Uncategorized Archives - Handi Quilter
Call Us Today! 801.292.7988 or 1.877.697.8458|hqcares@handiquilter.com

Quilting a Vintage Quilt Top

In last week’s blog post I explained how I prepared a not-so-flat vintage quilt top for finishing. If you didn’t catch it, be sure to read it first. No worries, I’ll wait.

detail of vintage quilt top quilted

 

Basic plan

Now that I had a nice flat quilt top, I could start thinking about the quilting. I wanted to ignore the seam lines in an effort to hide all the added sashing. This would make the tulips come forward and float on the background.

I planned to stitch-in-the-ditch around each set of tulips and do minimal quilting within the tulips so that they would puff forward. To accomplish the puff, there had to be some tighter background quilting behind them. And using two layers of batting, 80/20 on the bottom and wool on top is essential.

Design ideas

Drawing design ideas on Quilter’s Preview Paper  over the quilt top with a dry erase marker is a good way to start letting the ideas become real.

preview paper over vintage quilt top

Creating designs

Using Pro-Stitcher Designer, my digitizing software, I created some designs that would go over the seams and hopefully distract from them.
I start the design process by tracing the major elements of the top on Golden Threads Quilting Paper. Then I can place a 2nd piece of Golden Threads paper over that and start sketching. If I don’t like what I have drawn, I discard the paper and take fresh piece on top. I still have my major elements underneath.


After I settle on the designs, I transfer them to my Pro-Stitcher Designer software to create the digital designs for my Pro-Stitcher robotic system on my HQ Infinity.

vintage quilt top digital design

This design will be available for purchase on Quiltable.com soon!

Quilting!

Next comes the fun of quilting and seeing the quilt top come to life. I employed a combination of Pro-Stitcher robotics, ruler-work and free-motion quilting.  I wonder what Mrs. Gibson and Ora Tyler would think of their quilt today?

detail of vintage quilt top quilted

Of course a quilt is not finished until there’s a label. I chose to use one of the spare blocks as the label. Turning the corner of the block back so that the penciled name and hand stitching is visible. I think that is such a charming aspect of this vintage top.

You can also see how the block does not lay flat.

I printed the list of names of all the contributors to the quilt, along with the quilter’s name (me) and date it was finished. Now I proudly consider myself part of this group of ladies. I have 13 new friends! And I wonder if I’m young enough to go by just Mary Beth? I know I’m not old enough to be known as Mrs. Krapil! Mary Beth Krapil will do I guess. 🙂

Have you ever quilted a vintage quilt top? Please share your experience in the comments. We’d love to see pictures!

 

by Mary Beth Krapil

 

 

2021-03-17T14:55:57-06:00March 19th, 2021|Categories: Inspiration, Quilting Fun, Uncategorized, vintage quilts|Tags: , , , , , , , |3 Comments
Read More

National Quilting Month

March is National Quilting Month. It’s our favorite month of the year here at Handi Quilter.

national quilting month handi quilter

What are you going to do to celebrate? Here are TEN great ideas to help get you started.

Finish a UFO

If you have been a quilter for a while (a year? a month? a day!) you probably have a project (or 3) that isn’t quite finished and got put aside when you started something new. Maybe you ran into a problem that you couldn’t figure out how to solve. Or maybe you just lost interest. Perhaps you tried to finish before the new class you signed up for started, but you had to set it aside to concentrate on class. Whatever the reason, National Quilting Month can be your incentive to pull it out and get ‘er done.

Here are some of mine. Some. There isn’t enough room to show you all of them!

Plan a reward for finishing. Maybe a trip to the quilt shop, once the binding and label are on?

Start a new quilt

Nothing revs the quilting juices more than starting a new project. Pull out that pattern you bought and get busy picking fabrics for it.  Buy that fat quarter stack of luscious new fabrics and decide which quilt pattern will show them off the best.

Grab your sketch book to draw out the quilting design you’ve had in the back of your brain. Take the time to do what you love.

Organize your quilting space

American Patchwork and Quilting is hosting a fun 31 days to an organized sewing space challenge.

They give one task per day for each day in the month of March. This one-task-at-a-time approach seems very achievable. The challenge for me, when straightening up my studio, is resisting the urge to play with just about every item I touch.

I’m going to give this a try. Then I’ll let you know how it went. It’s not too late for you to try too! Just double up the tasks for a few days. Just think how great it will feel to play in a clean and organized studio. Wonder how long it will last? 🙂

 

Visit a Quilt Museum

You will be in awe, inspired and delighted by what you see at any and all of these places:

National Quilt Museum, Paducah, KY

International Quilt Study Center and Museum, Lincoln, NE

Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden, CO

Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, Cedarburg, WI

Texas Quilt Museum, La Grange, TX

This is by no measure a complete list. You may find one in your neck of the woods! Check out your local history museum. My little town has a wonderful history museum that has a few quilts on display.

Take a class

Handi Quilter in-store events are starting to happen again, all over the country! We have worked with healthcare experts and our retailers to devise a way to hold in-person longarm quilting classes in a safe manner. Some are hands-on classes!

 

We are also offering virtual classes. These are such a great opportunity to take a class from an expert Handi Quilter National educator from the comfort of your own home. Check out what is available here.

Share your skills

Offer to teach a friend a new quilting skill that you know, but she hasn’t tried yet.

Or spend a day teaching a child a simple sewing/quilting project.

This little girl is hooked for life!

Join a guild

It multiplies the fun of quilting when you can meet with like-minded people who share your love of fabric and thread and color and pattern. Although we can’t really meet in person for a little while longer, many guilds are meeting virtually these days. Sharing knowledge and quilts and tips and tricks only adds to the joy of quilting. Find a guild near you. You can ask at your local quilt shop for recommendations. If that doesn’t get you results, try this website. Your new quilting friends are waiting for you.

Make a community quilt

Many organizations offer opportunities for making quilts for those who need the comfort only a quilt can provide. Knowing you’re helping others multiplies the fun of making quilts. An example of one of those organizations is Quilts for Kids. Quilts for Kids is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming fabrics into patchwork quilts to comfort children facing serious illness, trauma, abuse, and natural disasters.

There are many more. Once again a good place to inquire is your local quilt shop or guild.

Join a social media group

Handi Quilter oversees 3 Facebook groups. The Handi Quilter group is for all machine owners and folks who are interested in Handi Quilter or longarm quilting. At almost 11,000 members there is plenty of friendly help for all your longarm questions. It’s also a great place to share what you are working on.

If you’re interested in attending Academy, (the premier annual education event held by Handi Quilter), you might want to join the HQ Academy group. Alumni and future attendees share experiences and fun in this group. The excitement grows as the date for Academy draws near!

Are you a Pro-Stitcher Designer user? There’s a group for that! Help in learning the design and digitizing program is right at your fingertips. Share your achievements and projects, ask questions, this group is just getting started so all questions are welcome.

Watch a quilting video

Handi Quilter offers a bunch of options for this! We have a YouTube channel dedicated to helping you learn to use your Handi Quilter machine. Don’t forget to subscribe and click the bell to be notified when a new video is available.

You can also catch a video once a month on the 2nd Thursday called HQ Live. We present on a variety of quilting related topics. You want to mark your calendar for HQ Live. 2nd Thursday, 11am Mountain time.

 

Or get a quick dose of quilty fun every Tuesday on our Facebook page with HQ Watch and Learn. The studio educators share tips, tricks and how-to’s. It’s quick and fun and you’re sure to learn something each week. Tuesday at high Noon Mountain time.

Don’t forget to do something extra-quilty on National Quilting Day! March 20, 2021.

by Mary Beth Krapil

2021-03-05T12:38:27-07:00March 6th, 2021|Categories: Inspiration, Quilting Fun, Quilting life, quilting tips, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Makers Master Moxie

We have this awesome new machine in our family, the HQ Moxie. The HQ Moxie is upfront–everything you need in one package. Practical features and optional accessories make this simple, spunky longarm the perfect quilting machine to customize and make your own. Social media is such a fun place to meet new friends and see what they are up to. We’ve partnered with 3 incredible makers from social media. They just got their new Moxie longarm machines. We thought it might be fun for you to watch these makers master Moxie. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages, because we will be sharing their adventures.

Let me introduce you

to these 3 awesome quilters.

moxie makers

They will be sharing their experiences as they learn how to use their Moxie machines, from set-up, to fearless beginning free motion, to using cool tools and accessories. You can follow along. And learn right along with them.

Crafty Gemini

new HQ Moxie machine The Crafty Gemini

Vanessa Vargas Wilson is the Crafty Gemini. She lives on a 5 acre homestead just north of Gainesville, FL with her hubs and 2 kids. She has been sharing her adventures in crafting and sewing on her website, her YouTube channel, and her social media pages for many years. Although she is not new to longarming, she just got a new Moxie. You can see her set up her machine by clicking her picture above.

Here is where you’ll find her:

 Instagram: @craftygemini
 TikTok: @thecraftygemini

Night Quilter

night quilter with Moxie

Kitty Wilkin is, in her own words, “a stay at home mom of three littles, wife, sewist of quilts and other beautiful things, runner, gardener, yogi, and all in all lover of life”. And with three little children the only time she has to quilt is after bedtime, so “Night Quilter” is her handle.

Kitty is new to longarm quilting and she is excited about learning and using her Moxie.

Connect with Kitty on:

 Instagram: http://instagram.com/nightquilter     (@nightquilter)

 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nightquilter?

Teri Lucas

It will be fun to watch Teri learning to quilt with Moxie.  Teri has an abundance of quilting moxie, her motto is, “Quilt with reckless abandon.” She recently moved to Georgetown, TX with her husband.  And she has a new book, Color, Thread and Free-motion Quilting. The designs in her book were stitched on a domestic machine. I can’t wait to see what she does with her Moxie!

Connect with Teri:

Website/blog: terificreations.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeriLucasquilts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terilucas/

Pinterest: @quiltedteri

 

I hope you’ll enjoy following these 3 makers master Moxie. And learn a thing or two along the way. If you are getting to know your Moxie, please post to social media using the hashtag #quiltwithMoxie. We would love to see how you are coming along!
makers master Moxie
by Mary Beth Krapil

 

2021-02-25T15:03:27-07:00February 26th, 2021|Categories: Begining Quilting, HQ Moxie, Quilt Stories, Quilting Fun, Quilting life, Social Media, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Quilters’ Survey

What’s important to you as a quilter? Let us know through the annual Quilters’ Survey!

Handi Quilter has been sponsoring the survey for many years to help us know what YOU want. And then we try our best to deliver!

 

Your responses inform decisions about products, services, and how companies interact with quilters.

Prizes!!!

As a thank you for participating, you can opt into a giveaway drawing for one of twenty-five sponsor-specific $50 gift cards.

Sponsors

If you have ever taken the survey in the past, you know that it is kinda long. Because this is a lengthy survey, you are given opportunities along the way to exit the survey and enter the drawing. So, you do not have to finish the survey to be eligible to win.

Everyone who enters worldwide is eligible to win! We will choose winners at random and notify them by email. Be sure to respond to the email within 2 business days. If you don’t, we’ll pick an alternate winner. The winner’s list will be posted by March 12 on the Quilter’s Survey website.

Quilters’ Survey Thank you

We truly appreciate you sharing your thoughts and desires with us. We want to help you finish more quilts. And we want to do it in a way that makes you successful and happy!

by Mary Beth Krapil

2021-02-03T13:41:51-07:00February 3rd, 2021|Categories: News & Events, Quilting Fun, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Power Protection

Are you taking care of power protection for your beloved longarm machine? Do you even know what that means? We all want to take the best care of our machines so that we can have fun finishing quilts for years to come.

Power protection

puts a layer of protection between your treasured electronics and the outside world. We use surge suppressors (or protectors) and uninterruptible power systems to do it.

Handi Quilter strongly advises the use of surge suppressors. However, we do not endorse specific manufacturers or models of surge suppressors.

Power strips and surge suppressors are different.

Power strips are inexpensive and function to expand the number of outlets. Some claim to offer protection via a circuit breaker. But they don’t offer any real protection from electrical issues. You want a surge protector or surge suppressor to give you some level of protection. They are not all created equal.

It’s about the joules

Surge suppressors offer protection in amounts called Joules. Most manufacturers rate their products by the number of Joules it can absorb. This is not the best measure of the ability of a suppressor to truly protect your machine. Instead, look for the let-through voltage of the suppressor you are considering purchasing. This should preferably be at least 330 volts (V) but less than 500 volts. A product marked “UL1449 compliant” will have a 400V or less let-through voltage. Not all manufacturers put this rating in their specifications.

They don’t last forever

Absorbing damaging surges takes a toll on components inside the protector so another purchasing consideration is what happens when the protection circuit no longer functions. Ideally, the suppressor would no longer allow power to pass to your machine; otherwise you wouldn’t know that your machine is no longer protected. Some suppressors have an LED indicator that shows if the product has been damaged, which is the minimal indication you need.

If power surges are common and your suppressor does not have such warning features, it is wise to replace the suppressor every two to three years. Remember that surges don’t just come from the outside world. They can also come from within your home to your power outlet from a refrigerator or other large motor operating in your home.

Warranty

Some products offer a replacement warranty (up to a certain amount) on the equipment attached to it. This may offer an additional layer of confidence. Just be sure to read the fine print.

What about Pro-Stitcher?

If you use a Pro-Stitcher system and have occasional power outages, you may wish to consider an uninterruptible power system (UPS) product. A UPS provides both surge suppression and back-up energy that gives you time to power off your machine during a power outage. This can prevent damage to your quilt and make re-starting later easier.

A power rating of 1000 VA or better should be sufficient to give you time to perform a graceful shut-down of the quilting that is in progress. Again, look for the let-through voltage protection rating mentioned above.

Unplug

The Handi Quilter warranty states that machines must be unplugged from the wall outlet (not merely turned off) when not in use. This is still the best protective measure you can employ.

Let’s keep our babies safe and use power protection.

power protection - dream big

Re: the photos in this post. This is such a serious matter, and surge suppressors are not particularly pretty, so I added some pictures of nice quilting to lighten the mood. 🙂

by Mary Beth Krapil

 

2021-01-19T14:20:35-07:00January 23rd, 2021|Categories: Begining Quilting, Education, quilting tips, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |8 Comments
Read More

Make a Stencil

I told you last week I would show you how to make a stencil from Golden Threads quilting paper. It’s easy and fun and results in a easy, follow-the-line, free-motion quilting guide that will make your quilts look fabulous!

Start with a design

You can take one of your fantastic doodles.

Or maybe something you found in a magazine or a book.

You might have seen a fabulous quilting design in nature,

or on some tile or carpet, or on a tissue box,

 

or on a plate.

Look at the fabrics in your quilt,

there might be a super cute design. Inspiration for quilting designs are truly everywhere! Be sure to have your camera ready to capture them.

Draw and trace

Draw on regular paper first. Keep in mind the size you will need for your quilt. Make adjustments until it is perfect. As you are drawing, think like a quilter and make the design continuous, to minimize stops and starts.

Once you are happy, trace your design onto Golden Threads Quilting Paper. BTW, all this drawing and tracing is great practice for when you actually quilt the design!

Make a stencil

Take your GT paper to your machine and pin it to a quilt sandwich.

Set your stitch regulation for a longer stitch. I set my HQ Infinity to 6 spi.

Take the thread out of your needle and stitch the design. The needle will punch holes in the paper and you now have a stencil to

mark your quilt

Position your stencil where you want the design. Using your pounce pad, swipe over the paper.

You have nice lines to follow as you quilt!

QUILT

Once you have quilted the design, the pounce powder will easily brush away.

Now you can create a stencil from any design you can dream up!

by Mary Beth Krapil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021-01-16T05:18:10-07:00January 16th, 2021|Categories: Education, Gadgets, Inspiration, Quilting Fun, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments
Read More

Cyber Week Quilt Show

Please join us for our Cyber Week Quilt Show, November 30 through December 7, 2020.

Enjoy all the fun of a quilt show from the comfort of your own home.

Quilts

Get inspired viewing quilts of all kinds!

We want to feature all the fantastic quilts you have been making this year! Post your quilts to your account on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #cyberquiltshow  You can also search  FB and IG for that hashtag to be inspired by the quilts of others. There will be an active stream of quilts on our Cyber Quilt Show page as well.

 

Classes

Until we can gather together for in-person classes at shows again, we still want to help you learn more, so you can finish more quilts.

Enjoy direct links to several educational videos to stretch your quilting skills. These educational videos are free for all. It’s like classes, that you can watch over and over, any time you’d like.

You’ll also want to grab the opportunity to register for the new  HQ Learn at Home classes premiering Dec 3. Sign up here.

We are kicking off this series of premium online classes with some fantastic Pro-Stitcher offerings with 3 outstanding Handi Quilter educators. If you participated in the HQ Academy sneak peak, you have an idea how it works. The classes are live on Dec 3, 2020 and your ticket will give you access to view the classes again as many times as you’d like.  Learn more details here.

Susan Manry –  Cropping A – Z

Gina Siembieda – Your New BFF’s – Mark, Move & Record

Amy Domke – Everything Borders

P.S. NON-Pro-Stitcher people!  Never fear, there will be many more in this series of Learn at Home classes with various topics. We’ve got you!

 

Show special pricing on machines!

Another fun part of attending a quilt show is shopping the vendors and getting some fantastic deals. The Cyber Quilt Show is no different.

 

If you have been waiting for a show to take advantage of show pricing to get the longarm (or Pro-Stitcher) of your dreams, now’s your chance. You can save thousands!

These special prices will also be available from participating local retailers. Find one close to you here.

Hope to see you at the Cyber Week quilt show!

by Mary Beth Krapil

 

2020-11-27T11:41:33-07:00November 28th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments
Read More

A Time-Saving Tip

We all want to use our quilting time efficiently. Sometimes a time-saving tip is just the thing that will give you a few extra minutes in your day.

I needed to quilt 3 baby quilts that were approximately the same size. Rather than load the backing fabric for each quilt, I sewed the 3 backings together end-to-end. Then pinned one end to my backing leader and the other end to my take-up leader. I treated the entire thing as one extra-long backing.  Here’s how it works:

Time-saving tip

Carefully measure each quilt and make notes of the measurements.  Measure all your backing fabric and make sure you have enough for each quilt.

Sew the backings together

You’ll want to have the widest backing at the end (quilted last) and the narrowest backing at the beginning (quilted first). That is so you will have even tension on your backing fabrics all the way through the job. Place them in order and make sure they are oriented correctly if there is a directional fabric. One of my fabrics had Paddington Bear with numbers. I had to make sure he was going to be head up, feet down, and the numbers were right side up, in the finished quilt.

Set your machine for a long basting stitch. I set my stitch length to 5 on my HQ Stitch 510 machine (my favorite piecing machine, it sews oh so straight!).

Pin the fabrics right sides together and stitch.

You’ll end up with a really LONG backing fabric.

Load the backing

Just like you would any other backing, rolling on the belly bar and smoothing as you go.

Prepare the batting

I had a piece of batting that would be enough for the first 2 quilts. I did not cut it, I just loaded it as is and trimmed after quilting the first quilt. Then I cut another piece of batting for the 3rd quilt.

Float your top

I usually do not float my quilt tops. I like to have uber control of my fabrics whilst quilting, and loading the top to the top pole helps me have that control.  But when doing multiple quilts like this, I do float. Floating means you will not pin the bottom edge of the quilt top to the top leader. Instead you just lay the quilt top over the batting and let the bottom edge hang free. These are small baby quilts, so I feel I can still control my fabric enough to get good results.

I stitched a plumb line across my batting and backing at the top and lined up the first top with that plumb line. Be sure you know the order that you will quilt the tops so that they match up with the right backing!

Quilt

Quilt the first quilt however you decide, free-motion, ruler-work, or Pro-Stitcher. Of course I used Pro-Stitcher on my HQ Infinity!

Trim the batting from the bottom of the quilt. I love using my HQ batting scissors, the blunt tip lets me cut close to the completed quilt without cutting the backing.

Prepare to quilt #2

You will see the basted seam between backing #1 and backing #2. Advance the quilt so that you can place the batting at the top of backing #2 and stitch another plumb line. Place quilt top #2 on the batting, lining up to the plumb line. And quilt.

And so on and so forth, until you have completed all your quilts.

Remove your quilts from the leaders and separate them where they are basted together.

Ta-da! Load once, quilt 2 or 3 or 4 at a time.

Now you have some extra time to work on the piecing project you have going. This works even better when all the quilts will use the same fabric for backing.

I hope you give this time-saving tip a try. Let us know in the comments how it worked for you.

 

 

 

2020-11-07T17:22:27-07:00November 8th, 2020|Categories: Uncategorized|3 Comments
Read More

Vintage Zigzag

Our friend, Diane Harris, has been busy finishing UFO’s during her time at home. Her most recent finish is this vintage zigzag quilt.

vintage zigzag

It’s from the Fons and Porter Love of Quilting magazine May/June 2007 issue.

Diane says, “I had all of the printed units with yellow bits made when it became a UFO. Why did I put it away when the bulk of the work was behind me? I made myself stick with it. I knew if I put it away again I would never EVER finish it. There was a lot of easing and pinning and even some swearing because of the miles and miles of bias edges, but I love the finished product and I even have an idea for quilting it. Wouldn’t it be fun to fill each of those green squares with a different quilting design? I must talk to my machine quilting coach Mary Beth Krapil, to see if she thinks that would work. Mary Beth is a Handi Quilter National Educator and a longarm whiz with years of experience in machine quilting, and I count on her to guide me.”

Quilting Ideas

The first thing I thought when I heard Diane’s quilting plan was, how many green squares is that, exactly? So I counted, and there are 33 squares. That’s a lot of designs to come up with and it totals 53 if you want to include the green triangles!  It makes me tired just thinking about it.

That could be because I’m quilting a Jacqueline de Jonge Dream Flight quilt for a friend and I am trying to do different designs in the “moons”.  I’m challenged to come up with lots of variety that will work to create good texture. I’m just getting started.

I also think different designs in all the green squares will just be too busy. But that is my aesthetic showing. I like symmetry and cohesiveness; I like to tie things together with repetition. Diane is a lot more free spirited  than I am when it comes to her quilts. On the other hand I don’t want to discourage her from doing all those designs because, what great practice that would be for someone new to longarm machine quilting! If you haven’t read previous posts, Diane just recently got a HQ Capri stationary longarm machine and is having a blast quilting up her UFO’s and learning about longarm quilting.

So, how about a compromise? Quilt the same design in every other block and in the alternate blocks quilt different designs. I think the same design in alternating blocks would unify the quilt but still give the opportunity for fun, creativity, and Practice.

Examples

This vintage zigzag is really neither feminine or masculine. But we can sway it with the quilting.
Something on the feminine side:
or something a little more geometric:
With the geometric choice you will get plenty of ruler work practice! And if you do the other blocks in curvy free form quilting it will add contrast, which adds interest.

Some things to keep in mind

  • When adding your varied designs try to keep the density of quilting as close as possible to the other blocks. This will help keep the quilt flat.
  • The busy colorful zigzags only need something simple because the quilting will not show as much. I’m thinking some free form squiggly lines. That will be quick to quilt and make up for all the time spent on the blocks.
  • If you want a place to practice feathers, these zigzags are ideal! They won’t show your bobbles much.
  • Decide how confident you are with what you quilt in the green squares. If you are feeling bold then go with a contrasting thread so that the quilting will really show! Perhaps feeling a little more timid? Choose a matching thread.
I can’t wait to see what you choose, Diane! Of course I will share the finish here so we can all admire Diane’s work on this vintage zigzag. Stay tuned! And follow Diane’s blog over on the HQ Stitch site.
2020-07-23T09:41:41-06:00July 23rd, 2020|Categories: Capri, Education, quilting tips, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment
Read More

Adventures in Learning to Longarm Quilt

It has been a few weeks since we visited with Diane and the HQ Stitch blog. We are following my friend, Diane’s adventures in learning to longarm quilt on her new HQ Capri. If you haven’t read the prior posts you can catch up here. Look on the right side and you will see Previous Blog Posts. We started back on April 11, 2020 with the post titled Getting Started with Longarm Quilting.

Diane has come along way in her quest. She overcame her fear and she has experimented with many types of quilting. She’s gotten familiar with her seam ripper, but learned to either stop before the point of no return if what you are quilting doesn’t look right, or Let It Go. In other words, accept the minor imperfections and know that you will get better the more you quilt. She has adopted the slogan:

Finished is Better than Perfect

So here is what Diane has to say a few months into her adventure:

DH: I’m in the habit of keeping something always going on the HQ Capri, so that when I have a few minutes here or there, I can sit down and quilt! Of course the InSight table can be adjusted for standing, but recently I’ve been sitting.

Adventures in longarm Capri

MBK: Yeah Diane! The absolute BEST way to improve at anything (quilting) is to do a little bit every day. You will build your skills and not lose progress like you would if you only quilted once in whenever. Out of all the things I say when I teach a class, this is probably the MOST important thing and probably the statement that is most ignored. Big sigh.

DH: I was on a roll when I finished the peachy-pink, green and gray baby quilt, so I put another similar baby quilt under the needle next. See Diane’s post about the pink baby quilt here.

DH: This might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when I made it I was just playing around with half-square triangles and using up stash fabric for the borders. I like the idea that all four sides of a border don’t have to be from the same fabric.

And I’m okay with making a weird quilt. I’d much rather make a weird quilt that’s a little off than make a boring or ho-hum quilt. So this one’s weirdness made it perfect for practice.

Perfect for practice

MBK: When first getting started it really takes the pressure off to quilt quilts that you are not heavily invested in. It’s good to quilt REAL quilts rather than practicing on a piece of muslin. You will try harder on a real quilt.  But don’t choose that quilt top that you spent 1000 hours piecing and you want to put on the bed in your guest room. You’ll be way to invested and it will add stress and make you hunch up your shoulders. No one can quilt well with hunched shoulders. Save that one for later when you’re more confident.

DH: I started off with the solid gray areas by quilting connected squares and rectangles with straight(ish) lines. I used a ruler for a few lines but decided I preferred the organic look with less perfection.

MBK: This is a really good call! Ruler work, although precise, is slow. When quilting we have to weigh a lot of choices. One of those is how much time do I want to invest in this quilt? Once you have an idea about that, you can choose designs accordingly.

DH: I slowed my hands down and focused on making straight lines. And guess what?! Before long, my straight lines got a little straighter. And with that my confidence grew. 

DH: One thing I noticed is that the scale of my squares and rectangles changed noticeably between my first gray area and my last. I’ll tuck that away for future quilts:

The scale for any one motif should be consistent from one area to another.

MBK: A tip for straight patterns with corners: pause in the points. To make things like boxes look good, always pause your hands for a second at the point where you are changing direction. Set your stitch regulator in cruise mode and the machine will take a stitch right in the point making a nice sharp transition.

Consistency in motif size is what makes for nice uniform texture. If some of your motifs are large and open the quilt will poof forward in that area. And if others are small and tight the quilt will be flattened there.

An example of consistency

Let’s say you are doing an all-over meander on a quilt. The spaces in a meander are kind of circular. Notice the red circles placed in the spaces.

adventures in longarm stipple

When I quilt a meander or stipple (name depends on size) I like to think of a round object that I know the size of, like a pea or a quarter or a golf ball. I keep that image in my brain while I quilt. I imagine going around those oranges with my quilting lines. This does 2 things for me.

1. It keeps my meander consistent so that I get uniform texture.

2. It keeps my meander nice and round and I like a nice round meander.

Here’s what happens: you start out quilting a orange sized meander on a quick project and you get bored or in a hurry. The next thing you know your meander is basketball sized! This won’t happen if you keep picturing an orange in your mind’s eye.

This trick works for other shapes as well, like squares! Think dice or diamond ring boxes. 🙂

I hope you are enjoying following Diane’s adventures in learning to longarm quilt along with tips and tricks to help her improve. What have you struggled with? Let me know in the comments.

by Mary Beth Krapil and Diane Harris

 

 

2020-07-03T09:46:25-06:00July 4th, 2020|Categories: Capri, Education, quilting tips, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , |8 Comments
Read More
Copyright ©2021 Handi Quilter | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy
FacebookInstagramPinterestYouTube
Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top