Stitches per minute

Getting a nice line of stitching requires a certain amount of speed. 

Professional long arm quilting machines are designed for higher speeds to create those beautiful lines of stitching.  Speed puts stress on thread.

So machine quilters using long arms need threads that can cope with high speeds. Lets look at stitches per minute and compare stitch speed across a range of popular quilting machines.

APQS long arm machines can go  up to 3500 stitches per minute

Gammill long arms can so up to 2700 stitches per minute

JUKI's new QVP  goes 2200 stitches per minute.

Innova 22 inch long arm goes 2000 stitches per minute

Avante HandiQuilter runs up to 1800 stitches per minute

JUKI TL98P semi-industrial straight stitch  1500 stitches per minute

JUKI TLQVP Mini semi-industrial straight stitch 1500 stitches per minute

Bernina 820 goes 1100 stitches per minute

Janome Horizon goes 1000 stitches per minute

Most domestic sewing machines go just under 1000 stitches per minute. That's NOT very fast. Most threads will run fine in sewing machine limited to or near the  1000 stitches per minute mark. Even though they have a longer arm the Bernina 820 and Janome Horizon fall into this group. 

Feathers created with 1500 stitch per minute JUKI TL98P

Once you move up to 1500 stitches per minute you need better quality thread. I discovered this when I upgraded from a much beloved old Bernina to the JUKI TL98P. I had all sorts of tension problems and thread breakage.That's when I discovered Superior Threads designed for long arm quilting. The large cross wound cones come in lots of ranges. Some long arms are pickier than others where threads are concerned. If you're having thread problems with your long arm ring me for a consult. Machine Quilter has been selling thread to long arm quilters here in the UK for 10 years. We can help you choose the ideal thread for your machine quilter whatever the speed. 

Ring or email Martha at Machine Quilter for advice about which threads to use with your sewing machine.

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

01526 553366

Magnifico from Superior Threads Perfect for machine quilting

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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Fantastico Real Thread Cards

Fantastico Real Thread Card Booklet now in stock

Great News!! The Fantastico Thread Card Booklet is now in stock. Fantastico is my favourite machine quilting thread.I love the gorgeous variegated colours and I love how the threads runs so beautifully through my high speed sewing machine and creates a beautiful line of stitching. The real thread booklet means that you can accurately match thread to fabric and order confidently from the comfort of home.

Fantastico has tensile strength which means that its perfect for machine quilting. It's happy to go at high speeds without shredding or breaking. Fantastico is one of the newest ranges from Superior Threads. There are lots of lovely new colour combinations that I can't wait to try!

I'm putting my Superior Threads order through in the next day or so. So phone or email your orders as soon as you can.

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

01526 378057 or 01526 378551

Long Arm Threads

Horses for courses comes to mind when I think about long arm threads. While all long arms share certain attributes, like longer and taller throat space, they each have their own idiosyncratic ways of working. To put it simply, different log arm machines like different threads. 

Today I'm going to focus on Gammill long arms. The name Gammill is a long arm icon. It's certainly the first name that comes to mind when I think about long arm quilting machines. Gammill machines come in a variety of sizes and speeds, but for the most part Gammills stitch at high speeds and are factory set to a relatively high tension. The higher speed and the higher tension setting make certain kinds of demands on the thread. It needs to be STRONG.

Gammills love King Tut! I have professional long arm customers who order hundreds of cones of King Tut every year. King Tut is 100% extra-long-staple really-grown-in-Egypt cotton. Gammill long arm quilters love King Tut because it's strong so it can handle the higher Gammill tension without breaking. Their customers love it because it's gorgeous!

King Tut creates a beautiful bold matt line of stitching and comes in variegated, tone-on-tone and plain colours. Some Gammill quilters even use King Tut in the bobbin as well as that helps to balance the top and bottom tension and it makes the quilt-back beautiful too.

Other machine quilters love King Tut, especially if they're keen on cotton. Thread that's designed to cope with the demands of professional long arm machines works beautifully in ordinary domestic machines where the speed and the tension are not such an issue.

Right now our MachineQuilter Shop has hundreds of King Tut cones in stock. And ALL our in-stock cones are on SALE while stocks last.

King Tut 2000 yd. cross-wound cones

ideal for machine quilting

 normally £18.95 on SALE for £15.95

p.s. 

Gammills also love So Fine #50. So Fine! is a polyester thread that's etched to look like cotton. So Fine comes in plain colours  and has the reputation of being 'THE most trouble-free thread!' It works great as a blender on top and also works well as a Bobbon thread when King Tut is on top. So Fine #50 £13.95 for a 3,280 yard cone.

OMNI works beautifully on Gammill machines too. This strong poly-core thread can be used both on top and in the bobbin. I really like the pure clean colours in the OMNI range. If you're looking for value for your money OMNI is the thread for you. ONMI by Superior Threads  £11.99 for a 6,000 yard cone

Glow in the Dark

Nitelite Glow in the Dark thread from Superior Threads

Glow in the dark thread is the perfect antidote for bleak mid-winter dark nights. 

When our kids were small, the quilted glow-in-the-dark stars made bedtimes fun.

This pattern was created with white NiteLite Extra Glow from Superior Threads on black fabric loaded on a New English Quilter frame using a JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine. We found that layering the thread by stitching over the lines a few times made a bolder line of glowing stitches.

My son's girlfriend Jade, is using the thread for an art project for her University course. 

Jade wanted to show the process of 'drawing the design' on fabric with a sewing machine on a quilting frame.

Jade using the Juki TL98P to draw designs with NiteLite ExtraGlow thread

Her tutors have been mystified by how Jade has been completing her textile art projects.

We used a black light to get a good effect for the video images.

These still shots are fun too. I'll post the little video clip as soon as Jade edits it together.

NiteLite Extra Glow threads come in500 yd cross-wound mini cones for £14.95

We have white and pale blue mini cones in stock

NiteLite Extra Glow from Superior Threads available here in the UK from MachineQuilter

and one 80 yd spool of pink extra glow for £4.95.






NiteLite ExtraGlow is happy to go at high speeds on long arm quilting machines.

The cross-wound mini cones are ideal for machine quilting on and off a frame.

To order call or email Martha

01526 378551 or 01526 378057

martha@machinequilter.co.uk