Machine Quilting basic questions

17 years ago

I've been "lurking" here for some time, and have gotten some great information. Thanks for what you've already taught me. I'm an extreme newbie - have finished one quilt and had it long-arm quilted at the LQS. Turned out beautifully. Now, I'm planning to machine quilt my newest project. Have finished making the sandwich, have purchased my walking foot, but realized there are two things I'm not sure about. Here they are:

1) When stitching in the ditch with what will ultimately end up a blocked pattern, do I sew all the North/South rows first, then do the East/West, or do I alternate?

2) At the beginning and end of each row, do I backstitch?

Any help on these items would be appreciated.

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Comments (11)

bozogardener
17 years ago
I'm no great shakes at machine quilting yet. There are others on this forum who will come here and help. I do recommend the backstitching, since it will unravel a bit if you don't. I also have been told to alternate directions, but more in the way of South one way, then North the next line. I'm not sure if alternating that with East/West is beneficial. Quilters?

Tamie
mary_c_gw
17 years ago
Here's what I do: Hand-walk the needle into the fabric, holding the needle thread, then bring the needle back up and pull the bobbin thread to the top. Hold both threads and take just one or two stitches in place. Leave the thread tails!!

When you're done quilting, tie off the thread tails with a surgeon's knot, thread the tails onto a needle, and plunge them into the last stitch hole, through the batting (not backing) and then back up through the quilt top an inch or two away. Give a small tug and the knot will "pop" down into the batting. Clip the threads on top, and the tail ends will disappear back into the backing.

As for the direction of quilting, I alternate the directions on straight line quilting, but if I'm stitching in the ditch around all pieces in a block, I do it block by block on the quilt, going in whichever direction makes sense.

Mary
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Michelle, I only use cotton thread also.... TROUBLESHOOTING IDEAS - If youÂre having a problem with thread or needle breakage, loops on the bottom, or skipped stitches, try the suggestions below. 1. Set your bobbin tension first, then your thread tension. The bobbin should be loose - if you hold the tail of thread in your hand it (and maybe give a little flick) it should unspool easily and drop all the way to the ground. Loosen the bobbin tension a tiny bit at a time until you get this. sew through a small practice piece (the size of a sheet of paper, but all three layers). Use different colored thread top and bottom so you can see what's happening. If the top thread pulls through to the bottom, tighten the thread tension. If the bottom thread pulls through to the top, loosen the thread tension. 2. Make sure your needle is big enough. You need at least a 16, preferably an 18 needle for quilting. Too small a needle will often lead to thread breakage. It's important that you get the right needle for your machine. . 3. Be sure the needle is inserted correctly and all the way up. Check your book for the correct way to insert the needle. Sometimes the eye faces to the front of the machine, sometimes to the left (when looking at the side with all of the dials, etc.). 4. Use good quality thread, and make sure the size is appropriate for the job (and for the needle). The higher the number, the finer the thread.
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I mostly lurk here but today's my day off so I have some time.I don't have a Janome but most machines are basicly the same. Machine applique leave the feed dogs up. Just go slow and you'll have time to move your fabric. My machine will just make the blanket stitch in one dirction some machines will do both directions so you need to figure that out. The zig zag foot should have a wide enough opening that you will be able to make as big a blanket stitch as you want but I always slowly check this out so I don't break a needle. If you want to do a satin stitch you will still leave the feed dogs up and let them help you feed the material through the machine. Threading if its hard to get the spool thread below the foot just pull it to the side and hang onto it while you take the first couple of stitches. Curved piecing I wouldn't use the darning foot just use the regular foot and go slowly to feed the material in. Its something that takes practice. I use my darning foot only when I want to free motion quilt and thats when you drop the feed dogs. When you do free motion quilting you are in control of feeding the material threw the machine and thats the tricky thing to learn so that you get nice looking stitches. Hope some of this helps, just keep playing with your new machine and you'll figure it out. Do they have classes where you bought the machine? That would be a good idea if it will work out for you. Good luck and have fun! Peg
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fran1523
17 years ago
I have never bothered to backstitch or make a knot. What I was told was to use a shorter stitch length, like .5 or 1 for 8 or ten stitches and then gradually increase the size up to 2.5 or 3. Then when you get towards the end of the row, gradually decrease the stitch length again.
teresa_nc7
17 years ago
Both Mary's and Fran's way of starting and ending are just fine.

For stitching in the ditch, I quilt in quadrants always starting in the center and moving out to the edges; here is what I do:

Optional - to stabilize the quilt and give me the 4 quadrants to quilt in, I make a big + - starting in the center and stitching straight out to the top edge of the quilt; then start in the middle again and stitch straight out to the bottom edge of the quilt; now start again in the middle and stitch out to the right edge, and lastly, start in the middle and stitch out to the left edge. Now you have your quilt anchored by this big +.

Now you can stitch in the ditch around your blocks in each of the 4 quadrants, always starting in the middle of the quilt and working out to the edges. You could stitch the top row in the quadrant from center to the edge, then quilt the row to the far left in that same quadrant moving down and proceed through all the blocks, always quilting from center to the edges to help prevent puckers on the backing. We HATE those puckers!!!

Hope this helps!
Teresa
ndchris
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks so much for your assistance. I'll give it a try over the weekend. If it all works out, I'll report back. If it doesn't, I'll go back to lurking (lol).
laurainsdca
17 years ago
I think Mary's way is the elegant way of the "pros."

I'm a little on the lazy side though, so what I do is pull the thread to the top as she described (when I'm feeling ambitious) but then rather than back stitch, I hold the quilt in place as I take a few stitches. These tight stitches make a knot of sorts -- it seems more secure than just back stitching.

Where I get lazy is I then just snip it real close, rather than threading the tails onto a needle and sending them into the quilt.
grammyp
17 years ago
Welcome Ndchris. I backstitch about 3 stitches, just can't resist. I know it isn't necessary, but I put the stitch length very short and backstitch just a couple of stitches, just incase.

beverly
glassquilt
17 years ago
If you start in the seam allowance under the future binding, when you get around to sewing the binding on
that stitching will help 'lock' the quilting-stitching in place. Is that a run on sentence or what?
rosajoe_gw
17 years ago
Ndcris,
I am just learning to machine quilt also. Make the backing MUCH larger than the top until you get the 'hang' of it.
I have already made that mistake!!!!!
And I am quilting mine in sections (quilt as you go) until I am better at machine quilting.
I also do the '+' to help with the basting.
Last night I just quit and left it on the floor. Hang in there!!!!! It sounds sooooooo easy and it is NOT!!!!
Rosa
Islay_Corbel
17 years ago
How big is this quilt? Pic? We love pics! And welcome!
maryliz
16 years ago
So, how did it go for you?

Machine Quilting basic questions

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