I love to quilt, I especially love dense stitching. I have some tips and
tricks to make your machine stitches, quilts the best ever.
Batting - I prefer cotton batting because among other things:
Cotton tends to stick to the quilt top and the
backing, allowing for easier machine stitching. Thin cotton batting rolls up
compactly (a nice quality for machine quilting).
Safety pins – The 1” size work the best. And if you have bent
quilter’s pins work even better. Use lots, I place the pins about 4” apart. I
remove them as needed.
A walking foot - It has built-in feed dogs that help move the top layers of
fabric through your machine, while your machine's own feed dogs move the bottom
layers through. This helps ensure the layers don't shift while you are quilting.
Basting - First, lay the quilt BACK on a flat surface, right side down. Use masking
tape around the perimeter to hold the edges in place. The fabric should be
taught but not distorted. Next, place the batting on top of the quilt back. Smooth
out any wrinkles or air bubbles with your hand. Finally, lay the quilt top on
the batting, right side up. Once again, use your hand to smooth out any
wrinkles or air bubbles in the fabric.
NOTE: Take the time to make sure all the straight lines that should be
straight are straight.
On a sample, test the tension and stitch length.
Change the needle.
If I can hide the starts and stops in under the binding, I back stitch at the
beginning and end of each line of quilting to lock the stitches.
When I start quilting, I use the edge of the fabric as a guide, keeping my
walking foot placed along it as I stitch.
Use the needle down, if possible, so the fabric doesn't shift.
I use the previous line of quilting as my guide for the next line, keeping
the edge of my walking foot against it while I work on the next line of
quilting.
Before you know it, your beautiful quilt will be beautifully quilted!
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