For our first RST quilt-along, Rachel van Tilborg’s Friendship Bracelets quilt, we’re inviting participants to share their experiences and reflections of the quilt-making process. Resident long-armer Amy Wade is our first month’s quilt-along guinea pig! It’s not too late to join — check out our details for more information and see contributions at #RSTQAL on Instagram!
I love to see a woman’s arm stacked with bracelets. I love it just about as much as I love to see a woman’s sewing room stacked with modern fabric! When I first thought of doing the RST quilt-along I thought it was quaint and would be a good distraction from some of the more serious quilts I have in mind for this year. Also, it might take me back to summer camps of my youth when it became a competition to see who could make and wear the most friendship bracelets.
The stack of bracelets in this quilt has me thinking about the bracelets I’ve worn throughout my life. Come to find out, I’ve been a little obsessed with bracelets for many years, way before style was any concern. In the early 70’s I wore a POW bracelet. Since I was an Army brat, our family actually knew the serviceman whose name was on my bracelet. When I think of that, it seems a little heavy for seven year old, but I was probably much older than my years (just as I am much younger now than my years). Also, in the 70’s I collected and wore an abundance of charms on a bracelet. I’m positive I drove my elementary teachers crazy with the jingle-jangle of that thing. I wore it faithfully until one of the charms dug into the palm of my hand during recess. Let’s just say, the thread-knotted friendship bracelet that came into favor in the 70’s proved much more ergonomically acceptable for a 10 year old’s lifestyle. (more…)
Amy Wade is our resident long-arm quilter and owner of Amy Wade Originals. In her periodical “Quilty by Association” posts, she gives us a peek into the long-arm world and shares her tips and tools of the trade.
I’m a longarm quilter. When I see a top, my mind starts clicking pictures of it with different quilting techniques, patterns, and thread choices. But almost always, I do not use the first design that I latch on to. I’m not sure why that is, but I feel no guilt in moving on to another design choice because I have the advantage of knowing a lot of different digitized quilting patterns. It’s sort of a trade secret that I want to let out of the bag.
You might wonder why I would want to explain this part of the longarm quilting process as someone who does this for a living. It’s because the one line I do not like to hear is, “do whatever you want.” This scares the bejeezey out of me! I know I will love what I do, but will you? The more a customer knows, the better I can finish her top. Therefore, I hope that my clients will want to engage more in the pattern-picking process by knowing some of the great patterns that are out there.
I have a Gammill long-arm machine that is equipped with Statler Stitcher software. Pulling a description from Gammill’s website, “The system can determine the pattern size, block size, stitches per inch, repetitions of the pattern and the offset of the pattern.” It is an amazing machine that brings out creativity in me that I didn’t even know I have. (Side note: digital long-arm systems are a booming business. Here are just the systems I know about: CompuQuilter, HQ Pro-Stitcher, Innova Auto Pilot, IntelliQuilter, Machine Quilting Robot, PC Quilter, Pro-Stitcher, Q Bot, Quilt Artist, Quilt Magician, Quilt Motion, Quilt Sew Clever, Shirley Stitcher, and Side Saddle!) There are literally thousands of digitized patterns. My machine has over 4,000 patterns loaded on it designed by quilters and graphic artists from all over the world. In addition to that, my very favorite site to peruse is Intelligent Quilting. The patterns are easy to see and scroll through, and it’s a great site to start your imagination flowing. (Just don’t be buying any of these unless you own a long-arm system!)
Do you know a few of the basic terms in the digitized pattern genre? There are E2E (edge to edge), background fills, frames, blocks, point-to-point, along with borders and sashings. When you are searching for patterns, look at all of them, not just the one category you think your quilt top design fits into. Recently I did a custom quilt using a border pattern that I manipulated into an E2E. I love the overall modern effect:
Once I’ve picked a design or two, one of my passions is to connect different patterns together to form a unique design for my customers. I don’t always use a block pattern as a block or a sashing pattern in a sash. My system makes the connecting very simple (and fun!) because it utilizes a touch screen and literally allows me to draw connections with my finger or stylus. I doodle and improvise. I am a huge fan of Angela Walters’ free motion quilting; I’ve seen her do it up close, and I’ve even taken lessons from her. But unless I set aside ten years to practice, my quilting will not look as remarkable as hers. I strive for that, but know I need the help of digitized patterns.
As always, you can Google long-arm digital patterns to find ideas. However, on behalf of long-armers around the globe, please leave the picking of a specific design to your quilter! They know their machines and systems best. There are particular designers I gravitate toward because I know that their designs will “stitch out” (another cool term to know) beautifully and without errors. And when I am standing in front of my machine staring at a beautiful top that I know took many hours to produce, I don’t want any added headaches. Once I get my groove on, I just want to quilt, quilt, quilt.
So next time you’re tempted to tell your longarm quilter to “do whatever you want,” take a few moments and brainstorm. Even having a few general design ideas will help give your quilter an idea of what sort of quilting you like best, even if she isn’t able to use those exact patterns. The important thing to remember is that specifics help us make you happy, which is really all any of us (quilters and clients) want. Help us help you!
Amy Wade is our resident long-arm quilter and owner of Amy Wade Originals. In her periodical “Quilty by Association” posts, she gives us a peek into the long-arm world and shares her tips and tools of the trade.
I recently attended a digital stitch conference for my Gammill Statler Stitcher. I had an “aha” moment at least three times in each lecture. For those of you not familiar with the long-arm machine, it uses a CAD software program called Creative Studio to motorize and maneuver the quilting machine head. I thought, before the conference, that I was using a lot of the functions and features; however, 90 percent of my “aha” moments came when the instructor demonstrated how to do something in one or two simple steps.
I did learn a new trick that I thought was brilliant and wanted to pass along to you: machine appliqué using your long-arm machine. What a great way to add a dimension to a quilt top without struggling with either hand-turned edges or satin stitches on your domestic machine! What I learned was specifically for the Statler Stitcher, but any long-arm could accomplish a similar outcome.
Last week I thought that I would put the long-arm appliqué technique to the test and take photos along the way. I had recently received the new Monaluna collection “Under the Sea” and was anxious to whip something up. (more…)
Amy Wade is our resident long-arm quilter and owner of Amy Wade Originals. In her periodical “Quilty by Association” posts, she gives us a peek into the long-arm world and shares her tips and tools of the trade. Hi, Amy!
Before I started my long-arm quilting journey, I will admit to being intimidated with the process of preparing my quilt to be quilted. I didn’t understand how a quilt gets quilted by a long-arm machine, and it seemed like such a huge effort. But after loading dozens and dozens of quilts, I will tell you that there are definitely ways to make your long-arm quilter happy—and a happy LAQ (long-arm quilter) can do so much more than a grumpy one. If you could hire a sous chef to prepare all your ingredients before you began cooking tonight’s dinner, you might be more inclined to truly concentrate only on the cooking process. (Run that one past your partner!)
First up, accuracy. While you may believe that you have completed a perfectly square and perfectly pieced top, you very likely haven’t. And that is more than okay: you’ve finished it! Squaring up your back and your top is probably the most important thing to try to achieve before handing your quilt over. Besides the obvious, why? The top, batting and backing are aligned on rails that are perfectly parallel for the long arm quilting process. The machine only has a certain amount of “throat” space; therefore, your quilt will be rolled on the rails as it is quilted. Keeping an even surface will result in a well-balanced finished top. Some LAQs will baste the entire quilt once it is on the rails and others will float tops. Either way, a squared up top and back are crucial. Do this by using a large square ruler and extended (36” or more) straight edge on a large table or hard surface (not carpet!). As you are squaring up your quilt, be careful that your borders, if you have them, are not wavy. Wavy borders can cause overlap or puckering in the fabric when quilted. If your borders are wavy, figure out why before taking it to the LAQ. Quilting will never improve wavy borders; it will only enhance this design challenge.
A few small details about your backing might not seem that important, but they could ultimately challenge your enthusiasm for the finished masterpiece. Make sure to seam all backing parallel to the quilt top and the bottom edges. If the seams are horizontal, there is a possibility that the back fabric will stretch and distort when it is loaded onto the quilting table.
For most fabric lovers, it is hard to imagine why you need to make sure the backing is at least 4” larger than your quilt top on each side. Isn’t this wasting fabric? Until I long-arm quilted, it felt like it was. Ultimately, though, your quilter needs the extra space to balance the quilt, allow for shrinkage, and also to have space on the sides to check needle tensions. There are clamps that hold the back’s vertical edges steady and although there are tricks that the LAQ has for minimizing the weight of these, there still needs to be some extra fabric on the back to help. As for the extra fabric on the top and bottom, something needs to be able to be pinned to the rails!
Also be sure to press your top and backing, because it is realistic to expect to pay added charges if the quilter needs to take the time to press for you. Seams should not be pressed open on the back. A sturdier, longer lasting quilt will have seams pressed to one side. This will lock the fabric better and generally give your finished quilt a longer life. A pressed open seam opens the door for a single point of tearing in that stitched seam.
When all of this has been achieved and you are getting ready to head over to the LAQ, you are going to fold your top and back, right? Well, folding it accordion style and hanging both of them over a padded hanger just might have your LAQ weeping with joy. I guarantee I would probably throw in a jig or hug or something equally embarrassing! Last but by no means least, be sure to indicate the direction of your quilt. Pin a piece of paper to the top left edge of both the quilt top and the backing. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Directional quilting can really enhance your piece work.
These are steps that I appreciate when I receive a quilt from a client. It gives me more confidence and allows me to focus on design. And speaking of design and design choice, that will be another post! But until then, make sure to communicate, communicate, communicate with your LAQ about your likes and dislikes. No mind reading allowed!
