After completing the quilt top, the next stage is to quilt it. For this you need : the quilt top, backing fabric and wadding (batting). The backing fabric and wadding should be about two inches bigger all round than the quilt top
you will also need pins - there are all sorts available, and if you are going to be pinning a lot of quilts, I would recommend getting a gadget to make closing the pins easier (and less painful on the fingers)
for the first stage, you will need the backing fabric, masking/low tack tape and scissors
give the fabric a good iron, then either tape it to your work table (don't do this on your antique dining table) or to the floor. Smooth the fabric out but don't pull it too tight
next, smooth the wadding out on top of the backing fabric
then after ironing the top, put it on top of the wadding and smooth it out
stagger the pins - I usually pin about four inches apart
having pinned the area on the table, I moved the quilt up so that I could pin the rest, re-taping the backing fabric
with all the pinning done, I trimmed away the excess backing fabric and wadding
and with a scrap of one of the fabrics from the top, I made a sandwich to check the stitching
you can see that several stitches were skipped on the top two rows, but after changing the size of the needle, the stitching was fine
I attached the quilting guide to the walking (even feed) foot, setting it so that the lines of stitching would be two inches apart
I put a strip of masking tape diagonally across the quilt
and stitched along it, removing the pins as I stitched
for the next (and subsequent rows) I put the guide on the line of stitching - it takes a bit of practice to focus on the quilting guide rather than the needle as you stitch
all the lines stitched on the first diagonal
then I used another length of tape for the other diagonal - this shows the first line of stitching
the second lot of stitching goes much faster, as you have already removed the pins
this is the simplest way to quilt - and if you don't have a quilting guide for your machine, use two inch wide tape, and just keep moving it to mark your next stitching line
the stitching looks good on the back too
the last stage is to bind the quilt - but that is a tutorial for another day!