Quilting a Large Quilt on a Home Machine

In my last blog post, I mentioned that my quilt was in two sections so I could quilt it and I was asked how I join the pieces together after quilting.  It does require some planning ahead but being able to do it at home makes up for that.  I usually use a 1950's Brother straight stitch machine which has a somewhat larger harp space than my more modern Brothers but still not enough for a large quilt.

I made this quilt in 2014 and it taught me a very valuable lesson.  I hadn't been quilting long and had only done smaller pieces so when I found it in Kathy Doughty's book Making Quilts it never occurred to me to ask myself a few questions such as "how am I going to lay it out" and "how on earth am I going to quilt it on a home machine?"  I never looked at the finished size which is about 84 x 94.  At the time my design wall was a flannel backed tablecloth pinned to a curtain valance over a 72" window.  It was also too large to layout on my available floor space.  I ended up doing it in sections, sewing it and then folding and pinning the section to the tablecloth so I could do the next section. I ended up with three sections of the quilt with the center section being the largest.

Earlier I had researched quilting in sections but most of the methods required adding strips or extremely accurate measurements or lots of hand sewing.  I did run across a two or three year old blog post which described a method that seemed to be what I wanted, but by the time I made this quilt, the blog and the post had disappeared.  I went from memory and it worked so well that I've done all my quilts with this method.

When you are making the top, decide where you can separate it into sections.  This was divided at the top point of the heart leaving  two smaller ends and a larger section in the middle.  If you don't want seam lines in the borders, they can be added after the rest is quilted and joined.  The batting used needs to have enough cotton in it that it won't melt when ironed.  I use Hobbs 80/20 and have had no problems but I do test each new batch in case they change fibers.  Lay your top section on the batting and leave enough on the outside edge for the border.  Attach it with your favorite method...I use a spray adhesive.  Then quilt that section WITHOUT backing.  The batting won't stick to the feed dogs. Then quilt up to one or two inches from each edge depending on your pattern.  I also leave an unquilted portion on each outside corner and the top and bottom of the middle section.

When each section is finished, trim the batting on the edges to be joined. I usually trim even with the fabric which makes it easier to match seams and patterns.  Sew the sections together and iron the seams open.  This prevents lumps along the seam lines.  I used pinking shears to trim this one but I haven't noticed a difference when I used regular shears.

Lay your quilt top on the backing and baste with your regular method.  Then you can complete your quilting in the undone sections and add any borders.  Since these sections are all near the edges, there is not a large portion to be sent through the small harps of most machines.  Even the area where the sections are joined aren't too difficult to send through the machine and this is enough quilting to hold the backing on without wrinkles or tearing.  The above quilt has been used almost daily, washed several times and slept on by cats...it's still in good shape and no separation of seams where joined.

I hope this is clear enough ...If you have any questions, I'll do my best to explain more clearly.

Linking with Em's Scrapbag and Monday Making