I agree Carla, I heard a few small remarks when I bought my machine at WM. It's a singer and it was a good price. Amore expensive brand may have more bells and whistles (that I probably wouldn't bother learning to use) but I don't think it would work any better. The reason I replaced my 28 yr old was because it was my birthday and I couldn't think of anything I really wanted. On my next BD I got a Singer embroidery machine and I love it too. I'm not sure but didn't Singer used to be the only machine? I've never seen another brand in the treadle style like the pioneers had. That's what I learned to sew on and still have it. Kenmore makes very good products, more money doesn't always mean better quality.

Thank you, Kathy! :D My Grandmother helped support the family by making clothes and quilts on a Singer treadle that my Great-Grandmother had given to her which had been bought before the Depression. In 1972, for Christmas all of her kids pooled the money to buy her a new Singer with a cabinet, & it was the only other machine she ever owned. My Aunt still uses it to this day. 8) If it ain't broke... :lol: Now Kathy, if you are in the mood to pass out sewing machines for B-day gifts, I have one in July... :lol: I'm not a snob either. I already have a bell on my phone, so I don't need another, & I can whistle for my dogs, so I don't need that either... :lol:

I do a lot of free motion quilting. I to learned that stippling shouldn't cross over itself, but since I don't put my quilts in shows I don't worry too much about it. Stippling is pretty small, meandering is bigger. For the life of me I can't seem to follow a drawn on quilting pattern. A friend and long arm quilter told me to draw, doodle, scribble whatever you want to call it and that works well. I can do pine cones and pine boughs, write, leaves... This last year I wrote happy holidays continuosly in a border. The trick is practice a little bit everyday and move fast if you go slow it doesn't work. my .02 marieg

Mandy, I recently took a machine quilting class at a shop that specializes in Bernina machines. The owner repeatedly asked me if I wanted to borrow 1 of their machines vs. bringing my own..NOOO...I took "Sally" (my 1970 something Singer) and proudly used her all day. Everyone else had to work with their Bernina's and a lot of them wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to use them!

Don't get me wrong, 1 of my goals is to someday own 1 of those nice Bernina's, but I just can't seem to justify it right now.

I agree Carla, I have owned two brands of machine Singer and Pfaff. I love old Singers and I like my new Pfaff. I have nothing against other machines its just what I like. Saying that I would probably never buy a Bernia. It's one of those people have shoved it down my throat and I'm stubborn. marieg

I got confused because the meandering style of stippling is so common. I thought that that was all there was, but then I read this:

Simply defined, stippling refers to the quilting technique of sewing lines of stitching close together, approximately 1/16 to 1/8 inch apart. The most recognized stipple pattern (a non-pattern, really) is a meandering line that curves in and out, creating shapes that look like pieces from a jigsaw puzzle. To be authentic, it should be a continuous line, but since starting and stopping can be accomplished invisibly when you're hand quilting, no one will ever know.

Other well-known quilting patterns like checkerboard, diamond, and chevron can be adapted for stippling quilt backgrounds. - From "Flawless Hand Quilting"

http://www.michelles-designs.com/stipplinginstructions.htm
http://patchpieces.com/2001quiltingBOM.html
http://www.quiltingassistant.com/stippling.html

Patchpieces.com has free stipple patterns in Pdf.

thanks for the info, everyone! i printed some instructions on stippling, and I may actually try it someday! Y'all have made it seem much less intimidating than it is.

I really appreciate it! I'm kinda excited now!

Robbi

I've seen plastic stencils with the stippling pattern in different sizes. Google "quilting stencils" and you'll get some sites to look at stencils.

I also recently tried to do stippling which was way harder to do than it looked. i started off trying to meander and not cross over but in the end i ended up inventing a new thing..i call it scribbling and you can cross over lines! Now i am happy and maybe one day i will master stippling but for now i am happy to do scribbling!!