Quilting your quilt top for the first time? Learn how you can finish quilting a quilt top as a beginner with these step-by-step instructions.
Sadly, you need to know some guidelines that can make or break your top. Trust me I have tried to break them.
Larger bed quilts are made to be snuggled under. They are meant to drape and don’t need to be heavily stitched. Quilting can be as far apart as 2” – 8” depending on the batting.
Smaller projects like table runners, wall hangings, and pillows need dense quilting. Stitching up to every 1 1/2” apart or less. The reason for this is that smaller projects need more stitching so they can hold their shape.
Keep this in mind when you quilt your next quilt top.
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Gather a Few Supplies
- Hera Marking tool
- Walking Foot
- Thread
- Long quilting ruler
- Quilting gloves
Straight Line Quilting
Straight-line quilting with a walking foot is one of the easiest ways for a first-timer quilter to quilt their top. You can choose to quilt simple vertical and horizontal lines on your quilt all up to you. I chose to do a simple cross-hatch design which I will give detailed steps below.
When quilting these straight lines, you must remember that it is hard to get a perfectly straight line. Don’t have the expectation that your straight lines will be perfect. You can do your best but if your lines waiver don’t panic. Just keep practicing and do your best.
Time to Quilt
Step 1:
Lay your basted quilt onto a large flat surface or floor. Pull out the spools of thread you are considering using to quilt.
Pull out the individual strands and stretch them across multiple colors of the quilt top. This will give you a more accurate idea of what the thread will look like after quilting.
Choose a color of thread that blends/disappears the most in all the areas of the quilt top. This is the color you should use to quilt.
Step 2:
Take out your large quilt ruler and find the 45-degree line on the ruler. Lay this line along the border of your quilt top.
Grab your Hera marker with the curved end and run this along the straight edge of the ruler. Make sure the ruler does not move as you do this.
Step 3:
Decide how densely you want to quilt your project. In this example, I decided to quilt every 1 1/2” apart since this will eventually become a wall hanging.
You will line up the 1 1/2” line on your ruler on the crease you previously made. Make another mark following the edge of your ruler.
Repeat this step until the entire top is creased from edge to edge.
Step 4:
Attach your walking foot to your machine. Adjust your stitch length to either 2.5mm or 3.0mm. I chose to use 3.0mm but that is just personal preference.
Step 5:
Put on quilting gloves if you have them. They provide you with more grip as your quilt is going through the sewing machine. Bring your quilt top to your machine and start stitching following the creased lines on your quilt top.
Quilter’s Tip:
Start with the longest creased line stitching this line first. It is the hardest to do but will get the hardest part out of the way early.
Then stitch the next longest line to the right of the previous stitch. Continue stitching the lines to the right of your project.
Always working to the right of your project will keep your quilt from being scrunched up between the needle and the arm of your domestic sewing machine.
Quilter's Note:
Do not push your quilt top through your sewing machine. Pushing your quilt top through can make your stitch length too long. You want your stitches to look even.
Make sure that the quilt top is free from dragging when quilting. This will cause the machine to work too hard to pull your quilt through the machine. This will cause your stitches to become too short.
Now that you have finished stitching all the creases that you have made in this direction it is now time to mark the other direction of your quilt.
Step 6:
Lay your quilt top on a large flat surface or the floor. Line up one of your stitches lines across the width of your ruler. Take your Hera marker and make a crease making sure your ruler doesn’t move.
This will give you the other 45-degree angle that you need to make a cross-hatched look. No need to measure using the 45-degree line on your ruler again.
Mark your entire quilt top from edge to edge with this new direction. Just as you did in step 3.
Repeat Step 5 until all your creased lines have been stitched.
Congratulations!! YOU have quilted your first quilt top!
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