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Ruler work templates
I recently posted that my personal challenge for this year is to attempt ruler work quilting. I ordered my ruler foot for my Juki DX7 and when it arrived, the instructions said "To be used with 3 mm or less templates". 1/4 in = 6.35 mm so most ruler templates are a little more than twice as thick as my foot should use. I did a fair amount of research and found that "low shank sewing machines don't have enough clearance behind the foot and under the presser foot shaft for these thick rulers to be used behind the foot. But, behind the foot is an awkward place to use a ruler or template, so for most, the ruler or template would be placed in front of the foot. But some shapes wrap around the foot a bit and end up behind the foot. These rulers have a concave or interior shape. In this case, on a low shank machine, a thinner ruler is desirable." So my question to you very knowledgeable quilters is this: How often do you use your ruler behind the foot and have you come across rulers that do wrap around a bit? There are very few brands of 3 mm. rulers on the market and I really would prefer not to be that restricted as to what I can buy, but neither do I want to buy a ruler template only to find that I cannot use it. Any and all help will certainly be appreciated.
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I have been interested in ruler work also. I'll be watching w/ya to see what other's have to say.
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Most domestic machines use the thinner ruler feet. Most mid/long arms use the 1/4". That's where you are seeming to run into a problem, because a lot of the ruler companies cater to the long arm people.
I prefer to use the correct rulers for my domestic and my mid arm as I don't want to be having to worry about where I'm going with the ruler constantly and if I'm going to run up against the back of the foot. As an example, I have both sets of Westalee Circles on Quilts, for domestic (3mm)and for mid/long arm (1/4"). I think you'll be happier if you purchase the correct size for your machine. You can find just about any ruler you can imagine in domestic size. Watson |
Any shape you want to be inside of, you will want to be able to go all the way around like triangles, circles etc. Amy over at www.freemotionquiltingadventures.com has some videos and I think she uses a Juki? Nope, she uses a Janome but still good info on her site.
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Be careful of rulers that are Too thin...they can slip underneath the foot and get hit by the needle causing timing/mechanical issues with your machine. Amy @FMQ adventures warned about that recently. She has a great FB/webpage and Craftsy class about rulers. (I have completed about 1/2 her videos in that class & need to get back in there & finish the course. ) One thing about her FB page - she gets back with advise and guidance to questions Very quickly. Nice lady. =)
I have a low shank machine, but haven't practiced enough with my low shank rulers to claim knowledge/expertise. I think if you get use to avoiding the area behind the shank, maybe you can learn/train yourself to utilize the areas you Can use freely... At least that's MY hope & theory. hahaha! Good Luck! Donna Mc...determined to get more comfortable with ruler work this year, too! |
Here's a really good link from the blog that Tartan posted.
https://www.freemotionquiltingadvent...g-machine.html Watson |
You may find it inconvenient to not be able to use some rulers behind the foot. Westalee makes a very good assortment of rulers that can be used with the low shank machines. That’s what I started out with when they first came out. When I switched to the PQ1500s (high shank machine) and the Sweet Sixteen (mid arm with hopping foot) I was able to expand to other kinds of rulers, but some of the Westalees (in the correct thickness for those machines) are still my go to rulers, particularly their ruler that is straight on one side and arced on the other and also their “circles on quilts” set of two templates that gives you a wide variety of circles and concentric circles and also capability to do arcs for baptist fans...
Rob |
Thank you for your advice and recommendations, as well as the helpful links. I am going to take the advice and use the 3mm. templates. This is such a great forum!
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I ordered the ruler foot and 6 template set from EMILY SEWING. When it arrived 20 days later, the low shank foot won't fit my Pfaff sewing machine. So I emailed Emily Sewing 2 times, but never heard back. Please check who you are ordering from before you order as I'm not having any luck. The template are thin for a home machine and probably would work. The low shank foot doesn't fit all machines. I DO NOT recommend ordering anything from EMILY SEWING.
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