nothing fancy, like a large stipple.

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

OK, I'm the conservative one here. Meandering and any other free motion quilting was way beyond me when I made my first quilt. For my first quilt, I just did a giant cross hatch type of thing. Just an X in each block. For the borders, I just did a couple of lines in them and added a diamond on top of that every so often.

Tying is also a viable option. Tied quilts have lasted for years. Check out all the videos and see what you want to attempt. Practice whatever it is on some smaller pieces to see if you can do it. Remember it is always harder on a big quilt than on the practice pieces.

Most importantly be proud of your quilt however it ends up being finished. Learn what you can and start on the next one!

Shana

I have a tied quilt that is at least 35 years old, and I tied my first quilt and it is still going strong 20 years later with LOTS of abuse and washing lol I would tie it with black & Purple Ribbon

angiecub

I agree with Lisa--and look at all of us Illinois girls! I would suggest you keep it simple until you get comfortable with the process. I've been machine piecing/quilting for a couple of years and just started venturing beyond stitch in the ditch, and so far, only have the nerve to try it on potholders. Good luck.

Chris Anders

Very pretty ! Love your colors. I agree about quilting in the ditch but I am still learning also. and if you wanted to put a 2" square turned to look like a diamond in the borders.