Long Arm Ruler Work
 

I have a Bailey 17" and am just learning how to do long arm quilting. I would like to try ruler work. I am not ready for the challenge yet, but I was thinking of ordering a couple to experiment with sometime soon. Can someone who quilts on a Bailey suggest rulers that are compatible? Quilters' Rule has a starter kit of 4 or 5 rulers that I thought about ordering, but I am not sure they will work with my machine. I would also like to ask which foot is to be used with rulers. I am not sure I have a hopping foot. I ordered a pantograph to try also. Hopefully something will work. My free motion skills leave a lot to be desired.

Does the Baily have a ruler base? If not you need that before getting any rulers. You can't do ruler work without a base.

Agreed. You have to have a ruler base attachment for the machine to do ruler work. After knowing and having one I would think any ruler made for LAQ would work on any machine. Just remember that the rulers have to be made for long arm quilting. Thses rulers are thicker than those you cut material with or those called french curve rulers.
I started with a straight line ruler and added a clamshell and one called a sunflower so far.
I like them.

Of course it takes a lot of practice, slow your machine down so you have better control. Practice starts and stops.

Let us know how it goes for you and show us some work!
peace

The main thing is to get the ruler base as it is veryyyyy hard to do ruler work (and if i may say even dangerous) without one. I am staring myself to practice that and got me couple of circle ones, stitch in the ditch (this comes really handy for basting) and some curvy ones. Fun to play with them though i still dont know what i a doing...lol

I am unfamiliar with the Bailey, so I don't know how high the hopping foot is, but that is also a consideration. Usually long arm rulers are a quarter of an inch thick, which is sufficient for most longarm machines, I think. But there are some machines with feet which can hop onto a ruler of that thickness, and for those, thicker (and even more expensive :shock: ) rulers are available. If you are uncertain about what your machine needs, I think customer support for your machine, or a dealer of longarm rulers should be able to advise you.

this is the hopping foot http://www.baileyssewingcenter.com/bamupuqufo.html
it says that it is used with 1/4" rulers
this is the lollipop ruler base http://www.baileyssewingcenter.com/bhqlorba.html

next year i hope to get the Bailey 17 package which includes these items.

If you're just getting started with ruler work, I highly recommend the Craftsy class taught by Kimmy Bruner. I finished it recently and felt that it was worth the time and money. Also, yesterday there was a webinar on rulers by HandiQuilter, and they're supposed to have it up on their web site by Monday 12/17. Their rulers are appropriate for any machine that uses the 1/4" rulers, not just the HandiQuilter. The webinar doesn't really teach you to use the rulers, but it does give a good introduction to their rulers and how they might be used and at the very end they address what rulers a new longarmer might want to buy at first (one for lines and one for curves).

Also, I found some useful information regarding what thickness of rulers to use here: http://www.thegadgetgirls.com/longar...formation.html I have an Innova and have had no problem using 1/4" rulers with my hopping foot. Looking at the Baileys site, it appears that they have a separate "ruler foot" that you would need to use for ruler work.

I agree with Dunster! I took that class from Kimmy and I've been doing ruler work for 2 yrs....but I learned!!!
You DO need a base....no doubt about it.
If your hopping foot isn't at least 1/4", contact me....I have an adapter.
I like the rulers from www.AccentsinDesign.com. She claims you can use these on a domestic sewing machine, but I have tried them on a DSM. I bought the 6" ruler (a must no matter what company you order from) and the curved 12" ruler. No matter which company you order from, do not order really long rulers......12" is the biggest IMHO. You have to crawl your hand along the ruler if it's too long. Kimmy's class on Craftsy.com will show you about that. :)

HAVE FUN!

Yep. You need the ruler base.

Years ago I was talking with the folks from Quilters' Rule and they advised I only buy one ruler at a time. That way I could be sure I liked using them and then would be a more informed consumer of what I would want in the future. I couldn't believe they talked me out of a sale. They were right too! I only buy what I want. Of course, I know of a few LAer's and we can share if needed.

I am just learning myself so I will be following this post. Geez! And, to think all this time I thought you just used a plain ruler and went along beside it as a guide! I think I just need an instructor!