If you don't have a big machine to quilt with?

[WriterofWords]

I've been looking at all of these beautiful quilts and I've been wondering how you quilt them if you don't have a huge machine like some of you lucky people have? I really want to make a nice one, I know I don't have a big enough machine to do all of the nice stitching and I know I won't do it by hand, I don't have the patience. The string tied ones are ok for little ones or simple pieces,, but I don't like it that much for bigger ones. I've been putting off doing a lot I want to try because of having no way to actually do the quilting!

 

[saddina]

My embroidery machine does them in the hoop. May not be exactly what you wanted to know, but $300 is much cheaper than the longarm machines. It takes much longer, as I have to rehoop in 5x7 sections, but it does the job.

I know some people just drop the feed dogs (the part that moves the fabric in a straight line) and wing it.

Sometimes you can send them out for hire, that is send the quilt to someone who has a quilting machine, pay per sqin, and then get it back ready for binding, terrilacy does this for hire, and I'm planning on sending evan's galaxy quilt to her once I finish piecing.

 

[goldenluver]

you might have someone locally who does longarm quilting, average price is a penny a square inch. that means about 90 for a queen size

 

[verthandi]

I quilt mine on a regular machine, I just roll the quilt up and do a section at a time. Sometimes it's a tight fit but I have done up to queen size that way. I have done the stitch in the ditch or free motion. For regular quilting like straight lines or stitch in a ditch they make a foot for the machine called a walking foot, it will help keep the layers even, but I have also quilted with just the regular foot and adjusted the top tension.

 

[WriterofWords]

I can try rolling I guess on the smaller ones but my old machine doesn't have a lot room,, I'll see how much I can fit under there!