After 3 years I finally finished my king size country revival quilt top. I know I want to get it machine quilted, but I've been waffling over how I want it to look.
On one hand, paying for a standard edge-to-edge pattern that would look "nice enough" is tempting, but on the other hand, this pattern lends itself to some absolutely beautiful custom quilting (see https://www.instagram.com/p/BtxJ1IAn_vY/). There's a local quilt shop that offers longarm training and hourly rental rates to use their machines. This is very tempting to me.
Can anyone share with me their learning experience of free motion longarm quilting? Am I nuts for wanting to do my own gigantic quilt?
Hey everyone! I was just wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of what software I could use to design patterns for longarm Quilting. I work at a quilt shop and I think it would be neat if I could surprise my boss with our own designs! Thanks for the help in advance!!
Has anyone ever successfully used InkStitch for longarm quilting? I have already spent a buttload on the machine and I’d really prefer to not shell out another $500-1000 for digitizing software when I already pay for Illustrator. My prostitcher can read a txt file, but not the txt file that InkStitch exports....
Thanks in advance!
Wondering if there is a local place that does longarm machine rental sessions. Trying to Google it all the results were for iowa and Pennsylvania lol. It's just somewhere you go and pay to use a longarm machine for a few hours. Fwiw I've never used a longarm so I would also need instruction lol. Where I used to live out of state, there was a place for it and they would teach you how to do it for free if you scheduled a session but I never got the chance to actually go down there.
Also would be interested in any local craft circle groups (whether multi-craft oriented or just one such as sewing, crochet, etc... For specific ones I would be interested in sewing and maybe quilting). I assume any still operating are doing so on Zoom right now but I would love to just make some new connections now. I'm imaging just a regular meeting where you talk about whatever and work on projects, but it's nice to be able to schedule time to work on things and to do it with other people.
I'm writing a blog post based on some questions I've gotten about buying a longarm quilting machine.
I quilt for my hobby, not as a business, and I'm not a dealer or rep, but it would help me cover the burning questions people have, if you shared your questions!
Im looking for a place to bring my quilt tops to be quilted.
I made my first quilt last week and while I loved the process and want to make another one I really dont think I can go through it again. I learned about businesses you can bring your quilt to be finished for a fee. Do we have any in Gainesville? If you've gone to one can you tell me around what you paid for? I want to make new quilt tops while I'm in quarantine.
I'm just learning quilting, actually just piecing I guess. I don't see ever getting a long arm quilting machine, so to finish off a quilt I'm wondering how many of you send them to a local professional to actually quilt? I love the designs that come from longarms, but there is no way I will ever have the space.
I'm still a newbie quilter and have made a few baby quilts but I want to venture into bigger territory. Does anyone in the Triangle area know of an affordable long arm quilting service? I would love to do it myself (with training and then renting the machine) but everything I've found has a minimum of ~100$ dollars. Is it possible to do it for less? I can just suck it up, but I have 3 tops currently in progress and at that price tag those will be the only ones I will be able to afford to quilt in 2020. =( I do everything on a home sewing machine that has basically no neck so anything bigger than a baby quilt is almost impossible.
https://preview.redd.it/h1dtr9kumpl11.jpg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9e508933084d564f94b16b670393c7d69c1eb8d
I'm super excited because later in June I'm going to take longarm quilting lessons at my local quilt shop!!! Just got a call to confirm scheduling on the 17th!
Nothing further interesting to add i'm just excited :)
OMG this thing is amazing.. anyway! My longarm finally arrived 2.5 months after I put down a deposit. It is a 2004 Millie with a 12 foot table (not 14 like I thought but we signed in relief).
Anyway, while I was researching All The Things and getting set up and using the longarm, it occurred to me there's tons of quilting advice going around that is COMPLETELY LONGARM SPECIFIC.
And a lot of those blogs posts etc fail to mention this... so I thought I would share / reassure you.
Pressing Seams open
The debate rages, but really it only applies to longarms, since the top is stretched tight enough to expose any spaces between seams, and the needle is going at industrial speed with high tension thread stronger than the regular home use thread. This is why you read people saying the needle will pierce the connecting threads in the seams.
There's literally no chance of this happening on a domestic. None.
It's hard enough to get a straight line when SID, can you imagine being so accurate you're getting literally in between the seams? Yeah, no.
(also there was a HUGE debate about this in LA specific FB group, loads of longarmers still SID on pressed open seams with no issues)
Backing Fabric Size
You'll often see recommendations to have your backing fabric 4", 6" even 8" bigger than your quilt top - around ALL SIDES! Again, this is specific to longarms only. It needs more fabric to grab on the rollers and side clamps, that's it.
If you're FMQ a baby blanket on a domestic, there's no reason to have the backing even 2-3" bigger. Any more than that it gets in the way.
Things like squaring up your quilts or preventing wavy borders apply to both -they are just way more noticeable when longarm quilting. Besides, a nice square non way edge quilt is just best practise.
If I think of any others I'll add them or if you have any questions just holler.
(yes, it is as awesome as it looks and no I refuse to look at bank balance for a while)
My mom's health is not good lately, and I've been at a loss for where to ask this until I found this sub.
She's had a giant Pfaff longarm quilting machine. I'd guess it's 8-10 feet long and is, as I'm sure you know, heavy as heck. I'm just planning ahead here, but how would I go about selling something like this down the road? I don't know the model, don't even know where to look. It's been a few years since it's been turned on, but I assume it's in near perfect condition.
Would I start with the local sewing store? EBay? Some quilting hardware site unknown to a non-quilter? What would I look for when describing it, other than model number? What accessories would help to mention?
I have a PC Quilter which only works with ancient computers (Windows XP) - both computers I have, have died. I'd much rather go with a newer, more stable computer or laptop setup, but have not found anyone who has created compatible software for a newer operating system. Any ideas and/or input welcome! :)
I have two quilt sandwiches, basted and waiting for quilting, but my work has gotten so hilariously busy that I think I may just pay to have them quilted. I'd rather have finished quilts that I didn't do 100% by myself than two piles of unfinished fabric that is alllll me.
I also have only a home machine, and these are on the larger side - they're meant to be generously sized throws, but they'd probably fit a twin or even full-size mattress. Quilting on a home machine is a challenge I want to tackle, but it could be months before I can start such a big project.
Has anyone else sent out a quilt for long arm quilting? How did you find someone good to work with? I would want an all-over, fairly simple pattern, and have seen prices ranging from $0.01 to $0.02 per square inch - quite a range, and that can really add up on a bigger quilt. I'm happy to support artisans in their work, but my inner bargain hunter cringes at the upper end of the prices.
I'd be happy to take recommendations either for places to look or for longarm quilting services you can recommend. I'm willing to ship anywhere in the continental US.
General advice/experiences/suggestions also very welcome.
I have a quickly pieced jelly roll race quilt top that I don't mind using for my first try at longarm quilting. I can't wait!
