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So, I am really new to quilting and have only finished a handful of projects.

For my quilts, I've stuck to turning and tying. I made some table runners and stitched in the ditch, but I am not confident enough to do that on a full size blanket yet. My binding is still pretty sloppy!

I was reading today about "quilt as you go" and layering and quilting a block at a time, and then using joining strips to put them together. Seems pretty similar to binding?

Is this method junk?

Hi NorJ23, Quilt as you go is one of my favorite methods for doing larger projects. There are several different ways of doing it, and I prefer the method with no sashing on the front,just sashing on the back. You still have to add binding to this method as well. Good luck, there are lots of videos out there,to help with both binding and quilt as you go.

Here's a few helpful links to videos

this one is on binding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GVA05MxXTU


how to join binding at start and finish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7Trk6J2Vw

I also started out with turning & tying (about 25 years ago!) then moved on to stitch in the ditch, or grid quilting- basically just straight line quilting- which I still do a lot of. It helps if you have a walking foot for that.
You could also try cutting the backing larger & turning it to the front to create a "faux" binding that still looks nice instead of attaching a separate binding.

Some nice Quilt as you go links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_qyb7XxY4k

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2011...-as-you-go-qayg.html

http://welshquilter.blogspot.c...quilt-as-you-go.html


http://acuppaandacatchup.com/2...trip-quilt-tutorial/

http://katiesquiltsandcrafts.b...-tutorial-intro.html

http://keyka.typepad.com/my_we...blocks-together.html

http://www.ludlowquiltandsew.c...You_Go_Machined.html


A tablerunner method

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2012...pauline-and-her.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kentucky_Sunshine,

Thanks, Kentucky! (I lived there once!). I look forward to checking out all of these links tomorrow. I very much appreciate that you took the time to show them to me.

Angela, my machine has some thing called IDT.. Whatever that stands for, they told me I didn't need a walking foot with it.

I like the idea of wrapping the backing forward. Will have to think on that!

~ N

Nora, the links that Kentucky gave you are great. I have a small charity quilt group and all have varied stills. The link to the Welchquilter seemed to be very helpful to the group.

Nora
It sounds like you have a Pfaff machine. If so, you don,t need a walking foot, just set the dual feed in place and sew. I have mine on all the time for piecing and other construction. You do need to take if off when you want to free motion quilt where you move the fabric instead of the machine.

Welcome to quilting and the board.

Nora, a couple of very simple ways to finish/quilt your project.

A super simple way to start is to simply outline a motif in your fabric. Pick a flower, a leaf, an animal, a geometric in your fabric and stitch around it wherever it shows up in your fabric. Or every other one...whatever you think is best.

Take a circular object....margarine lid, saucer...and draw random circles on your quilt then sew the circles.

Got a center focus block in your quilt? Sew an 'x' across it.

Echo quilting - simply stitch an outline around a pieced block or an image on your fabric. Move your needle over whatever distance you want and follow the same contours of your first stitching. You'll find your outline becomes more expansive/less defined the further out you go. Works great!!!!

Angela mentioned Grid Quilting. Another super simple way to go. Simply draw diagonal lines from side to side with a removable quilt pen or chalk, in both directions on your item and stitch on the lines. You can space them out as much as you want. You cam start your first line from a corner and draw to the opposite diagonal corner or place your ruler in the corner with the 45 degree line on the outside edge and draw to the opposite side. you can even double up on your grid and they don't have to be evenly spaced.

There are concentric circles, squares, triangles, any geometric shape. Clam shells are a good one, also.

A personal opinion. The purpose behind quilting is to hold the layers of fabric and batting together. I feel the more quilting you do the stiffer your quilt. This is strictly my opinion. I like my quilts to cuddle up, fold over, be fluffy, squish around me; it seems the more quilting there is, the less you can do that. If it's a heirloom quilt, that's a different story. Utility quilts....I want them squishable. Everyone has their own opinion, otay.

Hope this helps.

The quilt I am going to try out the QAYG method first on is a log cabin (I haven't "graduated" myself from this pattern yet, still learning more and refining technique with each one!). I think I will just try stitching in the ditch along the seams in a circular-ish pattern.

I will surround the center square, and then go between the first light and first dark, then take a left and go between the first and second lights, then take another left and go between the first and second darks.. And so on all the way out to the edge. Each pass will move me out another row.

I am not sure if I am explaining this clearly. If anyone gets it, will that work? Heh. I should end up with a quilting line every 2inches this way.

Nora, if you are going to do a QAYG ('quilt' as you go)
method for a log cabin, that is your quilting. You won't need anything else. You will be sewing your top fabric, your batting and your backing fabric all at the same time as you sew your seam. That's the joy of QAYG.

If you were just piecing a log cabin block, your idea would be fine.