quilting with a DSM and a frame
 

So, i've got the hinterberg frame (Picked up on sunday)..and am looking for some words of wisdom from those of you who quilt on a frame, but use a DSM, NOT a long arm machine.

I'll be setting up the frame, hopefully this weekend. Have some questions--

It came with REALLY long metal poles. most likely king size. might make sense to get shorter metal conduit. can anyone recommend a good size? thinking something that might work crib to larger lap size quilts?

are there any videos or references for loading the quilt? using the machine?

i've seen several mentions of bringing the bobbin thread to the top. how do i do that?

do i sound like an idiot yet?

any words of wisdome for me??

Thank you!

Betsey

I quilt with a Viking mega quilter, just a tad bigger space but not much. I have about 41/2 to 5 inches of quilting space so I find that an all over panto works the best. I go from side to side across the quilt. Since I start at the edge not really any need to bring bobbin to the front. Hard to do designs in separate blocks with small space. But to bring bobbin to front put foot down, take one stitch, gently pull on top thread and a loop comes up, this is bobbin. I put a pin in the loop and pull thread all the way up. Hope this helps some. BTW, my machine is on a homemade frame and it works great. I especially love the no basting or pinning part. Good luck.

It depends on the throat size as to what size quilt you can quilt. I don't use a frame and my two machines have a 9" throat (harp). I don't have room for a frame. Others will be able to help you more.

There are two different carriage sizes for the Hinterberg frame. Make sure you have the one for shorter harp machines. There may be info at the Hinterberg website (along with pictures of a loaded quilt, I think).

Basically you load the quilt bacing first -- on the takeup bar and the middle bar. I channel stitch the batting to the backing near the takeup bar and let the batting fall down over the backing bottom roller, inside the belly roller. The bottom of the quilt top gets attached to the belly bar (the one closest to you that can be lifted up, in which case it hits your belly, but is folded down while actually quilting). I roll the top until it is aligned with the backing/batting and channel stitch that to the backing/batting as close to the edge as possible.

Any of the Youtube videos that show how to load a quilting frame will be helpful. That's how I figured out how to load mine.

It's a good idea to join the HinterbergQuilters group and also the homequiltingsystems group on groups.yahoo.com . Lots of info in their "files" sections and old posts.

due to space restrictions, i have 9.5' poles on my hinty stretch. i quilt with a 9" harp Juki. i'm able to quilt queen sized quilts on this set up. actually, with some creativity, i did manage to quilt a king sized once, but won't do that again.

thank you everyone for your help! i do have the hinty for the dsm...it's the original frame set up. http://www.hinterberg.com/prod-Origi...g_Frame-5.aspx


my choices for machines are my older viking 350, my viking 140C (same as a saphire 855...i believe it has a 10" throat) and my mom believes that there is a singer 201 rattling around at the family homestead (her parents home! my aunt passed several years ago...the home is owned my by mom and her brothers...).

now, it did come with one template board. i can just buy the paper pantographs to use? if so, do you folks use a laser light with it? (and can i just use one of those laser pointers that someone would use when giving a talk or to drive one's dog or cat crazy?)

thank you!

betsey

The woman who sold me my setup did pantos and she used a laser light. She said she learned to buy them and their batteries locally because they cost so much less than "quilting" laser lights!

A wooden stylus was included with my frame. I would say that a laser light would be much better. When I tried the stylus, I had problems getting "stuck" in grooves when they turned. To use a paper panto, you would simply tape the paper on top of the wooden panto. I tried following the wooden panto with a laser light when I went to look at the machine.

If you want to do pantos from the back of the machine, which is where the panto table is, you will probably need to add some "steering" arms on the back of your machine. Mine came with handles on both the front and the back.

I do not like working from the back of the machine because I cannot see the quilt or my stitching. When you do pantos this way, you really are looking at the panto pattern all the time. The former owner of my setup did most of her quilting this way, but I don't like it.

If I ever decide to do pantos, I will probably modify my setup so I can do pantos from the front. There are tutorials online that show how to do this. I think on the Hinterberg, basically all I would have to do is raise the belly bar and position the panto on top of that ledge, add extensions to the "steering arms" on my machine, and tape a laser light to one of the extensions. However, I'm not sure I will ever do pantos; I like to just FMQ, and I just bought a book on how to do easy extemporaneous feathers that do not require sewing on top of previous sewing lines.

What you will want in a machine is the biggest throat and fastest sewing speed (stitches per minute) you have.

thanks Prism! i see in my future a steep learning curve <g>

you gave me some great information!