How Do I Quilt this Crazy Thing?

I've quilted for over twenty years.  Now that does not by any means make me an expert.  Nope.  There are many women and men out there with more experience and talent than I have.  I also teach a couple of classes and lead a bee, all of which cycle through more than their fair share of beginning quilters.

Beginning quilters are fun to work with.  They're enthusiastic and that is contagious to those of us "old timers" who have been around the quilting block more than one time.  But all of us quilters -- beginners, intermediates, and advanced -- suffer from the same syndrome.

How do I want to quilt this sucker?

Beginners want to get it over quickly.  They've already spent weeks or months pieceing their top and they're ready to move on to another project.  So quite often this group's attitude is "hurry up and let's get this over and move on to bigger and better things."  And if there's an OCD quilter in any group, she's going to want to completely finish one project before moving onto the next.

Sigh.

Slow down, people.  Just. Slow. Down.

First of all, if you are the slightest OCD about your projects, let me assure you, you will get over it.  I have about four UFOs (Unfinished Objects) in my quilt room at all times.  I've learned I need this.  I can't just quilt or hand applique and not have something to sit down at my sewing machine and piece, too.  I have to have hand work and machine work going at the same time.  Likewise, if I'm hand quilting, I realize that it's going to take a long time (a year to 18 months in most cases) for me to finish quilting a project.  You get tired of it.  You want and need something "new" to play with for a week or so to refresh your mind and your quilting soul.  So four UFOs for me is normal.  If I was to commit to one project start to finish with no breaks?  Bill would have me committed. 

But I digress...

So you've pieced your top, the next question is "How am I going to quilt this thing?"

Quilting, by definition, is the sewing together of a fabric sandwich.  You take the quilt top, batting, and the quilt backing, layer them together in a "sandwich," with the quilt batting being the "filling" and sew or tack all three together.  If the quilt top, batting, and backing are bulky, the quilt may be tacked.  A tacked or tied quilt is a quilt where instead of stitching a quilt pattern to hold the three layers together, a series of ties are used spaced evenly all over the body of the quilt.

But if a quilter wants the traditional quilted look, she's now faced with three options:  hand quilting, machine quilting, and long-armed quilting.   All three are pretty on a quilt, but all three are very different in precedure and technique.  And the type of quilt top you've pieced is the lead actor in which quilting method you decide to use.  My next blog will discuss all three methods and how you consider each one.

Until then, happy quilting!

Sherri