Line Dancing

Fred & Ginger in Swing Time

"Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, and she did it backwards and in high heels!"

What a brilliant line! It makes me smile. It also brings to mind the second reason why I love machine quilting on a frame:

A machine quilting frame lets you draw with your needle.

I think, perhaps the coolest feature of a machine quilting frame is the carriage that rides on a set of tracks. Sit your sewing machine on this carriage and you can glide your sewing machine effortlessly every-which-way across the top of your perfectly tensioned quilt.This is the feature that you need to see to believe. No matter how much research you do ahead of time, this easy gliding of the sewing machine will astonish you. It's like magic. The carriage transforms your needle into a pen and anything you can draw, you can quilt.

Most people hate wrestling a quilt under the arm of a sewing machine, and then trying to tension the layers while drawing backwards. Trying to FMQ while sitting at the sewing machine is counter-intuitive because the needle is stationary and the quilt is moving. That's like trying to write or draw by holding the pencil still and moving the paper. No wonder so many of us find this difficult! It requires a whole new set of skills - some people seem to manage this but I never could. My stitches were jerky and uneven while my neck and shoulders just got more and more tense. Machine quilting sitting at the sewing machine was a pain in the neck!

Using a machine quilting frame changes all this. There is no wrestling the quilt under the arm of the machine. The frame perfectly tensions the layers of the quilt creating a still and steady 'canvas' for you to draw on. The easy movement of the carriage enables you to draw with your needle just the way you have been writing and doodling and drawing all your life. And since you're moving the 'pen' the way you always have, you're good at it right from the start.

I love to hear people comment when they try our frame for the first time;

"Wow! I can do this!" 

"Look at this beautiful line of stitching!"

"I just wrote my name! "

"This is so easy!" 

"I Could do this all day!"  

But don't take my word for it. Come visit us and try it for yourself. We offer free Demonstrations at our Lincolnshire studio or come and visit us at the 2017 Festival of Quilts we're at stand A46 with the JUKI guys. Some people say that free-motion-quilting is like taking a line for a walk. But with our machine quilting frame it's more like taking a line for a glide. That's why we call it 'Line Dancing!'

Perfectly Tensioned Layers

Reason Number 1: A machine quilting frame perfectly tensions the layers of your quilt so you NEVER have to baste, pin, glue or tack again. Ever! When I was machine quilting sitting at the sewing machine, I hated trying to get all the layers of the quilt sandwich to stay together, steady enough to machine quilt without shifting while I was stitching. No matter how many hours I spent on my hands and knees and no matter how many safety pins I used, it was never quite right. Despite my best efforts, there were always some rucks and wrinkles on the back.

Our Machine Quilting frames tension each layer of the quilt separately so that the quilt sandwich is perfectly tensioned without all that hassle. No more hours pinning or tacking, no clouds of asphyxiating spray glue, no money wasted on gadgets that punch price tag plastic through your quilt. No more hours of doing something I really hate! A machine quilting frame is worth every penny just for this!

Brit Flag Quilt on our frame with the JUKI TL98 straight stitch

Loading the quilt on the frame just takes 20 minutes and when I'm finished, I know the layers will be perfectly tensioned and the back of the quilt will look gorgeous when I take it off the frame, with no rucks or wrinkles - even the first time! I hated the pinning part. My Machine Quilter frame lets me skip it!  By taking care of the parts I hate, machine quilting frames let me focus on the parts that I love...that would be the quilting!



If you're still wondering just how a frame tensions the layers of a quilt sandwich have a look at these links.

• Pinning the purple pumpkin seed shows how to load 3 layers on a frame; a quilt top, the wadding or batting in the middle and the backing underneath

• This Loading Fleece tutorial featuring Rosie's Uni quilt shows how to load a quilt with 2 layers on a frame

Come see for yourself at the Festival of Quilts. Read all about us in the online Show Guide. You'll find Machine Quilter at STAND D17  right next to the Juki stand.



p.s. I just found this pie graph and I had to add it to the post. It's a response to an American quilter's survey. I'm happy to say that I'm in the blue on this one! Having a quilting frame is brilliant because I never have to baste or pin or glue. EVER! Get happy and join the blue team!

Perfectly Tensioned Layers

Reason Number 1: A machine quilting frame perfectly tensions the layers of your quilt so you NEVER have to baste, pin, glue or tack again. Ever! When I was machine quilting sitting at the sewing machine, I hated trying to get all the layers of the quilt sandwich to stay together, steady enough to machine quilt without shifting while I was stitching. No matter how many hours I spent on my hands and knees and no matter how many safety pins I used, it was never quite right. Despite my best efforts, there were always some rucks and wrinkles on the back.

Our Machine Quilting frames tension each layer of the quilt separately so that the quilt sandwich is perfectly tensioned without all that hassle. No more hours pinning or tacking, no clouds of asphyxiating spray glue, no money wasted on gadgets that punch price tag plastic through your quilt. No more hours of doing something I really hate! A machine quilting frame is worth every penny just for this!

Brit Flag Quilt on our frame with the JUKI TL98 straight stitch

Loading the quilt on the frame just takes 20 minutes and when I'm finished, I know the layers will be perfectly tensioned and the back of the quilt will look gorgeous when I take it off the frame, with no rucks or wrinkles - even the first time! I hated the pinning part. My Machine Quilter frame lets me skip it!  By taking care of the parts I hate, machine quilting frames let me focus on the parts that I love...that would be the quilting!



If you're still wondering just how a frame tensions the layers of a quilt sandwich have a look at these links.

• Pinning the purple pumpkin seed shows how to load 3 layers on a frame; a quilt top, the wadding or batting in the middle and the backing underneath

• This Loading Fleece tutorial featuring Rosie's Uni quilt shows how to load a quilt with 2 layers on a frame

Come see for yourself at the Festival of Quilts.It all makes sense in person. We're with the JUKI sewing machine guys at Stand A46.



p.s. I just found this pie graph and I had to add it to the post. It's a response to an American quilter's survey. I'm happy to say that I'm in the blue on this one! Having a quilting frame is brilliant because I never have to baste or pin or glue. EVER! Get happy and join the blue team!