Books for Quilters!
Number Thirty-Seven * January 1, 2000 Classifieds | Table of Contents Please allow entire page to load before clicking links. MACHINE QUILTING: Lynn's Long Day at the Long-arm By Lynn Holland I can't believe I quilted the whole thing. In just one (very long) day. Of course, it was on a long arm machine, and I did have the help of a veteran machine quilter, but I did it. But let me start at the beginning.
Josh and Kristi were married January 2, 1999, and the top has been sitting in the bottom of the closet since then. Knowing I would never finish this quilt if I did it by hand, I decided to explore machine options. I had partially quilted a full-size sampler quilt on my Bernina several years ago and swore never to do that again. Even with Harriet Hargrave's book by my side, no matter how I rolled it, clipped it and mashed it , the stitching was a disaster. I had all this fabric with no place to go, and most of the time I couldn't see what I was doing. After outlining the blocks, I gave up and finished the thing by hand. So I had decided to have someone else machine quilt Josh and Kristi's quilt. I collected some literature and visited some web sites, but just hadn't gotten around to identifying someone to do it. Then suddenly it was November and the top still wasn't done. I began to panic. I remembered that back in September I had met Marjorie McDonald at the East Cobb Guild Quilt Show. Marjorie is the proprietor of Master's Designer, which specializes in all things fiber, including custom clothing, quilting, beadwork and hand-dyed fabric. But what really piqued my interest was her willingness to let customers rent time on her long arm quilt machine. So I took her card, put this factoid in my mental file drawer, where it sat for a while. Then in October at Houston, I had a chance to visit the booths of several machine quilting vendors, and I began to think about doing the quilt myself. I called Marjorie and made an appointment for a Saturday in early December. Arriving at her studio, I was armed with my top, backing, Quilter's Dream batting and a huge bunch of naivete. The setup part was easy enough. In less than an hour, Marjorie had helped me through getting all three layers just so. Then began pattern selection, never my strong point. Rob was there to help me pick the design, and after steering him away from the elaborate feather patterns he prefers, I selected two fairly simple block designs and a complementary border. However, we then discovered that the first design was too large, and needed to be reduced, and that the process would go faster if we had multiples of the pattern. So while Rob went off to Kinko's to get the copy work done, I was able to test drive the machine. It was the only time in my life that I wished I had spent more time in a video arcade. The machine is "driven" using two cushioned hand grips, with buttons on the ends, just like the machine gun triggers in a fighter jet, or a Nintendo controller. The printed design is followed using a laser light, which sounds a lot easier than it is, particularly for someone who has difficulty manipulating a mouse!
At some point I gobbled down the lunch Rob brought in,
while he took over the helm for a block or two. But this
was my project, and there were other tasks he needed to
attend to. Rob left, and I stitched on. Marjorie was
there to remind me for the hundredth time how to
reposition the rails each time I needed to move on to the
next row. Around three o'clock, I began to wonder if I
would finish before dark. Although I was picking up speed
and accuracy, I began to panic, wondering if I was
totally foolish to have undertaken this project in the
first place. Would the quilt look like a thrift store
refugee after all the time and money I had poured into
it? Would it be an embarrassment to me and the
recipients? Regardless, I pressed on. Rob and the
daughter person came by to check on everything around
four, and I had gotten to the far border, stitched that
and was moving back to the top of the quilt with the
alternate pattern. I had really started to get the
"feel" of the machine, and even though my legs
and back were beginning to hurt, the basic experience was
somewhat less painful. The spectators left, but Marjorie
stayed with me, always encouraging. Classifieds
SEAGULL QUILT PATTERNS 72 ELMWOOD AVENUE, EAST AURORA, NY 14052 http://users.aol.com/seagullq/seagullq.htm
HEARTLAND QUILTWORKS Heartland Quiltworks asks: http://planetpatchwork.com/tvqmain/<http://www.heartlandquiltworks.com%20<
MOTHER HEN'S QUILT
EMBROIDERIES
Fabric Loft of New England Home of the wide width fabrics.
Specializing in one piece quilt backings. All fabrics are
90" to 120" wide.
Old-Fashioned
Quilt Frames Thomas and Annie Kaczmarek
offer easy-to-assemble old-fashioned quilt frames with a
variety of features. Style #1 has 3 tilt positions.
They're 93 inches long and 24 inches wide. Only $135.00
INCLUDING shipping and handling. A smaller version, 58
inches long, is $100.00 including s&h.
BREAKING TRADITIONS Cathedral Windows Quick Method Quilt
Greenhaven Enterprises Greenhaven, a bed and breakfast retreat especially for
Quilters, on the Olympic Peninsula.
MY FAVORITE THIMBLE My Favorite Thimble is so glad that the Fall Quilting
Season is upon us. It's time to start a new project or
finish one that you began earlier in the year. Make your
quilting much easier with My Favorite Thimble. Also, we
will soon be introducing our new line of note cards
called FABRICNOTES. These handmade cards feature swatches
of beautiful fabrics. They're the perfect card to send to
your quilting friends. Just $8.00 for a pack of 6 cards
including matching envelopes.
THE CRAFT CONNECTION The Craft Connection ( http://www.craftconn.com/ ) is the most exciting place on the Internet if you want to make or sell handcrafts. We sell quality cotton fabric, Mettler and Sulky thread, and quilting notions, all at a discount. Fabrics are linked to coordinating fabrics, so you know your choices will look great together. We try to find fabrics you won't see anywhere else. And we'll package them into packets of fat eighths, fat quarters, or 5" squares, so you can get a good variety without a big cash outlay. Among our fabric categories are florals, pictorials, and guy stuff, and you should see the new Lost Fabrics of Atlantis collection. Every month some items are for sale at 20 percent off our already discounted prices. You can use your credit card online on our secure server to safely purchase our fabrics and also our crafters' products. If you're a crafter, you can sell here and take credit cards without having your own credit card vendor account. Check out our Free Stuff. Each month we offer a new pattern and a new lesson. We also have a Calendar of upcoming Quilt Shows. Come by our website at http://www.craftconn.com/.
THE QUILT BLOCK We are a cottage industry located just outside of
Yosemite National Park. We specialize in clothing and
patterns for quilters and for people who love quilts. Or e-mail for more information to The Quilt Block
SILVER DOLLAR SHEEP STATION What is small, soft, and furry and kind to your sewing machine and serger?
SECONDS:
Because we manufacture the Mini Dust-it to a very high
standard, we currently have a good supply of imperfects.
They may be thinner and not as pretty or have some other
defect, but they still work great!
PINETREE QUILTWORKS, Ltd. PineTree Quiltworks is settling comfortably into its
new site and now frequently updates the "What's
New" link (so you can check on *new stuff* there.
The menu in the fabrics department also lists update
dates for your convenience!. Shopping Cart enables you to
add items to your basket with a click!
SCHOOLHOUSE ENTERPRISES Amazing but true!
PERFECT SQUARE PERFECT SQUARE and PERFECT TRIANGLE are tools that
help quilters make quiltpieces more easily and
accurately. Patterns have been written especially for
PERFECT SQUARE and the necessary sheets to make the quilt
are included in the pattern.
PCQuilt for WindowsPCQuilt for Windows is easy to learn and easy to use
quilting software. The block and the quilt are on the
same screen so you can see your quilt emerge as you
design and color your blocks. Combine blocks in a variety
of ways to see endless new designs. The program includes
all the features that have always made PCQuilt easy and
fun to use. Now with the new Windows version, PCQuilt
will help you estimate your yardage, print templates,
quilts and blocks, and has a friendly Windows interface
with easy to use toolbars. PCQuilt comes with a extensive
library of blocks, border, quilts, palettes and fabric
patterns. PCQuilt is also available for the Macintosh.
Look for PCQuilt at your local Husqvarna VIKING Dealer or
visit our website at http://www.pcquilt.com/
.
ADVERTISING WITH TVQ.Our advertisers, both here in the newsletter and at the Planet Patchwork website, have found TVQ to be an effective and economical way to reach thousands of online quilters. Ads in the newsletter are only $5 each (up to 100 words, inquire about longer ads) or 3 for $10, and there are also attractive packages available which combine newsletter and website ads. For more information e-mail rholland@planetpatchwork.com or visit http://www.planetpatchwork.com/adcard.htm. We specialize in helping small quilting-related businesses gain exposure on the internet.
In This Issue:Following is a list of the rest of the stories in this
issue of TVQ. In order to read them, you must be a subscriber.
Subscribing online here and following up with the small
subscription fee will entitle you to eight issues of TVQ,
including this one. You will receive TVQ every six weeks
by e-mail, and will be issued a password to access it
here at Planet Patchwork.
And here's what's inside!
COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, NEWS, IDEAS, BRICKBATS?Like any news publication, TVQ is always
hungry for information about new developments in the area
we are trying to cover. If you have an idea for a story,
or want to tell the world about something you are doing
which relates to computers and quilting, we'd like to
hear about it. Editor and Publisher: Robert Holland, Decatur, GA © 1999 by Robert Holland. All rights reserved. This file may not be reproduced in any form except to be printed out for the personal use of its owner without the expressed, written consent of the copyright holder. |
The story of this
quilt began when my nephew announced his engagement. Of
course, I decided to make a wedding quilt, but I also
decided to keep it simple so that I might finish the
project before his silver anniversary. The fabric was
purchased in July of 1998, and the blue and white Irish
chain top was finished except for the final border by
October of the same year. 
By about noon time,
Rob was back with the copies, Marjorie helped us position
the border and I was off and running. The border was
probably the easiest thing I did all day. It was easy
enough to extend and place, and consisted of three long
rows of continuous stitching. Essentially, with one start
point and one stop, you could stitch all the way across
the quilt. No big deal. However, as I moved on to the
rows of block patterns, I began to see how complicated
this machine thing really is. Each block pattern required
three separate starts and stops and a lot of loops and
points. There were seven blocks across each row, and
eight rows down. I decided not to do the math. Marjorie
suggested that since I had alternating rows, I do all the
ones with the same pattern, go to the far border, and
then reposition my designs to the alternate repeat and
quilt back to the top. After that, we would reposition
the quilt on the frame and do the side borders. 