How do I quilt a 7' long quilt with a sewing machine?
Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at
7:01 pm
I want to machine quilt a quilt I am making for my brother. It is about 6 feet by 7 feet long. Any tips? I am scared of getting puckers and tangled thread with such a large quilt.
Filed under: Bed In A Bag
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Be sure it is pinned sufficiently. Roll up the excess, start in the middle and sew towards the edges. You will probably get puckers because you can’t make it tight. Best to do hand quilting…
I would try hand-quilting on a quilt that size, if you don’t have access to a long-arm quilter… some sewing shops rent time on their long-arm quilters, so you could try that.
Check out quilt shops where yo live and see if you can rent the use of a long arm frame quilter. These machines will make quick work of a large quilt and you don’t have all that bulky rolling and unrolling and re-rolling and finding a work surface large enough for the whole quilt. Some store will allow you to bring un your basted quilt and they will help you baste it to the frame, roll it and quilt it. You will need to check your local phone and business directory to see if there’s a store near where you live.
Here’s an example of a long arm quilting frame machine: http://www.graceframe.com/site/machineframes
Here are some general tips on using a regular home machine to quilt a large quilt:
http://fiberfocus.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-machine-quilt-large-bed-quilt-on.html
http://www.bryerpatch.com/faq/machinequilting/mqlargequilt.htm
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/machine-quilting-tips-and-tricks.html
http://www.quilt.com/HowTo/MachineQuiltingHowTo.html
The only time I made a quilt I rented the use of a Grace Quilt frame at a local shop. I made the work quick and painless and a worthwhile investment.