Long Arm Rulers
 

Hello all,

I am thinking about graduating from pantographs :) finally. I am not sure what to get though? or where is the best place to buy them.

So, here are my questions:

What are the best type of rulers to get? (ie most bang for your buck)
What manufacturer produces the best rulers?

Thanks!

Whew...that's a big question. It's so hard to know where to start and what you will use. I'd start with a straight one, a L one, and maybe some circles. I been adding as I go...I've finally decided to add a few from the Gadget Girls. https://www.thegadgetgirls.com/ They have some beginner packages that might be useful. I also have some from Quilters Rule - http://www.quiltersrule.com/ that are nice. I also have a few from DeLoa... they have a great Little One that I like and the Castle one. http://www.deloasquiltshop.com/deloa...eoneguide.html

Also one I love - Line Tamer. This one works great. http://www.fourpawsquilting.com/pages/template.html So lots of options.

I asked this question recently on the QB. Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...r-t223120.html

I have already received the 6" straight and curved rulers from http://www.accentsindesign.com/ and they look *wonderful*. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet, as I have been redoing the leaders on my frame, but these look better than others I have seen. I think the holding posts and velcro are going to help me, as I got the shortest ones because I figured they would be the easiest for me to start with.

I've had my long arm for a while now and I adore it - I thought I'd use rulers all the time but truth be told - I don't! I have a stitch in the ditch ruler that I rarely use - after a while ditching straight lines is pretty easy by hand unless it's really long or awkward. I personally find that I only really use rulers at this point in my quilting for circles or diagonal lines.

That being said if I were to invest in rulers I really really like Rhonda Beyers rulers from Quilter's Rule. :) She's got one for just about everything. :)

It was a while before my rulers and I became friends. I found using them awkward at first. I am assuming you have a ruler base on your machine. You can't do ruler work without it.

My go to ruler that I use for almost every quilt for SITD is my 6" x 2" straight ruler. Unfortunately WillowLeaf studios quilt producing rulers so it is no longer made but any 6" x 2" will do. Some have little tabs on them so you can correctly line up for your hopping foot but really, after doing it a bit you be able to eyeball the distance pretty well.

I also recommend Ronda's curved rulers for curved cross hatching. They also come in handy for doing soft curves around applique. I have her medium and large crescent and the medium double S (could be large, I am not home to check) http://www.quiltersrule.com/template...dasRulers.html


To me circle templates are a must. However you have to be careful as many manufacturers don't allow for the hopping foot so when you buy a 4" circle you are actually stitching out a 4 1/2" circle. so keep that in mind when buying. All of my circle templates are like this and I have adapted so I don't mind so much. I find they work just fine. I have them in 1" intervals from 1" to 11"

Again my favorite circle templates are no longer made. Gadget girls seem to have very nice ones but very spendy. Deep Blue has them for a VERY reasonable price but they aren't laser etched with as many registration marks as the more expensive ones. They only have a "cross hair" centering etch and then a small etch at 45 degrees. http://www.deepbluetemplates.com/default.asp

My willow leaf ones also have 1/4" interval etching on one side which is VERY handy.

Make sure you have a ruler base for your machine.

Should mention that longarm rulers need to be 1/4" thick (our regular cutting rulers are 1/8" thick). There is an Innova dealer who makes rulers that are 3/8" thick which sound really nice, but not all longarm machines have the clearance behind the hopping foot to allow for that thicker ruler. The advantage of a thicker ruler is that there is much less chance of inadvertently sewing on the ruler and breaking a needle.

the rulers need to be thicker than a cutting ruler- my long-arm rulers are 1/2" thick...there are many places carrying them these days- Nancy's Notions has a couple- so does Joannes...you do need the *extension table/ruler table* for your long arm to have a 'base' to hold the ruler flat. I have one from Nancy's Notions- which I use once in a while...I have a couple from my Long arm dealer- which I use a lot.

Thanks ladies,

Yes when I bought my innova, it came with a ruler table, :) so can check that box.

I am new to this, so not sure what I should start out with. These notions are rather spendy to buy one of each right off the bat, so wanted to narrow down what would be the best to start out with. (please pardon the bad grammar, tis after long day at work :p and my brain isnt in good grammar mode)

My goal in long arming is to be able to design and create whole cloth quilts, plus a lot of friends/family want celtic knotwork. suppose I should have led the discussion with those pieces of knowledge, it might have helped with the advice. I have only done pantographs and a few stencil designs (my recent post about it: Long Arm Skills and Technique questions)
That is about it, haven't even done a simple meader/stipple. But then I am not really partial to that anyhow.

And thanks Prism, will read that thread very carefully :)

Thank you ladies for your advice. I am such an "anti-gadget" girl that I hate to buy something I am never going to use or use once.

Love these rulers the most. I use them all the time. The handles on them really help grip and the strip on them help make them grab the fabric so less slippage. I love to do special lines and hate to measure so the etched in marks on the ruler are terrific so you get an accurate measure without marking the quilt. You will so totally love these rulers. There curved ruler is great for curved crosshatching as well. I have used it and my friend, Donna James, has done amazing wholecloth quilts using just these rulers. She won last year at the MQX Quilt Show for wholecloth category.