I would suppose it is like sewing on a regular machine. You have to practice alot, relax, breathe and don't get stressed. I just do FMQ, a large stipple, nothing fancy. I love to do it and I love the look.
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I would suppose it is like sewing on a regular machine. You have to practice alot, relax, breathe and don't get stressed. I just do FMQ, a large stipple, nothing fancy. I love to do it and I love the look.
Another Phyllis
This life is the only one you get - enjoy it before you lose it.
I think a lot depends on the frame and carriage you have. Mine is a wooden Gracie frame. I would never buy that frame again. My carriage does not glide along smoothly, so all I do is FMQ. I tried a Tin Lizzie on a much better frame at the Texas State Fair last week. I could be a great LongArmer on that machine. It was so much easier to glide that machine and do small detail work. I have a Queen Quilter 18 machine which is pretty good, but the frame is not.
I have been quilting on a frame since 2005. In that time, I have changed machines twice (on the same frame) and then upgraded to a true long arm. Each time I changed something, I had to work my way back to a panto. With the long arm, it was at least 6 months before I felt like I had good enough control to do it decently. Other people said it looked ok to them..but my eye said YUCK! Hang in there!
Beth in AZ
www.bzyqltr.blogspot.com
Innova 22' with Lightning Stitch and Pantovision
Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great. Mark Twain
I wish I had a LAM
Is your frame level at both ends and in the middle going both directions? I was taught to keep your eyes focused ahead of where the needle is stitching. I keep mine an inch or even 2 inches ahead depending on how close the pattern is. Also, don't grip the handles hard. Lightly hold them. Sometimes I use only thumb and first finger. And of course, relax. In my class, the teacher brought in bottles of wine for everyone to sip in the afternoon when we were getting tense about finishing on time. What a help that was!
With a pantograph, you do not see on the quilt where your pattern lines were, just the outcome and that helps alot. Starting with gentle curves as someone mentioned before is good. And stitch regulation at first.
Draw lines across your practice quilt 2 or 3 inches apart. Then practice cursive c's and capital s's across over and over again. Keep them within the lines, but filling the space. Then try printing u's with 90 degree corners all the way across.
It does take a long time, but you will be so happy when you see improvement. I was.
Beth in Maryland
I have a Gammill that my husband purchased for me last summer - I am finally getting to the point that someone paid me to do their quilt! I had never done any quilting - always sent mine out to be done. I always use my stitch regulator - just too scared not to - lol. I love doing meandering - both with and without loops - learned how to add hearts/stars too. I can do pantographs - have done some, but they seem harder than freehand from the front of the machine. I was told to always look ahead in the panto and not to worry about staying exactly on the lines, just close and not to jerk back into line if I went off. For me, the hardest part of the panto is getting each new line set up.
I just finished a quilt (trip around the world pattern) recently that was made from polyester and had a sheet for the backing - the quilt shop owner that sent it to me said I did a great job and that the quilt was even square! We had agreed on just doing a loose meandering on this quilt and another longarmer told me to be careful going over all the seams - not too fast, not too slow - great advice - but scared the daylights out of me. I ended up laying a piece of freezer paper over the width of the quilt and took a sharpie to draw a meandering line across the entire quilt - it took several tries to get one I liked - then I used it like a pantograph on the back of the machine. Using it like a panto took my eyes off the front of the quilt so I kept my speed even even over the bulky seams.
I also started out with a sandwich of muslin - drew some grid lines on it and tried something new in each box - time to do it again - now that I have done some I want to try some new ideas and perfect the ones I am already doing.
I got my machine used and it came with a lot of bobbins that were already wound so I use them when I am doing practice stitching - I love the idea of stitching without thread - but, when you use different color threads you can stitch the same design over and over in the same area and see your improvement easily.
Hope this all makes sense - to me it really boils down to practice, practice, practice. I was able to practice on almost 30 charity quilts this year!
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