What is HQ Academy Virtual Sneak Peek?

That’s a great question!

Handi Quilter LOVES to provide the premium quilting education you need to get the most out of your longarm quilting machine. We want you to know and love your machine and, most of all, to be having fun finishing more quilts. There are many ways we accomplish that from

YouTube videos,

to in-store events,

 hands on classes all over the world,

to retreats at the HQ headquarters.

But the premier event of the year is

HQ Academy

This year we had to postpone Academy from June til November.

We are sad that we will not see all your smiling faces this month, as we’re sure you are sad too. So we are hosting HQ Virtual Academy Sneak Peek.

It’s a one day (June 19, 2020) virtual event that features 4 classes to give you a taste of what HQ Academy is all about.

If you’ve never been to HQ Academy and wonder what kind of classes happen there, here’s your chance to find out. Classes will be 1 hour 45 minutes each. We will have a short 15-minute break between classes 1 & 2, a 1-hour break for lunch, then another 15-minute break between classes 3 & 4. Each class will include a live Question and Answer session with the teacher. When you register you will get access to a private Facebook group. Handouts will be available in the Facebook group to download and print out at your home.  If you can’t attend on June 19, you can watch the classes anytime after that day. In fact, you can watch the classes over and over again. The classes will be available for you to watch as long as Facebook supports the group.

Purchase a ticket.

The cost is only $99. Ticket sales end June 17, 2020, so book in now! Go HERE to see the class descriptions and purchase your ticket to HQ Virtual Academy Sneak Peek.

by Mary Beth Krapil

I hope you’ve been following along with the blog posts chronicling Diane Harris’s adventures in machine quilting. If not, be sure to scroll back and read some of the previous posts. This week, Diane posted on the HQ Stitch blog,”Houston, We’ve Turned a Corner.” Diane says, “I quilted another UFO and for the first time I do not feel like I totally messed it up. I think I have turned a corner. ” Aren’t those happy words?!!

If you’d like to know about the quilt Diane was working on and how it came together, you can read about it here on the original post.

Here is what Diane had to say about her corner-turning experience:

I’ve been practicing machine quilting a lot recently. I have the HQ Capri stationary longarm. Companies used to call them “sit-down” machines, but the Capri can be used while sitting or standing, so “stationary” is an apt description because the machine does not move on a carriage like we think of longarms doing.

It sits still on its Insight table (with stitch regulation!) and you move the quilt freely in its 18″ of throat space. Heavenly.

I may not need a therapist after all (see previous post) because this time I had a plan! Tomorrow I’ll show you how I decided to quilt this UFO.

I’m so Happy that it’s not a UFO anymore!

MB: Can’t you just hear the joy and excitement in her words? That is what finishing your own quilts does; it fills your heart with joy. Turning the corner after a few initial struggles and some practice time, and getting to a place where you feel you really can do it yourself, fills you up with pride. A genuine sense of accomplishment! Yay Diane!

She followed up with another post about how her plan came together:

Turning the Corner, Part 2

I kept the quilting simple, but that’s because Mary Beth Krapil, my tutor in all things machine quilting, has taught me to ask an important question.

How will the Quilt be used?

You don’t need to put heirloom-level quilting on a piece that will be dragged through mud puddles by a toddler.

A giving or community quilt (more appropriate descriptions than “charity” quilt, I think) can be something on which you try a new technique or explore a quilting idea. As they say, “The babies won’t care.”

MB: Quilting giving or community quilts is an excellent way to practice. It is quilting with a purpose. The quilt is actually going to be used, not wadded up and tossed in the corner or used for an animal shelter quilt. Since it will be given to someone, you try harder. You try to make those straight lines straight and those curved lines just the right amount of curvy. It’s quilting “for real”. If you belong to a guild that makes quilts for those in the community that need a bit of comfort, be sure to sign up to quilt a few. The quilt police won’t show up if you cross over on your stipple and that baby in the hospital won’t care a bit!

I used the Handi Quilter Skinny 2″ x 10″ ruler to quilt about 1/4″ outside the daisy petals. I did the same 1/4″ inside and outside the flower centers. It felt like enough.

I used a medium pink Superior Threads Omni and it looked great on all the colors in the quilt.

I used to want to hide my quilting at all costs because I thought it was horrible. But I’ve learned that practice and some help from an experienced pro have made all the difference. I’m starting to dream about the day I will want my quilting to show!

Yes, Diane, you have definitely turned the corner and I am standing on the corner jumping up and down and waving pom-poms!

by Mary Beth Krapil

My friend, Diane Harris, is learning how to quilt with a stationary longarm machine, her HQ Capri.  Diane is an ambassador for HQ Stitch sewing machines and writes the blog over on the HQ Stitch page. In recent posts she has been sharing her lessons in machine quilting, and I have been sharing her posts with you. She is learning some wonderful lessons!

This week she writes about figuring out what to quilt and about getting stuck. I’ll share her thoughts and my words of wisdom as a seasoned quilter.

Lessons in Machine Quilting

By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch brand ambassador

Comments by Mary Beth Krapil, Handi Quilter National Educator (MB)

I’m learning so much about machine quilting each day. The lessons apply whether you’re quilting on a domestic like HQ Stitch or on a stationary longarm like the HQ Capri. Some of them would also be useful if you’re longarm quilting with a machine on a movable carriage.

I wrote about quilting My Christmas Album in the last post, and today I want to dive deeper into some big lessons I learned on this quilt and talk about how hard it can be to know what you should quilt.

In other words, do you need geometric shapes or should you outline the patches, can you quilt right on top of the applique, should the quilting be dense or sparse, and so on.

As I considered the blocks, there didn’t seem to be a lot of space for quilting. I stippled a couple of the blocks but I wanted to be more creative on the rest.

The gingerbread men got outlined loosely.

I meandered a large stipple over the trees.

A smaller meander worked between the poinsettias.

I curled in and out of the snowflakes. These ideas aren’t horrible but they’re not great, either. I am hoping that knowing what to quilt will improve with practice.

MB: Knowing what to quilt is a HUGE topic. Of course personal preference plays a big role, but how does a person know what their preference is if they are only just getting started? The answer, my friend, is STUDY. Study is a word that carries memories of forced memorization and poring over boring books. Luckily, the type of study you will be doing is nothing like that! Here’s how you study: you will look at quilts and pay particular attention to the quilting. Go to shows (someday soon I hope), open Pinterest, look on Facebook, browse Instagram, page through quilting books. Find quilts that appeal to you and make note of how they are quilted. You will soon develop personal preference. It might be modern, geometric, angular, flowing, flowery, feathery; there’s really a lot of styles. So first of all…

#1 Know what you like

Then, think about the quilt you are about to quilt and ask some important questions. These will help determine a lot about the quilting.

How is the quilt going to be used? – I will quilt a wall hanging much more densely than a bed quilt. A wall quilt must be stable to keep it square as it hangs and resist sagging of the fabrics. A bed quilt, on the other hand, needs to be soft and drape-able so that it will be cuddly and lay nicely over the edges of the mattress.

What kind of batting will I use? – The package of batting will have a suggested minimum distance for spacing of quilting lines. It’s important to follow these guidelines if you plan to wash the quilt and want it to hold up.

Who is the quilt for? – Man, woman, child, someone playful, someone more formal, modern, traditional? This will be important for the tone of the quilting design. You might put dinosaurs on a kid’s quilt, but might want to stick with feathers on a quilt for the Queen.

Second of all…..

#2 Consider the Quilt

Once you know what you like and have figured out what the quilt needs, it is time to choose a design.  

We are quilters. We all have a stash. Don’t even try to deny it; I know you do. You have more fabric than you could ever hope to use. And when you become a quilter (as opposed to a topper), you will also develop a thread stash. Those of you who have been quilting for a while are nodding your heads. You need one more stash: a design stash. A place to go when you are trying to come up with some idea of what to quilt on your quilt. I started my design stash with books of quilting designs. I have a few. This is only a small portion.

I suggest taking photos of quilting that you especially like. Sketch designs that you have seen on quilts. Add these to a notebook. As you study quilting on social media, save photos to a special file on your computer or tablet. All of this becomes your design stash. Then when you are stumped as to what to quilt, browse your stash and the ideas will start to flow.

Thirdly….

#3 Keep a design stash and know how to use it.

Let’s go back and see what other lessons Diane learned.

One other problem presented itself. I made a plan for quilting loosely around the gingerbread men.

However, I hadn’t planned for how to travel from one to the next. You can see on the left above my wiggly line as I tried to travel. And under his arm, you can almost feel the panic as I ran into a roadblock and didn’t know where to go.

MB: Once you’ve settled on a design choice, figure out your path. One way of doing this is to use your Quilter’s Preview Paper and draw the design without lifting your pen. You can also simply finger trace the design over your block as if you were stitching it. It is great practice for when you are actually quilting, and you’ll find your quilting looks nicer when you take the time to finger trace before actually stitching.

Lesson 4

Trouble comes when I don’t know where I’m going.

I must have a plan for what to quilt, but also for how to travel around the quilt.

And that leads into another lesson.

Lesson 5

Stop. STOP! Sooner, not later.

I tend to blunder forward, adding bad quilting and making the problem worse. The more I blunder, the more quilting there is to remove later. I’m learning to stop as soon as I sense trouble.

MB: This is very common. Quilting is a continuous line, so we want to keep going, continuously. I always tell my students that when you get in a bind and are not sure where to go next, remember: the machine has an OFF switch as well as an ON switch. Take your foot off the pedal, or in the case of a moveable machine, hit the stop button, then take a breath and figure out your next path. No one likes to get that seam ripper out, and what is it about removing stitches? What takes 3 minutes to quilt takes an hour and a half to pick out. So stop before you get into trouble and let the dust accumulate on that seam ripper.

As for this little quilt, while I struggled mightily, it is finished. And in my book,

Finished is better than perfect!

MB: That is a good attitude to have, Diane! We are our own worst critics. We are so close to our work that it is sometimes hard to stand back and just take it in as a whole and appreciate the quilt. You enjoyed the process of making it and you learned a few things along the way. What could be better?

And now because machine quilting is finally FUN, I’m off to quilt the next one!

MB: I can’t wait to see what you tackle next, Diane. There is one more question you have to ask when you are deciding how to quilt something:

What is my skill level? – Maybe you really want to quilt feathers on a quilt, but you’ve never quilted a feather. There are 2 paths here: practice your feathers until you feel ready, then proceed; OR pick a different design.

Remember how you all committed to practicing 15 minutes EVERY day? You did! You raised your right hands and promised! Here is what you will practice: the design you want on your next quilt. Whatever that may be—feathers, ribbon candy, stipple—practice until you feel confident. Then GO FOR IT.

We are so lucky to have a second guest post from And I Quilt personality, Vanessa Clark. She’s a Grandmother, she’s a volunteer, and she Quilts!  She loves to interact with her grandchildren and what better way than to share her love of sewing and quilting? Vanessa is sharing her method of teaching young children how to sew.

Teaching Children How to Sew

A common question frequently asked is, “How soon can children sew?” Well with an aid from this product that I found, it may be sooner than what you would think. I first saw this product used in kids camp at my favorite quilt shop. Perfect for children in first through third grades. My first grand son, Hudson and I love doing crafty things together. One day when I was watching him while his mom and dad were out of town, we went to the sewing room to make a project.

The product we used is from HelloSewingWorld.com. It is printed fusible interfacing for making a nine patch block.

Using scissors, Hudson cuts out the nine patch block. We really enjoyed selecting the fabrics for his project since Halloween was just around the corner, we were able to find the perfect selection of fabrics. Hudson finds my stash of fabrics fascinating.

Next was cutting our fabrics into 2 1/2 inch squares and with the Accuquilt fabric cutting system the squares were cut accurately.

Finding the right placement of squares for our nine patch was lots of fun too. We placed our fabric squares with the wrong sides on the fusible side of the interfacing and ironed them into place. Next we were off to the sewing machine using the Handi Quilter Stitch 210. The Stitch 210 is the perfect first sewing machine for beginners but also perfect for travel and to take to sewing retreat.

By folding the fabric with right sides together, you can see the stitch lines marked for the 1/4 inch seams. Do all the vertical and then all the horizontal. It looks so good when finished. We added solid color fabric for the back, placing front and back with right sides together, stitched and turned inside out.

It was sensational, a mug rug for mommy. Hudson was so proud of himself and even more so when he presented his gift to his mom.

Hudson is eight years old. Loves to play baseball and games with the family.

I love being a grandmother, making cherished sweet memories that I do not take for granted.

Thank you Vanessa! It’s so important to pass along our sewing skills to the next generation.

If you would like to learn more about Vanessa and meet our other And I Quilt personalities please visit here.

Getting started with longarm quilting can be fun, intimidating, exciting, and scary all at once. There is a LOT to learn. Even if you have been sewing and using sewing machines all your life, there’s something a bit different when it comes to quilting.

My friend and colleague, Diane Harris, is the brand ambassador for HQ Stitch, Handi Quilter‘s line of domestic sewing machines. (Yes! Handi Quilter has sewing machines too!) There are 3 models for all kinds of sewists. You can check them out here. I do my piecing on a HQ Stitch 510 machine. I thought I was a good piecer before I got this machine, but it has made a marked improvement in my piecing. It sews SO straight and FAST!

Diane and I have had lots of conversations about quilting. She has struggled with machine quilting on domestic machines, with all the usual complaints: hard to maneuver a quilt in a small throat space, hard to keep stitches consistent, etc. I have finally convinced her to join the ranks of longarm quilters. She wanted a stationary machine, so the HQ Capri was perfect for her. Diane writes the blog over at HQStitch.com and she will be sharing her adventures in longarm quilting on her blog. I thought it would be fun to share some of her posts here. If you’re new to quilting you can empathize with her learning curve and if you’re more experienced you can share your tips with Diane.

Drinking From A Fire Hose by Diane Harris

For the past few years, I’ve been using Handi Quilter’s HQ Stitch sewing machines, and loving every minute. I share what I learn, make and explore with you here and on other social platforms. It’s always great fun.

Now I’m adding another Handi Quilter tool to my studio: The HQ Capri stationary longarm. I’ve only had it for a few weeks and I am learning so much. It feels like I’m drinking from a fire hose.

I am new to longarm quilting, so I have all the questions that any beginner would have. Together in this space we will answer those questions. We’ll learn from experience and also from seasoned Handi Quilter educators. I’m excited about both.

We’ll get into the nuts and bolts of machine setup and getting started in another post, but today I want to whet your appetite with the quilts I’ve worked on.

My Christmas Album is a Tina Curran design on which I used fusible raw-edge applique because I wanted it done quickly. The patch edges are secured with a machine straight stitch and matching or neutral thread. I used my HQ Stitch 710 and it was especially handy because I could automatically secure the beginning and ending stitches—a great timesaver.

Everything went smoothly—until I got to the quilting—a couple of years back. I couldn’t figure out what to quilt around all that applique.

I’ve had machine quilting on this quilt no fewer than three times, and I ripped it out each time. I was pretty frustrated with it, and it’s been sitting in timeout for a long while.

Lesson #1

Learning what to quilt is as challenging and as important
as learning how to quilt it.

What to quilt has been the stumbling block for My Christmas Album. I’ve rarely done applique and I didn’t have many ideas for how to quilt it. We’ll talk more about this in an upcoming post.

Now I’ve moved on to quilting Wild Garden. I started this quilt at a retreat with Mary Lou Weidman. We learned improvisational piecing techniques and it was so much fun. Later I added more flowers and leaves with fusible applique.

Are you getting excited to learn with me all about machine quilting and the HQ Capri? I have a hundred questions, have run into a few roadblocks, and I’ve made some major mess-ups.

You just haven’t lived until you’ve quilted a corner of the quilt to the back of the quilt by accident.

Lesson #2

Check regularly to be sure there is nothing extra under the needle.

In addition to the many lessons I’m learning, I’m going to start a list of

Things I Love

1. 18″ of throat space  (Note from Mary Beth: I TOLD you!)

It is such a luxury to have this much room for the quilt. I knew it would be more generous than a domestic sewing machine, but I am blown away every day by how roomy that throat space actually is.

Read more about the HQ Capri stationary longarm. I’ll be back soon.

Diane