beginning machine quilting

Hullo Martha
Yes, it most certainly is realistic. Most of us at least started that
way!
There are *many* books out there on machine quilting.
Two small ones I have are by Maurine Noble and Marti Michell. I also
have the Heirloom Machine Quilting book by Harriet Hargrave, which
covers pretty much everything you want to know.
One thing to note, when you are looking for quilting designs, to make
your work easier, try to eliminate stops and starts as far as possible.
For this you will need to look for designs which are labelled as
*continuous*; or specifically for machine quilting. Other designs (that
you might have been using for hand-quilting) are fine and lovely, when
you want to use them for something special, and if you are prepared to
deal with the threads at beginning and end of pattern lines (in
whichever way appeals to you).
..
In article
m, Martha
writes
Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.

Is this realistic?

best

Martha

--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Martha wrote:

Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Heirloom Machine Quilting by Harriet HArgrave.

It's possible. You should be able to drop your feeddogs ok.

-georg

Maurine Noble's book "Machine Quilting made Easy" is a perfect starting
place: it's inexpensive, has a great set of lessons to introduce
techniques. Start at lesson one, and work your way through to the end...I
can practically guarantee you'll feel like you've got a good basic
understanding. This is the "textbook" I use to teach. Of course, Hargrave's
Heirloom Machine Quilting is also wonderful, albeit way way more expensive.

--
Kim Graham
http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
THE WORD IN PATCHWORK

"Martha" wrote in message
m...
Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.

Is this realistic?

best

Martha

Yes, very realistic!!

I can't help much with the books, but I can give a three words of
advice. They are Practice, Practice, Practice. Books and websites (and
even teachers) can get you started on the right foot (so to speak!), but
you also need to give yourself permission to practice a lot on scraps
before you move to a quilt.

Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Longarm Machine Quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps

(remove the obvious to reply)


Martha wrote:
Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.

Is this realistic?

best

Martha

heh heh, I gave myself permission to practice on a quilt. A little ugly one.
The quilting on it, compared to what I can do now, is atrocious. Meg loves
it in the car to put over her legs in the winter. Practice can be done on
potholders as well, make a sandwich large enough to make 4 or 6 pot holders
and practice on that. Cut them apart. Bind.
I dont like practice. Its like exersize. Seems to much like work. ;-)
Diana

"Kathy Applebaum" wrote in message
. ..
Yes, very realistic!!

I can't help much with the books, but I can give a three words of
advice. They are Practice, Practice, Practice. Books and websites (and
even teachers) can get you started on the right foot (so to speak!), but
you also need to give yourself permission to practice a lot on scraps
before you move to a quilt.

Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Longarm Machine Quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps

(remove the obvious to reply)


Martha wrote:
Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.

Is this realistic?

best

Martha

Diana Curtis wrote:

I dont like practice. Its like exersize. Seems to much like work. ;-)
Diana

Then the trick to both practice and exercise is to make them as
enjoyable as possible. Followed, of course, by a big piece of chocolate
as a reward for a job well done. *big grin*

(Got the Dr's clearance to get back on the bike today. Yippee!!!)

Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Longarm Machine Quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps

(remove the obvious to reply)

I do all my own quilting on the sewing machine (only started
piecing/quilting in Jan 2003). I learned by just doing it. Quilt something
small like a runner/mat/wall hanging. My first big quilted item was a 4
patch lap quilt--I just stitched in diagonal line across the sqs and it came
out great. I still do a lot of that and stitch in the ditch. I am slowly
branching out into motifs using templates.

I have never even considered sending it to someone--probably more than I can
afford anyway--and it would'nt feel like MY quilt if someoone else quilted
it even if they could do a much better job than me at quilting it--just my
personal feelings.
--
Kathy in CA
Quilting Stuff:
http://community.webshots.com/user/kathys1068


"Martha" wrote in message
m...
Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to help
someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot of
money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.

Is this realistic?

best

Martha

One very useful tip that I got was to use a square of craft felt for a
practise/warmup square. They don't cost much but have a similar feel
to a quilt sandwich. I like experimenting with new designs with them.
(to give credit where credit is due - I got this idea when talking with
Robbi Joy Ecklow after a trunk show she gave recently. She does lovely
machine quilting to along with her original applique designs)

Allison


Kathy Applebaum wrote:
Yes, very realistic!!

I can't help much with the books, but I can give a three words of
advice. They are Practice, Practice, Practice. Books and websites (and
even teachers) can get you started on the right foot (so to speak!), but
you also need to give yourself permission to practice a lot on scraps
before you move to a quilt.

Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Longarm Machine Quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps

(remove the obvious to reply)


Martha wrote:

Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to
help someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot
of money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.
Is this realistic?

best

Martha

I've never heard that before, Allison. It's definitely worth thinking
about - would be much quicker to get started, so it might make me do it
more.
Thanks for passing on the idea.
..
In article , Allison
writes
One very useful tip that I got was to use a square of craft felt for a
practise/warmup square. They don't cost much but have a similar feel
to a quilt sandwich. I like experimenting with new designs with them.
(to give credit where credit is due - I got this idea when talking with
Robbi Joy Ecklow after a trunk show she gave recently. She does lovely
machine quilting to along with her original applique designs)

Allison
--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

I like that idea! Thanks for sharing it -- I think I'll pick up some squares
this weekend.

--
Louise in Iowa
nieland4 at mchsi dot com
http://community.webshots.com/user/louiseiniowa

"Allison" wrote in message
...
One very useful tip that I got was to use a square of craft felt for a
practise/warmup square. They don't cost much but have a similar feel
to a quilt sandwich. I like experimenting with new designs with them.
(to give credit where credit is due - I got this idea when talking with
Robbi Joy Ecklow after a trunk show she gave recently. She does lovely
machine quilting to along with her original applique designs)

Allison


Kathy Applebaum wrote:
Yes, very realistic!!

I can't help much with the books, but I can give a three words of
advice. They are Practice, Practice, Practice. Books and websites (and
even teachers) can get you started on the right foot (so to speak!), but
you also need to give yourself permission to practice a lot on scraps
before you move to a quilt.

Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Longarm Machine Quilting, Queen of Fabric Tramps

(remove the obvious to reply)


Martha wrote:

Hello!

I can no longer handquilt. I have a Bernina 135. Would anyone have a
recommendation on a book or two, or websites, or anything else, to
help someone start machine quilting? But I don't want to spend a lot
of money on another machine.

Yes, I could send projects out to a longarm, and probably will if they
are big, but for lap quilt and smaller, I'd like to learn to Do It
Myself.
Is this realistic?

best

Martha