mlsa

Good Morning Ladies

I was wondering if any of you do ruler work (like with a longarm) with a short arm machine?

I have a Bernina Virtuosa 153 QE and I want to do more than stipple and meander. I know we are limited in the throat area but we should be able to do ruler work and feathers and such except on smaller scale. I'm trying to get good enough so that my wife won't hit the ceiling when I order my Bailey. LOL.

I have one question. I bought a darning foot yesterday in hopes that it will work following the edge of the ruler template. The round bottom part that butts up against the ruler is not very thick and I was wondering if anyone had come up against this problem and what they did....or is it a problem. Haven't actually tried it yet.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

David

hairquilt

I have heard that term-ruler -several times but What is it exactly & how do you do it?

dunster

I'm not at all familiar with the Bernina you have, but I would think that if it is on a carriage system so that the sewing machine is moving over the fabric, rather than the fabric moving under the machine, then you would be able to do ruler work.

Rulers and templates for most longarms are 1/4" thick so that they don't go under the hopping foot, which is also about 1/4" thick. When using the ruler you also place an extension plate on the sewing machine so that there is more flat space to keep the ruler positioned. Without that, the ruler tends to tip and then the needle is likely to hit it. I'm sorry, I don't know if any of that applies to your machine.

dunster

Oops! I thought rulers could only be used when the sewing machine was on a carriage, but apparently I was wrong!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOVut...feature=fvwrel

suebee

Hi David, I have a shortarm on a frame and just getting in to ruler work. I found the perfect (inexpensive) solution to the hopping foot being too thin, it slides under the ruler. So I did some research and found this and IT WORKS!!! Its a little adapter that snaps into the hole of your existing hopping foot. http://www.swiftquilter.co.nz/Template%20guide.html

Candace

With that small of a throat machine, why don't you just mark the quilt top prior to quilting. I can't imagine how you'd follow a ruler with your foot, wrangle a quilt in a small throat and do all of that without swearing continually.

mlsa

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clear. I have my machine on a carriage that rolls like a longarm. It works great and is smooth as silk.

Thanks for the link for the foot adapter. I'll check it out.

ckcowl

the one thing to keep in mind with ruler work-is you need a thicker ruler than your normal cutting rulers!
the rulers i have are about 3/8" thick
the rulers we use with our rotory cutters are too thin--if using a free motion (hopping foot) you are risking the foot hopping onto the ruler and breaking a needle- could cause lots of problems---so
as long as you have a thick enough ruler you can do it- it does take some practice---driving and holding the ruler- but if you have a pretty good (relationship) with your machine and the quilting process already---ruler work is just the next step to take
proper tools always make a job easier- and the thick rulers are the proper tools (to do a good job ---AND TO DO IT SAFELY!)

kamaiarigby

Hi David I have this attachment to go on my hopping foot, I have not done a great deal of ruler work but with the thicker ruler I found it great, I have a juki machine which I bought of the man that makes the Swift quilter

Kamaiarigby
New Zealand

deemail

you are so right about the thick rulers...the only caveat i can give to that is that when the set of half circle rulers were on sale for half price, i bought 2 sets, glued them one on top of the other, matching edges and lines exactly and got 6 different size half circles for 27 dollars....wayyyyy less than the LA rulers would have been...they are expensive, but so useful...especially the applique 'rulers' with a space that fits the foot to guide exactly around your appliques...feathers should be free-form ...practice for a couple of hours and they will be all yours and you can make them fit any shape
the first pic is to show how close you can get with an applique ruler...easy to do and gets your fingers away from the needle. here's my fave tool.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGLhJ8hAF4A
the second is more feathers, this time in two neighboring borders.... you can do this...
the third pick is to show a feathered circle...made with a little coffee can lid for the inside and big coffee can lid for the outside....feathers are free form