Perfectly Tensioned Layers

Reason Number 1: A machine quilting frame perfectly tensions the layers of your quilt so you NEVER have to baste, pin, glue or tack again. Ever! When I was machine quilting sitting at the sewing machine, I hated trying to get all the layers of the quilt sandwich to stay together, steady enough to machine quilt without shifting while I was stitching. No matter how many hours I spent on my hands and knees and no matter how many safety pins I used, it was never quite right. Despite my best efforts, there were always some rucks and wrinkles on the back.

Our Machine Quilting frames tension each layer of the quilt separately so that the quilt sandwich is perfectly tensioned without all that hassle. No more hours pinning or tacking, no clouds of asphyxiating spray glue, no money wasted on gadgets that punch price tag plastic through your quilt. No more hours of doing something I really hate! A machine quilting frame is worth every penny just for this!

Brit Flag Quilt on our frame with the JUKI TL98 straight stitch

Loading the quilt on the frame just takes 20 minutes and when I'm finished, I know the layers will be perfectly tensioned and the back of the quilt will look gorgeous when I take it off the frame, with no rucks or wrinkles - even the first time! I hated the pinning part. My Machine Quilter frame lets me skip it!  By taking care of the parts I hate, machine quilting frames let me focus on the parts that I love...that would be the quilting!



If you're still wondering just how a frame tensions the layers of a quilt sandwich have a look at these links.

• Pinning the purple pumpkin seed shows how to load 3 layers on a frame; a quilt top, the wadding or batting in the middle and the backing underneath

• This Loading Fleece tutorial featuring Rosie's Uni quilt shows how to load a quilt with 2 layers on a frame

Come see for yourself at the Festival of Quilts.It all makes sense in person. We're with the JUKI sewing machine guys at Stand A46.



p.s. I just found this pie graph and I had to add it to the post. It's a response to an American quilter's survey. I'm happy to say that I'm in the blue on this one! Having a quilting frame is brilliant because I never have to baste or pin or glue. EVER! Get happy and join the blue team!

Saving for a Long Arm?

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Annette had been saving up for a long arm quilting machine. It was going to take a long time.  Then she stumbled across our website and realized that there was a simpler more affordable alternative. Annette already runs a business. She just wanted to quilt for fun,  for family and friends. After a look at our website, Annette ordered a copy of our Line Dancing DVD called La Mer

 Watching the DVD she realized that this was just the frame for her. Our Machine Quilter frames would be simple and quick to set up and easy to use. She'd have many of the benefits of a long arm for a fraction of the cost.

Annette ordered an 8 foot frame because she wanted the option of quilting larger bed sized quilts. She ordered the tabl Then she went to Franklin's  and ordered a JUKI TL98P and we made her a set of Nifty Grip speed control handles so she wouldn't have to kick her foot pedal across the floor. Annette was heading up to Nottingham so she decided to book a free demonstration and collect her frame the same day. It saved on the shipping cost and got her off to a good start.

After a lovely day sharing quilts and quilting designs and playing around with the JUKI on the machine quilting frame,  it was time for Annette to head back to Bristol. Fortunately, our frames are designed to be portable, so the 8 foot NEQ2 frame and JUKI Nifty Grip speed control handles fit easily into the car. Annette left a happy lady, excited to go home and get started on the new frame. She made a big savings too. Like the rest of us, she'd much rather spend the money on fabric!

Dear Martha

Last night I dreamt of bobbins …..and King Tut…. and patterns and shapes and chalkboard paint. Thank goodness it’s the weekend. I’ll be quilting on my frame in no time!

I’ve argued with myself for over a year now about WANTING versus NEEDING a long arm quilting machine and I had settled on and had started saving for a Gammill. So much money and the need for so much space combined with the calculations of how many quilts I would need to quilt commercially to make a long arm pay for itself began to erode my plans……and then I found www.machinequilter.co.uk . The perfect solution as all I really really want is to make beautiful quilts, at my leisure, for family and friends, with no pressure.

I had the most wonderful day on Wednesday. Thank you very much for all your time! I’ve learnt so much but most of all I came home with lots of new ideas like…..starting small…. lots of mini sessions….on mini quilts… trial and error borders on either side of my quilt tops….It was so inspirational to see all of your quilts. Thank you for sharing those with me.

I’ve read through the handbook you gave me. So helpful! I’ve drooled over the colour cards and put together a mega order – which I now need to pare down.  I’ve pulled out some odd fat quarters that suit some of the free Superior Threads you put in my goody bag and I’ll be piecing late into the night. I’ll send you some photos when I have something nice to show.

All in all – I’m so excited about my new toy and I’m so pleased that I met you.

I look forward to coming to one of your retreats in the future so I can build on whatever I learn between then and now. See you at the Quilt Festival in August.

Lots of love

 Annette

Bulk Buys - Big Discounts

We offer  big discounts for bulk purchases. Buy 50 cones or more and get wholesale prices.  Ideal for long arm quilters!

The discounts are a huge savings and make the best threads in the world more affordable. Anyone can take advantage of the discount. You don't have to own a shop or be a world famous teacher. It's just about the numbers! We put a new order through at least each month. We can offer advice about which sorts of threads work best with your particular long arm. We can help with tension issues too.

Email or ring to get the discounts:

martha@machinequilter.co.uk
01526 553366
     

Easter Baskets for Quilters

Wouldn't you love one of these for an Easter Basket?! Surprise your quilting friends and family with an Easter Basket full of threads and bobbins in gorgeous pastel colours. Superior Threads have so many ranges to choose from you're certain to find the perfect treat. When everyone else has finished the chocolate, these beautiful threads will still be giving months of stitching pleasure. 

 Here's an egg-cellent idea for an Easter gift. Wrap a cone or spool of thread in pretty pastel tulle and tie it with a ribbon. Little May in the photo above has a lovely cone of Kimono Silk. 

Eye candy with no calories! Hop to our shop and fill your basket!

Easter Baskets from Superior Threads - better than chocolate! 

St Patrick's Day TREAT!

Happy St Patrick's Day!
Here's a little treat to celebrate the wearing of the green. Buy any cone of thread today and get 3 free pre-wound bobbins. Buy Green thread from any of the Superior Thread ranges and get 4 pre-wound bobbins at no extra charge. We think that pre-wound bobbins are the best thing since sliced bread. If you've never tried them before, today you can try for free. 

Visit our  machinequilter website today. We've got all the colours in the rainbow to choose from!




Find our more about pre-wound bobbins here.

Tulle skirts: a tulle-torial!

Here's Emily making a pink tulle skirt with little May, Annie and Teresa

Making a tulle skirt couldn't be simpler! For this project we used the Tulle Circle Skirt DIY instructions found on A Beautiful Mess blog post - it has very clear pictures, which is a must for any good tutorial! We used So Fine #50 for stitching the skirts with Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin. While making the skirts was fairly easy, I did find that it got even easier when I kept the following in mind:

• When cutting out the tulle, make sure you're using your sharpest scissors! You want the lines to be clean and smooth, not jagged.
• When you cut out your elastic, always make it an inch shorter than the waist size you want. The elastic stretches, and the tulle doesn't, so if you need to slip the skirt over your hips to your waist, make sure there's some give!
• Before sewing the elastic onto the layers of tulle, I found it helpful to actually sew the layers together, rather than just pinning them. This way, you know that all the layers are together, and you won't have to unpick if you accidentally miss a layer while sewing the elastic on. 
• Really pull the elastic taut while you are stitching the tulle to it! 
• SoFine! #50 with Bottom Line in the bobbin is the perfect combination for clothing projects! 

Little May was so curious! She loved watching the sewing machine!

We used a serger, and the new Superior Threads line Sergin' General, to make the linings for the tulle skirts.

The Sergin' General blended beautifully and  gave a professional finish to the skirts.

Sergin' General is a Poly-wrapped poly core thread  specifically designed for Serging or overlocking. It's the cleanest serger/overlocker thread available with excellent strength and elongation for smooth stitches with less puckering. Sergin' General is available in 50 solid colours specifically chosen for their blending tones so you can easily find a perfect match. It's wound on convenient, 3,000 yd. cones and will fit on your serger/overlocker comfortably. 

Sergin' General is now available here in the UK from Machine Quilter. Use the American site as a shop window and email Martha with your order. 

Hearts and Loops

My twin sister is a grandmother! I'm not sure who is more cute the baby Ruby or my sister Peggy. I made my sister a baby quilt when her first child was born and when he had his first child, of course I had to make another.

Peggy likes bright fabrics so this little quilt comes from all my bright kiddie scraps and it's quilted with hearts and loops. As little Ruby gets bigger she'll be able to play "I spy with my little eye" with the quilt and look for doggies, and icecream cones, flowers and strawberries, lightning bugs, lady bugs and butterflies. I hope they'll have hours of fun together. 

There's a gorgeous red heart flannel on the back which makes the whole quilt soft and cosy. 

Here's the quilt loaded on our 6 foot New English Quilter frame.

I'm using a JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine because it's got the space under the arm and the 1500 stitches-per-minute speed I need to get a lovely flowing line of stitching.

I'm using a pretty pink variegated thread from Superior Threads' Fantastico range called Giggles and I've used bright red Bottom Line pre-wounds in the bobbin so it will blend in to the backing flannel.


I just love how this lovely light reflecting tri-lobal polyester thread runs through my machine without any trouble, even at high speeds through multiple layers. This thread is cross-wound on a large cone perfect for long arm quilters and any machine quilting. 

Here's a detail of the hearts and loops quilting design.

And here's another. Even though this is a simple basic design I still use it as an all over pattern. 

It works so well on children's quilts. The hearts and loops design covers lots of ground quickly 

and lets people know that you love them too.

Here I am sewing on the binding on a visit home to America 

with my brother I'd not seen in 22 years!! 

I'm so happy to get to spend time with Pat and Peggy!

I'm using the bright red Bottom Line to hand stitch the binding. 

This fine thread blends in perfectly and it doesn't knot!