Holding on to a quilt

LOL, that looks like what I made. Except I was one step cheaper and scavenged styrofoam box lids from work. They just happened to be the perfect height! I covered them with white mactac to hold everything together and cut out a notch to fit my machine. It works great and is a good conversation starter at retreats!! Allison

I've found a use for DH's old law Books. I put them under the table legs and raised it to match the sewing table. It worked. Not pretty, but practical.

I've managed nearly all the straightline quilting today. There were some glitches, but a blind man on a galloping horse would be glad to see them.

MY main annoyances are: = I put the needle in the fabric and take a stitch and the stitch is

I suppose it is all rather like learning to drive. Changing gears, watching mirrors and steering seem impossible when we first start to learn. After a while it all gets automatic.

At least the fabric wasn't catching quite so badly today. I dumped the walking foot and _made_ myself use the feed dogs down and bouncy foot method. When it clicked, it _did_ feel good. Then I would blink, or one hand would shift and I was careering off on a tangent. It's going to be a learning curve, but thatnks to you all, I feel encouraged enough to keep at it.

Except, of course, I want it to be perfect, NOW! =D

Nel (Gadget Queen)

I kept my eyes on eBay and got a Horn cabinet for between 100 & 200 GBP. Had to collect it from York and take it back to the right side of the Pennines ;-) So don't give up hope, they are out there without spending megabucks

Lizzy

This is less expensive than buying a lift:

-Irene

Ha! Good luck with that "perfect" stuff. I have been doing this for quite a while, and I am not perfect, although I keep trying. As an experiment, try using your bouncy foot and *not* dropping the feed dogs. See how that works. Some people leave the dogs up and set the stitch length to zero, but I don't even bother changing the stitch length.

I would never have thought it possible when I started, but I have become pretty good at straight line free motioning. Not perfect, but certainly acceptable to me.

Iris

Well, I'll be dipped. It just never crossed my little mind that it was reasonable to do that. Turning a heavy big quilt 90° to stitch 2" and then turn the rascal again is more than I'm willing to do. I think I'll try this free motion/ free thinking manner. Polly

Who's in charge of your sewing machine? "Got a mind of its own" is not the right answer :-) YOU can decide, and YOU can go any direction your heart desires.

The only caveat is that bobbin cases are designed for the thread to pull off in only one direction, and when you start pulling fabric in another direction, it sometimes leads to tension issues and skipped stitches. It helps to take it a bit more slowly when you move backwards -just something to keep in mind.

Free the moti>Well, I'll be dipped. It just never crossed my little mind that it was

So that's why some of my stitches are big and little at the same time.

Finally bought a darning foot and practiced some stippling, it worked a treat.

Thank you for your advice.

I finally took courage (and the quilt) in both hands and just went for it.

Results to follow. My quilt is OK, and certainly got better as I went along. Straight lines were hard, but not having to turn the quilt was really good. I'm going to something a little more exciting on the frame.

Then I did a silk cushion that has been a UFO for so long it no longer matters. I had to follow some lines. It worked really, really well. OK some of the lines are a bit skewy, but by the time everything else was in place a wild man on a galloping horse would have been glad to see them.

So, lessons learned?

=Practice makes sense! (Perfect only comes before Practice in the dictionary) =TANQP! =Confidence is all; just DO IT! =When you stop and start, KEEP YOUR HANDS STILL. =Look where you are going, or you'll be going where you're looking!

Thanks, everybody. Nel (GQ)