Hi Suz. I use a Juki TL-98 Q and I've heard it referred to as a "long-arm" but it's not like the regular ones, it's a portable domestic machine made specifically for quilting (with a wider and taller throat area) although you can do anything else you want on it as long as you only need a straight stitch. :) I don't use a frame. I've found that with a little practice, you can get quite comfortable maneuvering the quilt underneath the needle. I can get most of a king-size quilt into the throat area. Especially if that part's already been quilted. I just keep it all light and fluffy while I'm moving it around. A bed-size quilt does get heavy, but if I just take my time and remember to relax and take breaks often, I'm ok.
It truly does just take practice. I was impressed with Karen's work and when I happened to see her book in the quilt store, I bought it. It comes with a video as well which was very helpful. I read the book, and watched the video about three times before I got the courage to try it myself. My first attempts weren't so hot, but I got the hang of it with practice. It's a lot of fun!! And no two people's will look exactly the same. She says we all put our own individual "fingerprint" on her technique.
It took me about 25 hours to do a full bed-sized quilt, but I was also doing some other techniques in the appliqued blocks as well as hatching in the rather large and appliqued borders (and my client didn't want the thread to cross over any of the applique in the borders, so that meant a whole lot of starts and stops which takes a lot of time too!) The McTavishing actually went faster than I thought it would. Maybe 10-12 hours on that part of the quilt.
I've haven't used a ruler so far. I think it would be too hard to do on a domestic since you need both hands on the quilt top as you're moving it around under the needle. When she does it on her long arm, she can sew with one hand on the handle and use the other hand for the ruler. I just use the edge of my 1/4" foot to keep the lines fairly evenly spaced.
When I first began practicing, I started with an 18x18 practice square using muslin and scrap batting. I just kept making practice swatches and sewing them full until I began to get the hang of it. I think I did about 6 practice blocks before I had the courage to put it on a "real" quilt. My best advice would be to buy her book, watch the video over and over until you think you can visualize the motion without it, and then start making practice blocks until you get the idea. And then play with it. Add your own touches to her technique. The quilt I just finished not long ago was a "modified" McT because I added some of my own designs along with it. I hope this helps some. :)
Try it. You'll love it. And really try to relax while your sewing, keeping your shoulders down and your back straight. Start from the right hand corner of your quilt whenever you can. That might make a difference in how much you can put comfortably under the needle at one time. I can usually do half of any size quilt easily, then turn and do the other half. I'll try to post a pic or two of my first practice swatches to show you that, while not perfect, they were good enough to make me feel confident that I understood how to do it.
I think I just wrote a novella here. :lol: