We've moved!

Machine Quilter has moved to Kirton Holme near BOSTON.
Our New address is:

Woodstock
Holme Road
Kirton Holme
BOSTON
PE20 1 SY

We're still in Lincolnshire, just a little bit more in the back of beyond. After 17 years of living near Woodhall Spa, in Martin, we moved to be closer to Stephen's work in Holbeach. We love our new house! It has been fun getting settled. There is lots still to do but we are glad to finally be here.

Kirton Holme is just off the A 52 as you're heading towards Boston. Our house is a bit of a secret house. It's tucked away between a couple of older houses. People following their Sat Nav's have had some trouble finding us, so it would be good to check a map before you visit us.

Our drive way is directly opposite this bright red phone booth. We look forward to meeting you here for workshops and demonstrations.You can always ring us if you need any help finding the new place. We'll come out and wave you in.

 Our telephone number is:

01526 553366

and our email remains the same: 

martha@machinequilter.co.uk

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!" 

Long Arm Fun at the Festival

Emily Milne and George Franklin setting up the JUKI QVP 2200

 The Festival of Quilts 2015 was our best ever! We had a brilliant stand this year with lots of room for our new JUKI QVP2200 machines. Emily and George were the JUKI QVP2200 team. QVP stand for Quilt Virtuoso Pro. This is the 'papa bear' of quilting machines with an 18 X 10 inch throat that glides at 2200 stitches per minute.

Emily demonstrated all the really cool features and George kept it running smoothly. Here George is playing with this awesome software that enables the machine to copy designs hand drawn on the tablet.

For the gals lucky enough to have purchased one of these machines, George will come with the Juki QVP 2200 and get it set up and running smoothly for you too. One of the customers asked George how long he would stay? And George replied "I'll stay until you're happy." It doesn't get better than that! The Franklin's Group are the UK Juki distributors.  We believe that any machine is only as good as the service behind it. It's great to know that this amazing machine has amazing back up too.

Behind the scenes at the Festival of Quilts 2015

After a long drive and several coffees, we're finally setting up our stand for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. We're really excited to be here, and we hope you can make it too!

We're here with Juki Sewing Machines (stand A55 in case you wondered), and we're going through the long process of putting together our stand. We thought we'd give you a behind the scenes look at our set-up...

Normally we put up the quilts ourselves, but this year Juki brought along Liv. Liv is a window dresser, and she's absolutely fantastic. She's working wonders with our stand. Here's a sneaky peak:

Liv is into making displays 3D - so fun!

Coming together. Slowly...

Juki have got some snazzy new headers this year too - we think they look great! Here's a first look:

Shiny and new!

Emily's Thread Painting is also on display. I just looooove the colours in this. Mmmmm... The threads she used are Superior Threads, which are also on sale at our stand!

Close up of Emily's gorgeous thread painting 

We're also hosting a social media giveaway at the show - you can take part while you're here! 

Come take a selfie at our stand for a chance to win a machine quilting DVD!

Festival Frenzy: Five days 'till the Festival of Quilts

5 days to go! We can't wait to see you. You can find us at stand A55 we're listed in the catalogue under 'J' for Juki. Come test drive one of the Juki Sewing Machines on our Machine Quilter frames. We've got a great selection of Superior Threads for you to browse, try and buy too.

To celebrate the Show we're hosting a social media give-away. We even made snazzy banners.

Sneaky peak of our banner for the show! 

Here's the bottom line...

Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest, and like us on Facebook while you're at the show for a free Bottom Line pre-wound bobbin! All you need is your smartphone or tablet and you can follow all our social media directly whilst at the show by just scanning the QR links on our banner.

Another sneak peak of the banner.

Get #FramedAtTheFestival!

Here's another giveaway: post a selfie of you with our frame to Instgram with the hashtag #FramedAtTheFestival for your chance to win one of our La Mer Machine Quilting DVDs. Tag @machinequilter, and you'll be entered into a draw. We'll announce the lucky winner after the show!

See you soon!

Sewing Machine Adultery

I've just been reading some sewing machine reviews by Rebecca Lynne. This gal has a great blog and a real knack for reviewing. She calls her reviews "Sewing Machine Adultery". I like her style. I found the reviews really helpful and I liked the comments from other people too.

So today I'm suggesting that you visit Rebecca Lynne's blog and see what she has to say about the Juki. Rebecca Lynne lives in America and the Juki 2010Q that she mentions is very similar to the Juki TL98P that we have available here in the UK.

Juki TL98P perfect for machine quilting on our New English Quilter frames

I love my Juki! I have a TL98P that I use for machine quilting on a frame. It has all the features that I need and it's not cluttered with loads of features that I don't need.

There's plenty of room for the fabric pole under the arm of this Juki TL98P

• Space - the arm is longer and TALLER. Lots of new machines are longer now, but only the Juki is taller too. On a machine quilting frame, I need the height.
• Speed - I need speed to get a flowing line of stitching. The Juki TL98P goes 1500 stitches per minute effortlessly, it purrs. 
• Simplicity - it only does a straight stitch, but it does that perfectly. Being simple it is easy to tension, easy to maintain, easy to fix.
• Strength - it's a workhorse, metal semi-industrial, built to last a lifetime.

Like a few of the gals who commented on Rebecca Lynne's review, I have 2 machines. I use the straight stitch JUKI TL98P for machine quilting on a frame and I use the Juki HZL Exceed 600 for piecing, appliqué, general sewing, mending and everything else. The cost of both of these machines together is less than many people are spending on the newer computerized sewing machines. Heck, for some of them you could throw in the cost of the frame as well and it would still cost less! These Juki machines give you value for money. Computers begin to be obsolete the minute they hit the shelves.Likewise computerized sewing machines have a built in obsolescence. These Juki machines are timeless classics built to last.

Juki HZL Exceed 600 perfect for piecing and everything else!

Franklins Group are the UK Juki Distributors. 

Give Laurence or Gary a ring. They'll answer any questions 

and let you know the JUKI sewing machine dealer nearest you.

Laurence ~ 01206 574758

Gary ~ 01245 346300

A needle pulling thread...

It's easy to forget that our piecing and quilting is all about 'a needle pulling thread!'

This GIF is brilliant for showing how a sewing machine really works. Mesmerizing! It shows so clearly just what good tension looks like and how the top and bottom threads come together to make a line of stitching. I'd like to focus on the needle. Look how the thread passes back and forth through the eye of the needle 4 times for every stitch! That's why the size of the needle's eye is so important.

The eye of the Topstitch needle is nearly twice as long as any other needle. This elongated eye allows the thread to pass easily as it moves back and forth through the eye. If the needle's eye is too small it will cause friction and shred the thread!

If you are free-motion quilting use a 100/16 Topstitch needle. If you are machine quilting on a frame use a 100/16 Topstitch needle. If you are using speciality thread like metallic use a 100/16 Topstitch needle. If you are having trouble with thread shredding change to a 100/16 Topstitch needle.

The extra large eye really helps, enabling the thread to move easily through the needle's eye as the fabric moves every-which-way for free-motion quilting. The wider and deeper groove protects the beautiful speciality threads that I love to use for machine quilting. The sharp point easily pierces through the layers of the quilt sandwich, even through bulky seams. It's easier to thread too!

Now the new titanium coating extends the working life of the needle. The ultra thin layer of titanium nitride will keep the needle sharp for 40 to 60 hours. That's a lot of quilting! It's neat that now home quilters get to enjoy the same technology that the professionals have been using for years. Thank you Superior Threads.

100/16 and 90/14 Superior Threads Titanium Topstitch needles are available here in the UK from our online Machine Quilter Shop.