The Big 5

We're busy getting ready for the Festival of Quilts. We love the show! The fun of preparations, ordering the threads and completing the display quilts, the buzz when we get there on the Wednesday and greet the familiar faces of the other stall holders and show staff. Then it's all go as we unload the car, find the stand and set up the frames and hang up the quilts and arrange the threads. Everyone all around us is busy creating order from all the jolly chaos as one by one the stands are finished and the Festival of Quilts gets ready to open the doors for yet another year. There's nothing quite like it. 

Suddenly it's Thursday morning and the bell rings and thousands of people pour into the Halls to participate in the biggest Quilt Show in Europe. From the minute the doors open on Thursday morning until the Show closes on Sunday afternoon, we at Machine Quilter are busy answering two big questions:

"What's so great about machine quilting on a frame?"  

"How do our Machine Quilter frames and JUKI sewing machines give you more value for your money?"

Bob Purcell, Paul Hayes and Martha Milne

We've been demonstrating machine quilting frames ever since the very first Festival of Quilts in the summer of 2003. Sixteen years of personal experience and the responses of  thousands of people trying a frame for the first time, all  boils down to 5 reasons.

Five Reasons Why machine quilting on a frame is so great!

Come and test drive the NEW JUKI on our frame

You can read all about it in the next few posts.

Better yet, come visit our stand listed under
 Machine Quilter Company D17 and test drive it yourself!

Inferior Threads

There is a secret ingredient that makes all these frames work,  The secret ingredient is thread! Thread that is actually designed for machine quilting at high speeds.

The JUKI QVP2200 long arm goes 2200 stitches-per-minute.
The Handi-Quilter Avante goes 1800 stitches-per-minute
The NEW JUKI TL QVP Mini that we use on our smaller machine quilting frames goes 1500 stitches-per-minute
Most ordinary domestic sewing machines go almost 1000 stitches-per-minute.

Many machine quilters really struggle with thread breaking and shredding. Often it comes down to the thread. People are using inferior thread. The high speeds of long arm quilting machines put a lot of stress on the thread. Poor quality thread will shred and break at higher speeds. Inferior threads are fine for slower domestic machines. But fast machines like long and mid arm quilting machines need Superior Threads.

Superior Threads are designed to flow smoothly through your long and mid-arm quilting machines without shredding or breaking whether you're stitching at 2200 stitches-per-minute or almost 1000. Using the right needle is important too.

This year at the 2015 Festival of Quilts our long arm and mid-arm machines were all threaded with various ranges from Superior Threads. We especially like the Magnifico and Fantastico light reflecting tri-lobal polyester threads because they are beautiful AND strong. Designed for long-arm quilting machines, they are happy to stitch at high speeds without shredding or breaking. This makes for happy quilters with less down time.

Our cat Tipsy thinks that this cone of Fantastico is a purrfect match!

 Fantastico comes in variegated colours with a one inch colour change. This creates gorgeous layers of stitching where the colours are evenly spread out through out your quilt.

Fantastico is available on 2,000 yd cones here in the UK from Machine Quilter for £13.45

Magnifico comes in plain colours on 3,000 yd cones for £9.95. That's a lot of joy for under a tenner!

This quilt used 2 different cones of Fantastico; # 5024 and #5025 to match the flowers in the border fabric.

Don't forget the BACK!

Here's the quilt back. Isn't the texture lovely! We used Bottom Line pre-wounds #607 Light Purple for the back. Also available here in the UK from Machine Quilter.


Finally, here's the finished quilt on show at our stand at the Festival of Quilts 2015. It's looking lovely with the back peeking through in the bottom right hand corner. We kept the piecing simple to show that gorgeous quilting is all about the threads.
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Our NEQ frame is 'just right'!

Emily on the QVP and Ellie in the background on the New English Quilter frame

Long arms are WOW! But many people just don't have the space. That's where our New English Quilter frames come into their own. These smaller more affordable frames are an American idea that has been adapted to fit into our smaller English and European homes.

Ellie demonstrating on the 6 foot New English Quilter frame with the Juki TL98P

These versatile frames clamp to any table. The frame perfectly tensions each layer of the quilt so you'll never have to baste, pin, tack, or glue. Your sewing machine sits on a set of carriages that ride on tracks. This ingenious frame allows your sewing machine to glide effortlessly across the top of your quilt. Just like a long arm but for a fraction of the cost.

People are so surprised the first time they see it! And often a bit reluctant to have a try. But we really encourage people to  give it a go so that they can feel the easy movement of the sewing machine.

Here's a shot of Ellie showing how to guide the sewing machine with the ergonomic speed control Nifty Grip handles

And here's our visiting quilter giving the JUKI TL98P a 'test drive' on our New English Quilter frame. She's surprised at how easily the sewing machine glides and happy that she tried something new at the Festival. It really does move "like magic!" 

We do Birthdays!

OMNI thread cones all wrapped up

Superior Threads make great Birthday presents. 

And if you like, we'll wrap them 

up pretty for you so they're all ready to give to your quilt loving

friends and family. 

 This customer wanted OMNI cones for his mum. 

OMNI cones hold 6,000yds of thread for £11.99

That's lots of happy quilting! 

Superior Threads 
come in many ranges, 

in all sorts of luscious fibres, 

all designed with the machine quilter in mind. 

You can browse through our UK collection here.  

If you'd like us to wrap them for you, send us an email. 

Superior Threads ~ a present that keeps on giving!

P.S. we do Christmas too!

Eureka Moments

New English Quilter frame on the Franklins Stand at the Festival

Another great show has come and gone. As the dust settles we are tired but happy to have shared our machine quilting passion with thousands of people. It's a perfect chance to find the machine quilting frame that's the 'right fit' for each persons space and pockets.

Ikuko, Clarissa and Martha at the JUKI stand Festival of Quilts 2014

After making the rounds, many people are surprised to find our New English Quilter frames. People appreciate the simplicity of design and the freedom of movement. They especially like the variety of sizes to fit in a variety of homes, not to mention the affordable pricing!

feeling the movement on the Art Quilter frame for the first time

During our demonstrations there are 

three 'Eureka' moments. 

The first is when we persuade people to actually move the sewing machine. People are often shy and hesitate to touch the machine. But when they do, they're astonished by the freedom of movement. It's like magic - so easy and effortless!

Martha demonstrating the New English Quilter frames

The second Eureka moment is when they realize that they will never need to baste pin or tack again, ever! Each layer of the quilt is tensioned separately so there are never any rucks or wrinkles, even on the back. The frame creates a perfectly tensioned surface all steady and ready for you to draw with the needle.

The third Eureka moment is when we take the frame apart. Most people say, "No, don't bother to take it apart!" And we say, "It's no bother, it just takes a minute." We lift the fabric poles out, take off the sewing machine, lift of the carriages, unclamp the side arms and lift off the tracks. Suddenly the penny drops and people realize that it really is just that easy!

Rosie showing how the 6 foot frame comes together

We do this hundreds of times every day of the show and quilters discover that our New English Quilter frames offer the same freedom of movement as the long arms for a fraction of the cost. Our frames are designed to easily fit into your car and your homes.  It's exciting to find that free motion quilting can be fast, fun and affordable too.

Rosie and Martha taking the Art Quilter frame apart - it's so easy!

March Petwood Retreat

Jackie, Cathy and Diane looking at Juliet's quilt top

One of my favourite parts of our Machine Quilting Retreats are the afternoon sessions when we audition threads on the various quilt tops that the participants bring. It is inspiring for everyone to see the quilts.  It's fun to try out lots of different threads and to collaborate about how to quilt it .

Juliet with her Kaffe quilt

As you can see from the photos below
everyone learns from everyone else!

Cathy watching Jackie doodle a new design

Diane considering which thread and pattern to use

Cathy showing Juliet just how she arranged the blocks

Joy mastered a new line design!

Juliet making butterflies

a 'peicing detail' on Juliet's granddaughter's quilt

We all fell in love with this pieced pattern. I want to do a version where I add machine quilted details on the faces and clothes.