Stays Square

Reason number 5: I love machine quilting frames because they keep your quilt nice and flat and square. I could have called this post beginning as you mean to go on. Basically, if you quilt it flat and square it stays flat and square. If you wrestle a quilt under the arm of the sewing machine, it bothers more than your neck and shoulder muscles. Yanking and pulling the quilt sandwich every which way under the arm of the machine can cause distortion.

Machine quilting with a JUKI TL straight stitch sewing machine on my Machine Quilter frame

 Drag it out of the arm of your sewing machine and it looks all wonky like it's been through the wars. You get the added job of blocking it to get it to lie flat and straight again. Quilting frames save you that hassle. When I take a quilt off the frame I've never needed to block it.

Hearts and loops quilted in Rainbows  #803 Northern Lights from Superior Threads

It went on the frame nice and straight, I quilted it nice and flat, so it comes off just the way I quilted it. It has great texture, but it lays flat. When I take it off the frame, I slice off my side sashings and square it up with the rotary cutter. Then I'm ready for the binding. Square and straight, sweet and simple. No fuss, no blocking. THE END.

This school quilt has a fun stripy back

No Pain

 Here's my third reason for loving machine quilting on a frame:  It's easy on your body.   Real quilting is personal.  Good tools are designed to fit the person using them. Good tools are designed to be comfortable.
Machine quilting on a frame is much much kinder to your body. 

Sitting hunched over the sewing machine, wrestling the quilt under the arm while trying to tension the layers and draw backwards IS hard on your body. That kind of stitching places many physical demands on your neck and arms and back not to mention your brain. I've always found it, literally,  a pain in the neck.

By tensioning the quilt layers for you, a machine quilting frame provides instant relief. Being able to move with your whole body as you quilt relieves the tension in your neck and back. Drawing the right way round is simply easier so that you don't get so tense. And if you get stressed, you can leave the needle down and walk away. There's nothing quite like a little break to clear your mind and relax your body. While you have a nice cup of tea, the frame will hold your project steady for you. It will be ready for you to pick up again right where you left off. 

Anyone with muscle or joint pain will find machine quilting on a frame pure joy. The sewing machine glides  effortlessly with just the touch of a finger. Guiding the sewing machine is much easier than holding a needle or even a pencil. So much so that people who have given up hand quilting due to muscle or joint pain, discover that machine quilting on a frame enables them to keep on quilting. Machine quilting frames gives back what the years have taken.

Our Machine Quilter frames are designed for comfort and custom made to fit the height and quilt project preferences of each customer. Our frames clamp to any table and we can recommend the perfect height so each person is able to work at their personal ideal height for comfort and visibility. The right table height lets you quilt comfortably without stretching up or bending over. The right height  makes sure that you can see what you're stitching too. Our speed control handles are much easier than kicking the foot pedal across the floor and they're ergonomically designed to be comfortable.

Look at the photos above and below. Notice how my arms are level with my elbow as I hold the frame handles. Our Nifty Grip handles are at elbow level so you won't have to lift your arms to use them because lifting your arms puts a strain on your shoulder and back muscles. Our lower handles are also out of your line of vision so they won't block your view. 

Our Machine Quilter frames are designed to fit the person using them so they're comfortable to use. Because we think machine quilting should be a joy not a pain!

Getting in the Mood

We have a Christmas themed Retreat coming up at the end of October. Here's a post to get us in the mood. During this Retreat most of the participants are going to bring their own frames and sewing machines. We decided that it would give us more quilting-on-the-frame time. Don't worry if you don't have a frame yet or can't bring yours. We'll have an extra frame or two for you.

Here are some ideas for make-in-advance practice pieces. We'll be learning all sorts of designs but there will definitely be lots of Christmas themed line designs. so when you're making up your practice piece for your frame, it might be fun to stitch together some Christmas fabric from your stash. Choose fun fabric and keep the piecing simple. These are just strips sewn together. They'll make a great 'canvas' to draw on with thread and lovely line designs. 

I'd recommend using some plain black fabric too because the Christmas threads look so pretty against the black.

Some people were keen to piece the Christmas Tree table runner so I'm going to give some basic instructions for that here.

I wanted the table runner to fit on my 6 foot frame so I cut my backing fabric about 50 inches long and 18 inches tall. There are 8 trees. Each tree is a bit more than 5 1/2 inches at the base and almost 11 inches tall. I just folded a piece of computer paper long ways and cut a shape that was pleasing to me, I wasn't following any pattern. I wanted the trees to be big enough to be able to play around with various line designs. 

Once I had a shaped that I liked, I traced the shape on the thinnest Vilene (Vilene Easy Fuse Ultra Soft Light | H180 | Empress Mills) and cut roughly around that tree shape, leaving a bit of space around the line. Then I ironed the Vilene tree shapes to the back of the Christmas tree fabrics. The Vilene backing gives the fabric a bit of extra structure and keeps the edges from fraying too much.  I also found it easier to cut a nice straight line when I was cutting through the Vilene backed fabric. I'd chosen a neutral gold spotty background to look like snow. Lastly sitting at my sewing machine, I raw edge appliqued the trees to the background fabric. 

A note about the tree trunks. I wanted them to look chunky so I folded a bit of fabric so that the raw edges were inside, then folded that in half and slipped the ends under the tree and stitched that down. 

Then I flipped the trunks and pinned them up onto the trees so they would be out of the way when I was quilting the background. Once the background was quilted I stitched them down. We'll be doing all the quilting at the retreat. But here are a few ideas to get you thinking. We'll have lots of fun playing with all sorts of different threads and quilting patterns. If you're wanting to quilt the table runner, stitch it to your other practice piece to save time loading the quilt. You'll be able to rotary cut them apart when we take it off the frame later. Have fun making your practice pieces. 

I've backed most of my practice pieces with Fleece but you can use backing fabric and wadding if you like. To save time you could pin the layers on the fabric poles before you come. If not we'll all be helping each other to load on the day.We're so looking forward to seeing you all at the Retreat! It will be here before we know it. Martha, Emily and Jackie xxx

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. 

Valentine Post Cards: part one

This is a Valentine post card tutorial 

for making lots of post cards.                         

First go through your stash and pick out pretty fabrics. I go for reds and pinks and hearts and flowers. Then stitch them together.  It ends up looking a bit like a crazy quilt but there's method to my madness. I know that I'm going to be cutting the top into post card sized pieces at the end. So I'm putting together fabrics that look nice and leaving some open places for machine quilting.

Once my 'top' is pieced I load it onto my quilting frame. Then comes the fun part. I'm going to free-motion-quilt all over the top. Quilting frames make this easier but you can also just do free-motion-quilting sitting down at your machine. I don't need to worry about being perfect. I'm going to cut it up into post cards at the end so mistakes won't matter. I'll just use my favourite parts for the post cards. This lets me have fun and take risks that I probably wouldn't if I needed the whole top to look good.

I like to play with lots of different threads. Sometimes I'll scallop around a pattern in the fabric.

 This 'hearts and loops' pattern is fun too. It looks so pretty with the variegated threads.

We call this pattern 'mussel shell hearts'.

and this one 'baby bum hearts.

This pattern reminds me of the flower called 'Bleeding Hearts'

and this one is a fun feather pattern.

Once the top is all free-motion-quilted. 

I take it off the frame and 

choose the best parts for the post cards. 

Now I'm ready for Part Two.

Tools and Gadgets

I think there is a big difference between tools and gadgets. There are gizmo's and gadgets galore on offer this time of year. Gadgets can be defined as frankly frivolous, time-saving space-wasting yet ingenious devices that clutter up the spaces of our life and work! They are the one-day-wonders that end up collecting dust in the back of our closets. Gadgets are clever yet not really all that necessary - we can live without them.

Tools in contrast are essential devices of lasting value. They are, to borrow a medical term, pluripotent - a single instrument that can accomplish many tasks as opposed to the many many little gadgets designed to do just one thing. 

Gadgets do it without you. But tools require a 'loving intelligence'. Loving intelligence truly describes the relationship between the tools and the craftsman or artisan. Tools require a certain manual competence - a practical wisdom that can be learned from direct experience or passed on from person to person.

Our New English Quilting frames and the JUKI sewing machines we use on them most definitely fall into the tools category! Our frames are hand crafted by craftsman for artisans. We create the tools and pass on the 'loving intelligence' required to get the most out of them. All the practical technology that makes JUKI so successful in industry, is evident in the robust and elegant simplicity of their domestic sewing machines. You can tell the difference just by listening to the sound of the machine running through it's paces.

JUKI TL98P straight stitch sewing machine on the New English Quilter frame

Good tools that last a life time are worth every penny. They are an investment that will keep on giving!

Poppy Project

Lincolnshire poppy field photo by Martha Milne

Before I had a quilting frame, I mainly loved the piecing part of patchwork & quilting. I loved the colours and shapes but I got stuck on the quilting part. After I got a quilting frame, I fell in love with texture. Now the quilting part is my favourite part of the process.

poppies and seed pods photo by Martha Milne

 I find myself working backwards. I used to make a top and then try to figure out how to quilt it. Now there will be some new quilting pattern that I want to try out and so I figure out a 'canvas' that I'd like to quilt or thread paint on.

Today on pinterest, I got inspired by poppies and decided to do a poppy project. There were so many ideas that I'll probably do more than one. but I decided to start with a Georgia O'Keeffe Poppy. 

kid's version of Georgia O'Keefe's Poppies

This looks like it will be so much fun to thread paint but I needed to figure out how to make the canvas first.

see artprojectsforkids.me

I found this art project for primary schools and decided to take the same approach. I divided the painting into rectangles and pieced them together using various scraps of red. The pieced pattern will act like a grid to help me transfer the painting from my computer screen to the quilt top.

creating the fabric grid

Now I'll raw-edge appliqué the spaces round the flower. Tomorrow the fun begins when I get to play with lots of thread on my frame!

my Juki Exceed 600 fab for piecing and applique note the thread stand
 that let's me use my larger cones

Treasure Hunt

JUKI/ New English Quilter Stand at the 2013 Festival of Quilts

Finding the JUKI/New English Quilter stand at the Festival of Quilts is like looking for buried treasure! The new online guide to the Festival of Quilts is going to make it easier to find us.  There are lots of fun links to Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and Blogger.

Franklins have sewing machine shops throughout the UK

We're listed under FRANKLINS Group Limited. Franklins are the UK Distributors for JUKI sewing machines. We at Machine Quilter have been sharing a stand at the Festival of Quilts ever since 2005 when we fell in love with the JUKI TL98 P sewing machine. 

Martha Milne with her JUKI TL98P on the New English Quilter

We're just where we were last year Stand A46  B36-38, just past the exhibition quilts on the right as you're walking to the back of the Hall. See you at the Festival!