AboutConnie Hester Expertise Quilting and applique expert.Can advise on the following topics:quilting, art quilts, quilt design and construction, machine and hand quilting, paper foundation piecing, machine piecing, hand piecing, raw edge applique, turned-edge applique and fiber art.
Experience Winning awards in international fiber and art competitions since 1983; http://www.conniehester.com/
BS,MS
See my work and books at http://www.conniehester.com/
Question I am trying to machine quilt for the first time. How do you machine quilt, in the ditch, without the back bunching up and then having your quilt uneven? I have tried Iron pressing and streatching the fabric while I stitch and nothing seems to work. I normally hand quilt but I am running out of time beforeI need it for a Birthday present!
Thank you for your time
Kim
Answer Hi, Kim,
Actually, pulling and stretching are the very things which create a distorted quilt, so you don't want to do that. Rather, you want to allow the quilt to virtually feed itself through the machine once it is positioned without resistance to do so.
Roll both sides of the quilt in to the center, throw it over your left shoulder (leaving plenty of rolled quilt hanging loosely between the needle and your shoulder, creating no resistance to feeding through the machine), and begin quilting.
It helps to have a walking foot which allows feed-dogs to feed the top surface of the quilt under the needle in the same manner that the machine's feed-dogs are doing under the throat plate. This helps prevent puckering.
Also, rather than quilting perpendicular to the sides of the quilt, quilting across the diagonal of the backing helps a bit to prevent puckering. In this case then, you would begin rolling opposite corners towards the center to expose the center area of the quilt (where quilting would begin).
You needn't begin in the absolute middle point of the quilt when machine-quilting, as for hand-quilting, but you would begin quilting from one raw edge to the other raw edge in the center of the rolled quilt. Rolling it in towards the center makes it more manageable.
Begin feeding the quilt in to the needle, and keep the weight of the quilt lifted and loose as it continues to feed through.
If i can help further, let me know.
