Holding on to a quilt

I tried the "roll and clip" method once or twice. It was a great big
pain in many parts of the body. I use the "stuff and fluff" method
for quilting.
Be sure that you are not sitting too low..... with your machine on a
table it is very easy to be set up so that you have to raise your
elbows and shoulders to guide the fabric. Try to be set up so that the
bed of the machine is just below elbow height when you are sitting.
Your hands should drop just a bit to the bed of the machine with your
elbows at your sides, shoulders relaxed.
Do have as much support around the machine to hold the bulk of the
quilt as possible. All of this will help keep the drag to a minimum.
Good luck.
BTW, I can't use a walking foot.... balance issues, and the motion
makes me a lot dizzier than usual. I use my open toe applique foot for
most of my quilting. For stitch in the ditch using an edge joining
foot (sometimes sold as a stitch in the ditch foot) works well too.
You do need to loosen the pressure foot pressure to compensate for the
bulk of the batting and fabric. (I was used to using the edge joining
foot for clothing construction stitch in the ditch before I started
quilting. So it was a logical step to using it for quilting. G)
Have fun, relax, and don't be overly concerned about it all. It will
look fine and be very useful/ beautiful.
(And if you have problems staying in the ditch..... try using a narrow
zig-zag stitch over the seams. Keep the length fairly standard for
stitching, just add a tiny bit of swing. This can really help
emphasize seam lines if that is what you want to do. )

Pati, in Phx

On Aug 31, 12:21*am, Sartorresartus wrote:
OK, this is probably an old chestnut, but I'll ask anyway.

I usually HQ, as you know, so this has never been an issue, up till
now.

When you are MQ, how do you stop the sandwich dragging, so it impedes
the feed-dogs? *I am trying to stitch-in-the-ditch. *I have the sides
rolled (sometimes just one) and I have tried:
=shoving the rest over my shoulder
=rolling it up on my lap
=concertina-ing it on my lap

I don't have one of those fancy machine-sinks-into-the-table lifts,
but I am using a 2'x18" plexiglass table things. *I am using a walking
foot (which isn't, because of the drag - hence the question) and
daren't even try dogs-down stuff till I can master straight lines.

I can play with a sandwich, but it all goes pear-shaped when I get
this monster under the needle.

Help, please.

(Do I need a gadget? *=D )

Nel
(Gadget Queen)
Longing to finish marking my next WC for HQ!

Thanks, everyone.

After I posted, I went back to the book, and it said about height
issues. So, I cranked up my chair (draughtman's, so it IS high) and
kinda dangled over the machine. You would have howled to see me. I
couldn't reach the foot pedal!

So then the pedal went on books. Now my knees were in the way.

Lowered chair to a _sensible_ height, and got out a practice sandwich,
the clear quilting foot, #29, and spent half an hour with the feed
dogs down. Really pleased with my little self, even managed some
wiggles and wriggles (not exactly stipple, but sort-of-ish). Back to
the main quilt.

Machingers on: check. Quilt fed under: check. One stitch and pull up
the thread: check. Hold onto the thread and gently squeeze... oo-er,
chaps! All over the shop! Darn it! Froggit and forget it for a
while!

I'll go again tomorrow. I'll put the machine on the table (now raised
on books) with the machine's table to one side. That should give me
room to manoevre. I _would_ pick the quilt that needs straight
lines. It's a view through a window, so I need to outline the window
panes, to accentuate them.

Here we go!
Thanks again,
Nel
(GQ)

I hope you read this before you start again tomorrow, Nel!

Stitch in the ditch was (and perhaps still is) one of my favourite ways
of quilting.- and with a walking foot!

However, some time ago I heard a tip that has changed my SITD life
completely - and it is so easy.
You are trying to quilt on the flat piece, beside the bump. Now, look
to where your light source is coming from. If it is a window, be sure
to insert the quilt under the foot so that the High side (the bump) is
to the right of the foot *if* the light is coming from the left, and
vice versa. One of the troubles about SITD is that you are very often
stitching in a shadow - so you can' t actually see what you are doing
(you = I). Turning the quilt so that the shadow is removed makes a
world of difference!
..
In message
,
Sartorresartus writes
Thanks, everyone.

After I posted, I went back to the book, and it said about height
issues. So, I cranked up my chair (draughtman's, so it IS high) and
kinda dangled over the machine. You would have howled to see me. I
couldn't reach the foot pedal!

So then the pedal went on books. Now my knees were in the way.

Lowered chair to a _sensible_ height, and got out a practice sandwich,
the clear quilting foot, #29, and spent half an hour with the feed
dogs down. Really pleased with my little self, even managed some
wiggles and wriggles (not exactly stipple, but sort-of-ish). Back to
the main quilt.

Machingers on: check. Quilt fed under: check. One stitch and pull up
the thread: check. Hold onto the thread and gently squeeze... oo-er,
chaps! All over the shop! Darn it! Froggit and forget it for a
while!

I'll go again tomorrow. I'll put the machine on the table (now raised
on books) with the machine's table to one side. That should give me
room to manoevre. I _would_ pick the quilt that needs straight
lines. It's a view through a window, so I need to outline the window
panes, to accentuate them.

Here we go!
Thanks again,
Nel
(GQ)

--
Best Regards
Pat on the Green

On Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:21:45 -0700 (PDT), Sartorresartus
wrote:

OK, this is probably an old chestnut, but I'll ask anyway.

I usually HQ, as you know, so this has never been an issue, up till
now.

When you are MQ, how do you stop the sandwich dragging, so it impedes
the feed-dogs? I am trying to stitch-in-the-ditch. I have the sides
rolled (sometimes just one) and I have tried:
=shoving the rest over my shoulder
=rolling it up on my lap
=concertina-ing it on my lap

I don't have one of those fancy machine-sinks-into-the-table lifts,
but I am using a 2'x18" plexiglass table things. I am using a walking
foot (which isn't, because of the drag - hence the question) and
daren't even try dogs-down stuff till I can master straight lines.

I can play with a sandwich, but it all goes pear-shaped when I get
this monster under the needle.

Help, please.

(Do I need a gadget? =D )

Nel
(Gadget Queen)
Longing to finish marking my next WC for HQ!


To minimze having to support the quilt and to also prevent drag caused
by the quilt falling over the side of your sewing table, try setting
your machine table up in a corner so the quilt is supported by the
wall. I have a 2nd table behind my sewing machine, and can butt that
table is up against the wall so there's this big expanse of space
behing the machine and the wall to support the quilt and also prevents
the quilt from going over the edge. Sometimes I also put a table to
the left side of my machine, against the other wall, and it also
serves the same purpose for the big projects so I'm not the one who is
supporting anything

I never roll the quilt but 'squash it,' because a quilt roll is like a
log and logs are hard to bend

I have my machine in a cabinet with a lift, so the machine bed is
flush with the table surface - it does make a big difference, because
I always had problems with the quilt catching on the acrylic table
edges before. MY cabinet is on wheels, and I have a couple of other
tables in my sewing room, so I can easily move things around (which is
fun!).



-Irene

-Irene

Just a thought, before I go to bed. Perchance to dream the wretched
thing quilted. (Some hope!)

Is there anyone who markets these nifty lifters (does that sound dirty
to you, too? No? Just me, then) other than the maker-of-sewing-
cabinets-which-are-exorbitantly-expensive (think, in UK, of bulls,
goats and devils)? If I could get hold of the makings, I might be
able to fashion something for next time. I have a birthday coming up
and it might come under that category.

But those sewing cabinets are £mega! I saw a table with a lift at the
NEC, and they were talking in the region of £1000! You gotta be
kidding (or a professional)! I am neither.

Nel
(GQ)

On 31/08/2010 08:21, Sartorresartus wrote:
OK, this is probably an old chestnut, but I'll ask anyway.

I usually HQ, as you know, so this has never been an issue, up till
now.

When you are MQ, how do you stop the sandwich dragging, so it impedes
the feed-dogs? I am trying to stitch-in-the-ditch. I have the sides
rolled (sometimes just one) and I have tried:
=shoving the rest over my shoulder
=rolling it up on my lap
=concertina-ing it on my lap

I don't have one of those fancy machine-sinks-into-the-table lifts,
but I am using a 2'x18" plexiglass table things. I am using a walking
foot (which isn't, because of the drag - hence the question) and
daren't even try dogs-down stuff till I can master straight lines.

I can play with a sandwich, but it all goes pear-shaped when I get
this monster under the needle.

Help, please.

(Do I need a gadget? =D )

Nel
(Gadget Queen)
Longing to finish marking my next WC for HQ!


Hiya Nel,

I am no machine-quilting expert, but what I do is roll up the quilt
sandwich under the machine arm with bicycle clips. I too have a
plexiglass table which is about 24" x 18" and fits my machine. I bunch
the quilt up around this table area as much as possible, but if the
quilt is large or I think the drag is still significant, I stack books
around the plexiglass table and thereby extend my "heightened space" if
that makes sense. We have plenty of books here! Hardbacks stay put
better than paperback novels.


-- Jo in Scotland

Nel, you really don't need a lifter and fancy (expensive) table. You can
use any large table (folding or banquet type table or kitchen table, etc.)
cut a hole in it to fit the base of your sewing machine and then use a piece
of lumber and some L-brackets to make a lowered platform for the machine. I
used some bathroom type cabinets (shorter than standard kitchen cabinets)
with the toe-kick area cut off and a section of Formica counter top. I
made it by myself, too, except for the counter top part. Here's a rough
sketch I made long ago-

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...60435514SXYejr

Here's what it looks like IRL-

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...60435514rKgyyI

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.



"Sartorresartus" wrote in message
...
Just a thought, before I go to bed. Perchance to dream the wretched
thing quilted. (Some hope!)

Is there anyone who markets these nifty lifters (does that sound dirty
to you, too? No? Just me, then) other than the maker-of-sewing-
cabinets-which-are-exorbitantly-expensive (think, in UK, of bulls,
goats and devils)? If I could get hold of the makings, I might be
able to fashion something for next time. I have a birthday coming up
and it might come under that category.

But those sewing cabinets are £mega! I saw a table with a lift at the
NEC, and they were talking in the region of £1000! You gotta be
kidding (or a professional)! I am neither.

Nel
(GQ)

Oh Nel - I could ALWAYS use a nifty lifter in more ways than one...

--
Cindy from GA
(but wants to be in MO)

"Sartorresartus" wrote in message
...
Just a thought, before I go to bed. Perchance to dream the wretched
thing quilted. (Some hope!)

Is there anyone who markets these nifty lifters (does that sound dirty
to you, too? No? Just me, then) other than the maker-of-sewing-
cabinets-which-are-exorbitantly-expensive (think, in UK, of bulls,
goats and devils)? If I could get hold of the makings, I might be
able to fashion something for next time. I have a birthday coming up
and it might come under that category.

But those sewing cabinets are £mega! I saw a table with a lift at the
NEC, and they were talking in the region of £1000! You gotta be
kidding (or a professional)! I am neither.

Nel
(GQ)

I reworked a $10 thrift store sewing machine cabinet I like a lot.

Not sure about shipping but these guys have a lift:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...machine%20lift

This is an affordable folding table:
http://www.sewvacdirect.com/robe-299...robe _d_299rm

Not sure as to availability for shipping but leads to follow.
HTH, Taria


"Leslie& The Furbabies in MO." wrote in message
...
Nel, you really don't need a lifter and fancy (expensive) table. You can
use any large table (folding or banquet type table or kitchen table, etc.)
cut a hole in it to fit the base of your sewing machine and then use a
piece of lumber and some L-brackets to make a lowered platform for the
machine. I used some bathroom type cabinets (shorter than standard
kitchen cabinets) with the toe-kick area cut off and a section of Formica
counter top. I made it by myself, too, except for the counter top part.
Here's a rough sketch I made long ago-

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo...60435514SXYejr

Here's what it looks like IRL-

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/...60435514rKgyyI

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.



"Sartorresartus" wrote in message
...
Just a thought, before I go to bed. Perchance to dream the wretched
thing quilted. (Some hope!)

Is there anyone who markets these nifty lifters (does that sound dirty
to you, too? No? Just me, then) other than the maker-of-sewing-
cabinets-which-are-exorbitantly-expensive (think, in UK, of bulls,
goats and devils)? If I could get hold of the makings, I might be
able to fashion something for next time. I have a birthday coming up
and it might come under that category.

But those sewing cabinets are £mega! I saw a table with a lift at the
NEC, and they were talking in the region of £1000! You gotta be
kidding (or a professional)! I am neither.

Nel
(GQ)

http://www.superstitch.co.uk/sewing-cabinets.asp

A quick google revealed this site, maybe more reasonable.
the small cabinet could be placed next to a regular table for more
work space.
Roberta in D

On Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:00:29 -0700 (PDT), Sartorresartus
wrote:

Just a thought, before I go to bed. Perchance to dream the wretched
thing quilted. (Some hope!)

Is there anyone who markets these nifty lifters (does that sound dirty
to you, too? No? Just me, then) other than the maker-of-sewing-
cabinets-which-are-exorbitantly-expensive (think, in UK, of bulls,
goats and devils)? If I could get hold of the makings, I might be
able to fashion something for next time. I have a birthday coming up
and it might come under that category.

But those sewing cabinets are £mega! I saw a table with a lift at the
NEC, and they were talking in the region of £1000! You gotta be
kidding (or a professional)! I am neither.

Nel
(GQ)