Trial Run

I tried the Nifty-Grips prototype last night. They're brilliant! This set has been designed to replace the foot pedal on my JUKI TL98 P. Here's a photo of Nifty-Grips attached to my New English Quilter frame. Being right handed, I've attached the Grips to the left of my carriage - this allows me to see the needle clearly.

I've asked my daughter to hold up the Handi-Handles so you can see them side by side. The Grips are much smaller than the Handles. But perhaps the biggest difference is the placement of your hands. The Handles were gripped from the side and pushed forwards towards the machine. But with Nifty-Grips your hands fall naturally downward with arms extended from the elbows at waist level. They've been ergonomically designed to provide a natural resting place for your hands.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I managed without Handi-Handles for a couple of years. So when I did finally get them I kept on holding the machine instead of the Handles because I felt like I had better control. Also I'm tall - 5'7" and I found the handles just too low to be comfortable. So I did really appreciate the speed control but didn't use the actual handles.

The grips feel different, natural to hold, easy to guide because I am in complete control. I don't need to take my hands off the grips to alter the speed. I can reach the speed control and on off buttons with my thumbs.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that the prototype was finished in time for the DVD filming today. We should have grips ready for JUKI and Janome sewing machines in time for the Festival of Quilts this August. Nifty Grips for other sewing machines will follow soon.

Nifty-Grips ~ Coming Soon!

I'll get to the flamingo in a minute. I began machine quilting in earnest back in 2003. I spent my first couple of years, with a 30 year old school's Bernina on a SuperQuilter frame, kicking the foot pedal across the floor. I never really stood on one foot, I always kept my weight on my heel and operated the foot pedal from the side with my toes. This helped me to keep my balance. Not ideal exactly, but you have to start somewhere.

A few years later, we introduced the New English Quilter and I upgraded to a JUKI TL98 P and purchased this gadget called Handi-Handles. These handles replaced the foot pedal with a hand guided speed control dial. I found it so much easier to work from my center rather than have my foot doing one thing while my hands did something else. This meant that I didn't have to kick the foot pedal across the floor anymore. Now that I'm used to a hand guided speed control I could never go back.

Unfortunately, the Handi-Handles company ceased trading last December. This created a real problem for machinequilters using table top frames. To fill the gap, we've created a new UK version called Nifty-Grips. We'll be introducing Nifty-Grips at the Festival of Quilts this August. You can visit us at stand B7 and try them out. We didn't want to leave you standing on one foot!