Happy Customer

Lesley and Ian came up for a free demo a few weeks ago. 

Lesley decided to take the plunge and purchase her very own 6 foot New English Quilter frame. 

She ordered a 6 foot table too so we could custom the table legs  to get it to just the right height for Lesley to quilt in comfort. Using a quilting frame means that Lesley will never have to baste, pin or tack a quilt together ever again! The frame holds each layer of the quilt sandwich steady and perfectly tensioned.
Lesley also purchased a new JUKI TL98P lockstitch sewing machine and a set of Nifty Grip speed control handles to replace the foot pedal.

Now lesley can glide the sewing machine over the top of her quilt effortlessly creating beautiful and bold lines of stitching. The speed control Nifty Grip handles are ergonomically designed so that guiding the machine is comfortable and puts no stress on Lesley's neck or back.

Lesley and Ian came up on Monday to collect her New English Quilter Frame, 6 foot purpose built table and Nifty Grip speed control handles. She brought her new Juki TL98P sewing machine that she'd purchased from Franklin's so that we could get it tensioned and running smoothly. We give a free workshop to customers who choose to collect their frames. Our free workshop gives Lesley the chance to run the new sewing machine through its paces and get advice and tips for getting started. When Lesley and Ian went home they were able to get the frame up and running in no time.

Lesley emailed today to say;

"I’m having such fun. 

I love my frame
 it's fantabulous!!!!!!"

Lesley is delighted to have the benefits of a long arm for the fraction of the cost. She's happy that the frame just the right size to easily fit into her car and her sewing room. 

All the after sales support from the Machine Quilter team means that Lesley will have the help she needs to become a fluent machine quilter in the weeks and months to come.

Lesley's husband Ian, just emailed me this photo of Lesley's very first 'play' on her 6 foot NEQ frame. It's such a good idea to begin with some scrap fabric and launch into some playful line designs. Well done Lesley. A brilliant beginning!

Lesley's very first play on her new frame

Brenda for Project Linus

Brenda Pack Project Linus Lincolnshire with Fantastico thread cones

Meet Brenda Pack. As the Project Linus coordinator for Lincolnshire, Brenda keeps busy quilting the many tops that come to Project Linus. Project Linus is a charity providing quilts for all sorts of children from babies to teenagers. Many people send in tops and quilting groups across the country meet up to sandwich the tops with fleece or backing and wadding and then sew on the binding. The completed quilts are passed on to all sorts of children who need the bit of the comfort that home-made quilts can give.

Brenda uses a SuperQuilter frame and a JUKI TL98P sewing machine

To keep up with the project Brenda uses a machine quilting frame and a JUKI TL98P semi-industrial straight stitch sewing machine. You can see the Nifty Grip speed control handles that Brenda uses instead of the foot pedal. The 1500 stitches-per-minute and the extra height and width under the arm help Brenda to finish many quilts quickly. The stack of tops at the front of the photo are waiting to be quilted and the stack at the back are already completed!

a recent project under the arm of the Juki TL98P 

Brenda finds that the right threads make a big difference too. The variegated Fantastico cones from Superior Threads are ideal for Project Linus Quilts. Brenda likes to use the Fantastico on top and Bottom Line in the bobbin. Together these threads give a lovely and strong finish to the quilts. Brenda said:

" I bought my JUKI TL98P lockstitch sewing machine in January and went on your January retreat, since then I have quilted 52 tops using one cone of Bottom Line in silver which I used on all the quilts." 

Impressive! Brenda lives close enough to pop round and choose threads whenever she needs some new colours. If you live further away, the new Fantastico thread booklet just out at Machine Quilter   will make it easy to order all the new variegated colour-ways from the Fantastico range. So NEW it's not yet on the site. You can email or ring Martha with your order.

Project Linus UK has a Facebook page. Follow the link to see how you can join the project.

Summers by the Sea

mom is 2nd from the right - she has great legs!

I love this photo of my mom! This was a shot of mom and her friends when they were at the University of Maryland back in the early 50's. The other special person in the photo is my Auntie, my mom's best friend and my namesake. Auntie is 2nd from the left. My mom and Auntie have stayed friends all these years. When we were little we used to visit my Auntie's houseboat in Ocean City, Maryland for our summer vacations. All those summers by the sea inspired a series of art quilts and I sent one to my mom for her birthday. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

sewing the binding with OMNI thread

JUKI HZL Exceed 600 the box feed makes binding a breeze

stripy binding for the Summers by the Sea art quilt

machine quilting detail

following the fabric lines

all rolled for the tube - no creases : )

Summers by the Sea - overview

Summers by the Sea

machine quilted by Martha and Emily Milne

on a 6 foot New English Quilter frame

with a JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine

and Nifty Grip speed control handles.

All together giving the movement of a long arm

for a fraction of the cost.

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

12th night

I'm always a bit nostalgic the last day of Christmas. Today is take-down-the-Christmas-tree day for us.I need to play loud jolly music to keep me cheerful. Once it's all down and packed away our house looks ready for a new adventure. With the big kids headed back to jobs and University and the little guys back in school I'm keen to get back to quilting!

Whether you're looking for brights or neutrals, we have a great selection of Superior Threads in stock for your 2015 projects.

Visit our website or

ring Martha for a chat

 01526 378551 or 01526 378057

Rosie helping to take down the tree

Perfect timing

Look who got a new quilt for Christmas! Tricia gave her great-grandson Finnley this gorgeous quilt! Don't they look great together?

Tricia machine quilting Finnley's quilt on the 6 foot New English Quilter

Tricia machine quilted Finnley's quilt in a couple of hours on his due date. Finnley's parents wanted to surprise the family so Tricia wasn't exactly sure what colours to choose. But I think this fresh modern green and white was a good choice.  

It was the very first time that Tricia machine quilted on a frame. Our New English Quilter frames make finishing your project fast and fun. Isn't it nice when a plan comes together!

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

SuperQuilter Spares

my schoolhouse quilt on the SuperQuilter frame

Martha at the 2004 Festival of Quilts

The SuperQuilter was my very first machine quilting frame. 

My mom gave it to me for a Christmas present in 2002 and I began selling them here in the UK in the summer of 2003.

 So when I found the old box of spare parts I felt all nostalgic remembering quilting my schoolhouse quilt 

and the early shows at the Festival of Quilts and little Emily machine quilting her first stack and wack Daisiez Quilt!

little Emily machine quilting her first quilt!and  Emily's first try quilting her Daizez quilt. 

Here are some photos of the SuperQuilter spare parts available to purchase:

SQ carriages top and bottom

• Top carriages £10 each (2 available)
• Bottom carriages £10 each (3 available)

SQ right hand side arms

• 3 ratchet end side pieces £5 each (2 sold 1 remaining)
• 3 non-ratchet end side pieces £5.00 each

6 replacement wheels for the carriages

• 4 carriage wheels £5.00

replacement levers for the side arms

• 5 ratchet engagers complete with screw fixings £1.00 each (4 sold 1 available)

set of 3 extension bars for the fabric bars

• set of 3 extension bars for changing 6 foot to 8 foot bars £5.00 (1 set available)

upright side standing pieces

• side piece uprights including non ratchet end side arms £25 each (1 sold 2 available) This is probably the easiest part to break and well worth a spare!

3 ratchet end pieces, 3 non ratchet end pieces and 6 pins

• bag containing 3 ratchet end pieces, 3 non-ratchet end pieces and 6 pins £5.00 (2 sold 2 available)

4 black knobs

• black knobs £1.00 each (4 sold zero available)

Prices do not include shipping. If you like any of these give me a call:

01526 378551

or email: martha@machinequilter.co.uk

When they're gone 

they're gone!

Learning Together

Tricia in Martha's studio

Tricia was expecting her great grand child and so of course she made a quilt.  When Tricia came to visit, the baby was due any minute.

Tricia quilting loop-de-loops

Since we were on a tight schedule we decided to work together.

Tricia, although an experienced stitcher and avid piecer, had never used a machine quilting frame before, so we decided to go for a simple loop-de-loop pattern.

Tricia learning to nestle one line of stitching into the previous line

The loopy pattern is perfect for a beginning machine quilter. The circles help you to move, every-which-way across your available space. 

Loops are a fun pattern and easy to create a bold and flowing line of stitching.

Tricia loves hearts but was not quite confident enough to quilt them on a gift quilt. So we decided to quilt it together. 

loops and hearts quilting detail

Tricia quilted a line of loops. then I quilted a line of loops and hearts.

Then Tricia quilted another line of loops. And so on. It was great fun learning to nestle the lines of quilting into each other.

Tricia withthe finished quilt hot off the frame

And it turned out just great! I think that the binding and the baby came at around the same time.

Here's a close up of the machine quilting. Bear in mind that this was the very first time that Tricia machine quilted on a frame.

Now notice the bold and beautiful line of loops that Tricia quilted.

It is just as flowing as the line of loops and hearts that I did. Well done Tricia!!

We used the 6 foot New English Quilter, with the Juki TL98P sewing machine and Superior Threads.

We used a silver Magnifico on Top and a silver Bottom Line underneath. The silver threads created a lovely subtle texture on this fresh modern style baby quilt.





The right tools make machine quilting fast and fun. What a fantastic little quilt! ... And look who's arrived!

Tricia's new baby great-grandson

baby Finnley

There is nothing quite so beautiful as a sleeping baby! Congratulations Tricia! And here baby Finnley is on this new quilt.

Baby Finnley on his new quilt

Rosie's Uni Quilt

Rosie is off to the University of Edinburgh to study architecture. So of course she needed a quilt. We decided on a limited palette of pinks and reds with ivory, black and grey and used themed fabrics that had memories of home and recent travels; cats, pianos, Eiffel towers and roses, of course.

some of Rosie's favourite things

Sinking the squares into a grey background made the pink seem all grown up and just perfect for a Uni quilt.

adding the final borders with my JUKI HZL Exceed 600

piecing with a silver OMNI on top

joining the fleece backing with a zig-zag stitch

Auditioning the quilting thread

We chose the steel grey So Fine in the end. Rosie wanted a thread that would disappear into the borders. The #408 Silver So Fine has a subtle matt finish and worked perfectly. It went through the whole quilt without any trouble. We used Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin in an ivory colour that would disappear into the fleece backing.

we used Emily's swirly feather pattern

The So Fine thread ended up creating great texture without drawing too much attention to itself which fit in well with the fresh modern feel of the quilt.

Rosie's quilt loaded on the 8 foot New English Quilter frame & JUKI TL98P

Since we only started the quilt the week before Rosie had to go, we needed to keep the piecing simple. We were inspired by this quilt made by Kelly Finster for her friend Laura. Rosie had a look through my pinterest boards and chose this quilt. Kelly and Laura became friends at the start of University. So it seemed a very fitting choice!

Kelley Finster's quilt for her Uni friend Laura

Rosie's quilt was a 6 day wonder! I finished the piecing on Wednesday and loaded it on the 8 foot New English Quilter frame, Emily and I completed the quilting on Thursday evening and I stitched the binding Friday, just in time for our trip up to Edinburgh on Saturday. It's wonderful how the right kind of tools enable us to complete a quilt beautifully and quickly.

I love how the thread played out

Rosie chose a stripy fabric for the binding