In a few days I will be having a go at quilting one of my quilt tops.... I am petrified.... I have had a couple quilted professionally but can't do that all the time... the quilts for grandchildren I will have to quilt... I will be making six.... this one is snowballs and 9 patch with four patch in the middle.... thought I would meander.... do you sew slowly or a medium speed, do you move the material slowly or a medium speed... I would imagine if you sewed too fast the needle would break.... am I right? Some help would be greatly appreciated.... thank you...!!!

First you practice, a lot, Take a square approx 8-9inches and put batt and backing on it then sew on that. Start by writing your name. You sew at a medium speed and move the fabric at a resonable speed. Practice, practice, practice. My sister and I both quilit and she never did get the hang of it. Good Luck Marge

Joy
I have been free motion, and stippling for about a year now. What I found that helped me was pratice, and more pratice, before I ventured on to my quilts. First thing that I found through trial and error, is that for ME, I have to wear gloves. I use the every day, dollar store variety garden gloves, making sure they have those little hard plastic bumps on the bottom. About 1.00 a pr. Which saves a whole lot in the long run, because I don't have to use any sprays or etc, to make my fabric glide easier. I started really fast and worked my way down to about a med speed (Mind you this was on my pratice pieces). Sometimes music helped for me to keep a even timing, but it's all in choice and your own technique that you develope. I always thread 2-3 bobbins when I'm getting ready to quilt by machine, because when the bobbin runs out, I have a couple ready to pop in. I mark the spot with a quilt pin, load the bobbin, and start back about an inch where the last stitch was made. I'm sure it won't take long for you to catch on. It was fear that caused me to put it off for so long. But once I jumped and got my feet wet, I find it hard to sit down and hand quilt. Other then I really enjoy the whole process and that nothing can or ever will replace hand quilting. That is an art all in it's self. So get you a couple of sandwhich pieces, and just sit down and go. Would like to hear what helped you and what you learned on your own.

i too have not done this yet. looks like alot of fun. and makes quilting look so nice. as for the golves i hear alot of people wear them. i seen someone on tv wear those little finger pieces that office people wear. those looked like they seemed to work also.


jeanette

Yes, I hear they work as well.

I do have the gloves, been sitting in my drawer for about a year !!! So that's a start !

GO GIRL,,,,,,,,

I haven't tried any free motion quilting yet, do stitch in the ditch, and thanks to a member here, found a place on-line that carried a foot for my machine, haven't used it yet, but very soon.

do all of you wear gloves when you quilt? and is it alot easier to deal with when quilting?

jeanette

I just ordered a pair from Connecting Threads to try. My local quilt shop doesn't like the gloves, she talked me into buying some 'sticky finger' (very similar to the paper tacky finger) to try before I get the gloves. But it's drying to my fingers and we all know that the fabric does that well enough.

Long story short, I have a practically new box of tacky to give to anyone that would like it. It was more expensive than the gloves I just ordered. sigh live and learn

Sharon

I move pretty fast. If you go too slowly or stop and start, you can't get nice graceful curves. At least, I can't! It really helps to take a class and then practice on scraps.

oh - and as Rebecca said, load a lot of bobbins first. I go through about 6 of them on a twin size bed.

I use 2 pieces of foam rubber about 3x4 inches, gloves made my hands sweat too bad.
Sharon I never heard of sticky finger.( except on kids! ) LOL

I only wear gloves when I do free motion, My gloves are lite weight cotton, after all the dollar store kind, so my hands don't sweat and they are very lite weight.

When doing freemotion quilting I use the Machinger gloves. My skin is dry and just slides over the fabric with no "grip" IMHO, they are great. Remember, practice, feed dogs down, breathe and don't get your shoulders up around your ears. :lol: Sometimes I use the rubber doorstops from Walmart to tilt the sewing machine and give my neck a different position.

piney