Hints and Tips for Successful Machine Quilting - Stippling

• Do practice your machine stippling often, practice will improve the quality of your stippling!
• Do use fat quarter sandwiches for practice.
• Do use plain fabric for your practice piece to see how you are going, to hide your practice stitches use a patterned background fabric.
• Do pin baste every three to four inches for cotton batting and every two inches for polyester batting.
• Do make a stitching plan so you don't sew yourself into a blind corner.
• Do make sure you insert a new sewing machine 'quilting' needle.
• Do bring bobbin thread to the top and hold both needle and bobbin threads when starting to stitch to prevent thread jams.
• Do check tension before stippling your quilt by sewing on your practice sample.
• Do start stippling in the centre of the quilt.
• Do remember it is OK to sew over prior stitching lines to get out of a jam.
• Do guide the quilt with the lightest hand pressure. The quilt sandwich should glide over the machine bed.
• Do use the needle down function (if you have this function on your sewing machine) so that you can stop and blink or breathe occasionally. If you don't have the needle down function, sink the needle into the quilt and stop!

And Finally...

Do enjoy your efforts and reward yourself accordingly!