quilt or tie??

[quilterbee]

There are certain quilts that need to be tied, IMO. I am all about the shabby chic vintage-y thing so I'm a bit biased. I love the look of many of my quilts tied with #5 purl cotton(looks VERY orgnaic). I love it! I can "stitch" an entire row of blocks, go back and clip and tie. I use alot of cotton chenille in my quilts and tie-ing is perfect for that.

Other quilts I quilt on my frame and some others even go to the long arm quilter. So, whether it's tied, handquilted, machine quilted or tacked, it's still a quilt, a beautiful quilt ) Amie

[grammy65]

I have never tied a quilt, but I really like it in certain patterns.

When you tie a quilt, do you baste it as if you are going to machine quilt it? Does anyone know of some instructions I can look at to see exactly how it is done?

Diane

[maggiestew]

I use crochet thread to tie. I first pin as if machine quilting then thread up about 3 needles and go across about 4-5 inches apart and tie as I go. I will rethread when I've used up my backup needles and when I've quilted/tied the section on the table I go back and clip the thread, scooch the quilt to a fresh spot and start over. You have to make sure the backing is smooth or you have to do what I did and un-pin an entire full size quilt to dewrinkle. I think this is similar to the method El uses in some of her books when she describes how to tie a quilt.

[calicopuzzle]

I have tied lots of quilts in my life---mostly kids quilts and baby quilts....but now that I have learned how to machine quilt them, I like that better and it is faster and more fun. Free motion quilting is a "party in my sewing room".

I SAY DO WHAT YOU ENJOY! But do try machine quilting sometime because it is always good to leave a door open to learn new things. Hand quilting is fun also!