Straight Line Quilting

Straight line quilting on Izzy's quilt by Tina M at cruzio dot com

Last weekend, was my first visit to Ally Pally in about 10 years. I was expecting to see lots of knitters and embroiderers so we brought our 4 foot Art Quilter frame that sets up like an easel. We thought that the free motion embroiderers would love it. They did. What surprised me was that so many modern quilters were interested in our larger 6, 8 and 10 foot New English Quilter frames. 

Modern quilters are essentially no fuss minimalists. They like to use solid fabrics, improvisational piecing and asymmetric takes on traditional blocks. They often use straight line quilting that can be done on a home sewing machine. Tina at the Little Blue Cottage  whipped up the beauty at the top of the page for her daughter Izzy. She won a Judges Choice Award for this piece below. Both are brilliant examples of straight line quilting.

Adrift by Tina Michalik March 2013 Judges Choice Award at QuiltCon

Straight line quilting has some excellent features. It gets people out of stitching in the ditch! Stitching over the pieced lines creates an overall pattern that holds the quilt together visually. I do like the fresh and clean look.

Tina described this straight line method as "paying homage to the walking foot" and "not for the faint hearted". Perhaps stitching line after line does get a bit tedious. The modern quilters that stopped by our stand at Ally Pally last weekend used the words "mind numbing" and "time consuming". They wanted a way to complete a quilt quickly. Several people felt that the straight line quilting was limiting and  wanted a quilting style that could be more personal and creative. When they tried the New English Quilter frames they found just the right tool for the job.

New English Quilter frame - a great tool for the modern quilter

The Modern Quilt Guilds are a young movement. They're still growing and adapting. Perhaps those straight lines may head in a curvy direction

Textile Students

Textile Students on the 4 foot Art Quilter frame

 Ally Pally is a fun venue. It's full of students and teachers.School kids in their uniforms on a fun day out and University students too. These girls are on a Textile Course at university. Look at their faces, they just loved the frame. They loved the gorgeous variegated thread from Superior Threads too.

The Art Quilter frame with the Juki TL98P straight stitch

Being able to effortlessly glide the sewing machine over the perfectly tensioned layers of fabric was quite a novelty.

Textile students 'drawing with the needle' at Ally Pally

They really appreciated the control this gave them as they played with various line designs on the practice piece of fabric. It was sooooo much easier than wrestling with the fabric under the arm of the machine! It is the perfect tool to help them complete their textile projects quickly and to a much higher standard.

everyone had a go with the Juki on the Art Quilter frame

Now they really really want one! It's right at the top of their Christmas list.