Onebyone

I am going to have a cabinet made to have my Brother 1500 turned to face me like the sit down quilting models. My two kids said let them pay for it for a Mother's Day gift. Fine by me!

barbo117

I have my Brother Pq1500 on a Grace frame, actually it is the Grace GMQ frame that I purchased off of Ebay. It is an older frame, 8 years or so, but the Brother works great on it. I did update the carriage from the older wood carriage that came with the frame, to the new aluminum carriage that Grace sells. What a difference that made, less than a $100 investment. More precise and easier movement makes FMQ'ing so much easier and better stitches. I also added a lazer so that I can follow pantos if I want too. I purchaed the Grace Pattern Perfect which I have not used yet, too. I am going to add a stitch regulator, again by Grace, that is made specifically for this Brother machine and it is supposed to be a big help in keeping consistent stitch length when quilting on a frame. The stitch regulator is around $500 new. I have a speed controller on my machine right now, which takes the place of the foot control by putting the controller on the handlebars of the carriage. Also, I wanted to add a better fmq foot than what came with the machine. I found that Juki makes a wonderful fmq foot for their similar machine, and it works perfectly on the Brother. I can now do ruler work because of this foot if I want too. Allbrands carries all of these items including the Juki Foot. I have spent a lot of time putting this machine, frame and accessories together but I am very very pleased with everything. Wish I had $ for a wonderful long arm/frame of my dreams but I dont. I just love how this Brother machine and frame has come together. Hope this information is helpful to other Brother PQ1500 owners.i

L8quilter

Just got a used SuperQuilter Proflex with a Brother PQ1500S. We assembled it this morning. I can't wait to get some practice on it. 1st time doing FMQ other than on my Babylock on a table runner. My fingers are itching to get started. I have no clue how to load the quilt. Part of the directions are missing and I bet that is what is covered. Pages 45-48 on the SuperQuilter. Looked all over the web and can't find directions. Guess I'll go get practice fabric so I can start practicing when I find some directions.

SherriB

What brand of sewing machine oil do you all use on your Brother?

L8quilter

I just asked the authorized dealer in my area and they said sewing machine oil. Nothing special. Previous owner for my brother said she just sent it to a shop once a year and they took care of it for her. I am hoping that doesn't mean I'll have trouble later. Getting oil today so I can clean and oil it before using it.

Kl60

Chris what is a Super Quilter Proflex?

L8quilter

SuperQuilter Proflex is a quilting frame. A friend at school upgraded to a computerized long arm and wanted to sell her Brother PQ1500s and quilting frame. I have wanted to try my hand at FMQ during the last few years. Since I have been paying $200+ for kingsized quilts to be quilted, I figured I should learn how and save some money. Although, I don't know how long it will take me to acquire the level of skill that my quilter has. Her work is lovely. The frame and machine were too good an offer to pass up.

Wendys Quilts

Linda, ive done flowers, feathers, waves, leaves, stippling and meandering. My favorite is the meandering 4 1/2" size is perfect for me. Ive tried free hand, but prefer my pantos. I tape my pantos to the table to keep them from moving around. I have found that getting my laser ready i put my sewing foot closer, (but not touching the bar) to the bar by your belly and then i line up my laser to the panto. Im sure thats easy for some people, but i get confused easily lol. Also, i float my batting and top, on top of the backing. Ive used 5" pantos on mine and it works just fine. But with a longer quilt, you do lose some of that 5" as you get to the end. When that happens, i will follow with the laser just inside the panto line and that works fine. It makes the quilting at the end of the quilt smaller, but who is really going to know but you..that is if you dont quilt professionally. Also, i dont know if it makes a difference, but i usually start quilting from right to left and when at the end of my panto, i cut off and move back to the right and start again. It might be just personal preference. Hope this helps.
Wendy

JenelTX

I have this machine and love it. I love it even more now that my husband got me a portable table for it, with a plexiglass insert sized specifically for this machine. It is the exact height as my dining room table, so I can put them together and have a huge amount of quilting space. Oh, and a thread holder from Superior Thread. It's such a smooooooth setup now that I've been quilting just about every night and making great progress. I've been freehanding butterflies and flowers and figure-8 swirls. I'm getting close to the border, which I plan to quilt with feather filler. Ridiculously excited! LOL

I do piecing and FMQ with the machine. Best advice I've received re: FMQ is to use stretch needles. They make all the difference in the world. With piecing, just a regular needle works fine. I've been using Superior Threads cotton thread in the machine, and it's going great.

Someone on this board told me about a Yahoo group for PQ1500S owners. I've been a member for a year or two now, and get such great information there. In February, there were 56 messages, so it's not going to clog your inbox, especially if you set your preferences to Digest. Here's the link: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PQ1500/info

Onebyone

I use Bernina oil in all my machines, even the one that say no oil. I watched a dealer tech oil my no oil machine. The Brother 1500 needs more oil then once a year. I put a few drops of oil in it about every four hours of sewing.