Looking ahead and scared to death...

[Elizabeth S.]

This is my first quilt. I just started it late March but all is going well so far. Only 3 more blocks and sashing to get caught up to all of you veterans. What I can't wrap my little brain around is how you do all the fancy quilting on it. Please tell me it's not free-hand. Tell me there is a quilting pattern for each block and tell me there is an easy way to get those straight lines on the back ground fabric. If there isn't an easy pattern for each block, tell me there is anyway so I can be happy in my ignorance and keep going.

[Elizabeth S.]

Martha, welcome to the world of quilting and it's awesome you have started on your first quilt.

Now, I'm going to be honest with you. Everyones first quilt is riddled with mistakes. Take a deep breath now. Do another. Ok, now that has sunk in a little. It's not going to be perfect and that's ok. Even the fabulous quilters you see out there with their amazingly perfect piecing and quilting that just flows started from the beginning. And their's had a ton of mistakes too. Fancy quilting is just quilting with a lot of practice. If you like to draw, then draw on your quilt with a quilt marking pencil or pen and follow the lines. If you like to follow patterns then find a quilting pattern (that is simple) and trace that onto your quilt. An easier way might be to quilt a 1/4 of an inch away from your stitching.

After this quilt is done and you are still nervous about one process or another, try doing some donation baby quilts. This way they could have simple piecing if you want to practice your quilting. Or mostly simple blocks with one or two fancy if you want to practice your piecing. Another way to practice the quilting is to put a sheet of the quilting pattern in a plastic sleeve (inserts for binders) and use a dry erase marker and doodle and doodle away until it becomes easier. Another trick is to pick out thread that matches your fabric, so it almost disappears. That way the mistakes are almost impossible to find. Keep on practicing and have fun doing it.

My first quilt was a hawaiian wallhanging quilt. And because I can't do anything easy my first time. Hubby can tell you, I always start way too difficult. Anyway, when you lay the wallhanging on a table it has a pop tent in the middle. Ooops. But, I love the colors and might try again later or not. It was a great learning experience.

Have fun and you are in the right area for questions.
Clara

[Nancy R.]

Hi Martha -

They usually don't include quilting suggestions with the BOM pattern, but maybe Janet did. Either way, don't stress about that part. In the end, this quilt will be your masterpiece. It's your first quilt, so it will definitely be your best so far. With every quilt, I just try to make the best so far. I don't always succeed, but I love them all. They have a little of my heart in them.

When it comes to the quilting, what I like to say is the most important role of the quilting is to hold the layers together. Ultimately, if you stitch enough to hold your layers securely and none of the stitches are toe-catchers (a stitch so long that your toe catches in it as you use the quilt), then you have succeeded. Anything beyond that is gravy and will get better with each quilt. I believe the most important tip to being able to quilt is -- relax. No matter what your skill level, your stitching will be better when you are relaxed than when you are tense. If you feel yourself getting tense, take a couple of deep breathes and find your happy spot. If you can't find your happy spot, step away for a little while. This is a hobby so you should enjoy every minute of it.

Also, as you are quilting, don't get uptight about little mistakes. While quilting, your nose is just inches from the quilt and you will see every minute mistake that you make. But nobody else will ever put their nose that close to your quilt. And mistakes won't be noticeable once there is a lot of stitching on the quilt. A quilter once told me that the more quilting you put on the quilt, the less you will be able to see the mistakes, and I've found that to be true. I make a lot of mistakes, but I will only pick out stitches if the mistake is huge (as some say, able to be seen when riding by on a galloping horse) or if there are tension problems that will cause the stitching to come out later. As Leah Day says, the time spent picking out stitches only gets you better at picking out stitches. It doesn't get you better at quilting.

To learn quilting, take advantage of all of the information available to you. There are a lot of quilting videos on you-tube. There are some wonderful classes at craftsy.com. See if your local quilt shop offers classes. Try everything on practice pieces to see what works for you. Everyone is different, so what works for one quilter will not necessarily work for another. It's a lifetime exploration for you to enjoy...

[Nancy R.]

Well--I don't have a lot of fabulous quilting on my current BOM but since I am doing it half-sized I can stitch in the ditch and that holds everything together. I may add more quilting later (I am doing quilt-as-you-go because I don't want to have another unfinished project). With the full size you will probably need more quilting but if you keep yours eyes open these ladies and gents are bound to give you some ideas. Welcome to the forum and don't hesitate to ask for help as you go along--we don't want you to get overwhelmed.

[Nancy R.]

Here is my 2¢. This is a really great award-winning pattern, well written. enjoy the process! how you want it quilted is a decision you don't have to make for months. for me if I really love the piecing and I am happy with the quality, I start dreaming about how the quilt wil be quilted and the thread I will use.
. I can spend hours searching for ideas! to be honest I "quilt by check book". I love my long armer @ we work together to get the quilting just right, but it takes more than 1 visit. Have fun, Robin

[Susan B.]

I have my first quilts hanging in my house. I love them and believe me, the mistakes are absolutely hysterical...now that I know what they are :roll: :roll: . Just enjoy the process of getting the top done and just be looking for ideas for quilting way down the road. Many of us finish our BOM's in 3 or 4 years.

Hey TQS search pros, how do we find the Smilebox that came out about 8 years ago, called My First Quilt?

To this day, one of my favorite pieces is a table runner that is all outline stitched with a walking foot. I gave it to a friend who proudly displays it a couple of times a year. I see it and reflect that a really simple solution can look good.

The Rembrants of the quilt world end up making show quilts. The rest of the millions of us do "good enough" quilting, and get by being proud of each minute step. Be good to yourself and enjoy the process! Welcome to the forum!

[Brenda R.]

Tagging onto Martha's mention of the straight line quilting in the background, how is that done? And is each line of quilting tied off separately?

[wendy w.]

I use masking tape to mark the straight lines. You can reuse it if you are careful. You'll need to decide later if you are doing it by hand or machine

[wendy w.]

Brenda, you only have to tie off it if there is no way to go to the next area to be quilted.

[Brenda R.]

If you are quilting by 'traveling' from line to line, are you then frequently quilting backwards (with free motion quilting, of course)? If yes, how are you keeping the lines so straight?

I gather that those of you who are using a walking foot are tying off a lot?

[wendy w.]

You can move down seam lines or edges of applique to get to your next start point. If I'm quilting to the edge I travel up off the quilt in the wadding I'm going to trim later. Lots of tricks to learn

[Rita C.]

Martha don't be scared. We have all been where you are now and it gets easier with each quilt you make. As for the grid lines, you can get a stencil grid to mark those onto your quilt. (It's best to mark your quilt before you put the batting and backing together with the top.) You don't have to do them as small as Janet's, or at all if you don't want to. I probably won't.

It takes a lot of practice to get good a free motion quilting which is how Janet did the feathers in the trees, the micro stippling around the border etc., but again you don't have to do these on your quilt. I have practiced FMQ a lot but I still love using the walking foot on my machine and have made several quilts using only the walking foot, and been very happy with them. Like all difficult tasks the trick is to break it down into manageable chunks. In this instance that would be a block at a time.

The first step will be to stitch in the ditch around all the sashing. This you can do with an open toe walking foot on your machine. Invisible thread will become your best friend here and if you have never stitched in the ditch then you should practice before working on your quilt proper. Once you have stitched around all the sashing then you will just be working on one block at a time. Because you will have secured it with the SID around the sashing you won't need to worry about the rest of the quilt at that moment but be able to focus on the block you choose. You can SID around each letter and block if you want to as well. Anything with a curve becomes easier to do in free-motion but it could be done with the walking foot as well. Once you have reached that point then whatever you decide to quilt in the blocks and the border is a bonus. You could continue to use the invisible thread and stitch right over everything either with a straight stitch or with a decorative one from your machine. There are so many options to choose from. The main thing, is that you need to practice quilting with both a walking foot and in free motion now so that when you are finished the quilt you feel more equal to the task. If you still feel that you are not ready, then set it aside and come back to it when you are. I do this all the time and find it really makes a difference.

Don't let the fear of quilting a quilt take the joy out of the hobby. Look on every quilt as part of learning the craft. It's a journey of discovery, enjoy!

[Nancy R.]

Hi Brenda -

If you are quilting your straight lines with a walking foot, you can also do your travel stitching that way. On a large quilt, you just have to decide if it's easier to tie off a bunch or to wrestle the quilt through the harp space. Depending on your feet, you can also switch between an open-toe walking foot and an open-toe darning foot without breaking thread. I can do that with my Bernina and used that when quilting a wholecloth that had long, straight lines with the traveling between the lines being very curvy. I generally do shorter straight lines in free motion; that just takes a little practice. I've found that what works for me is to use more of my whole body when controlling the direction and speed of straight lines, while fine free motion is done more with my fingers. A little practice will show you what works best for you. Also try doing your free motion with the feed dogs up and with them down. Depending on what I'm doing, I sometimes find that having the feed dogs up helps me to control things better. It's counter-intuitive, but it works for me.

Finally, the advice I give to all quilters:

- Don't stress over the little stuff while you are quilting. You will notice all of the little mistakes and jiggles while you are doing the quilting with your nose just inches from the quilt. When it's done, however, little mistakes get lost in the big picture.

- The more quilting you put on the quilt, the less you will see the mistakes.

- If you repeat a "mistake" in your quilting, it becomes a design decision rather than a mistake. Consistency is more important than perfection.

- If the quilting holds the quilt together, then it has done its job and is successful.

And, as Rita says, enjoy the process. It's a hobby and should be fun rather than stressful.

[Nancy R.]

Great advice ladies!

[Brenda R.]

I agree, Ritzy! I've done some grid quilting but was looking for some new ideas on it. I appreciate all of the replies!