lalaland

I got this idea from a gal who had posted a FMQ set-up on You Tube she had created to make it easier to FMQ using her domestic machine. I tweeked it a bit and this is what I came up with. Plenty of pictures are included.

I bought a piece of foam plastic board at a width that matched the height of my sewing machine bed. I had a sewing table with an extension and cut the foam board the length and width (plus 5" explanation below) of that table.

I measured the length of the foam board and at the center, I measured in several inches and cut out an insert for my sewing machine. My FMQ machine is a Brother PQ1500. My dealer had a Sweet 16 so I measured the distance between the needle of the Sweet 16 and the edge of the table and that's how many inches I allowed before I cut out the insert for my machine.

My machine has a side loading bobbin so my machine is mounted in the foam board so the bobbin is facing me for easy access.

I then put a vinyl sheet over the foam board, partially cutting out the area around the machine bed and then sliding the vinyl over the machine bed. I cut a circle out where the needle is located. I kept the front piece that I had cut out of the foam board and put it in back in front of the bobbin area.

Now, in that extra 5" I had allowed in the width of the foam board, I dug a hole to insert the machine cords so they are not flopping around on the table.

The quilt on the table is a double size quilt.

I also included a picture of these Schmetz needles that I didn't know existed until recently. They are for high speed sewing and I seem to have less drag when I'm using them.