quilting question...

Can't you make a little piece, fabrics layerd like a quilt' and just try it out?

I could but there is no sense in re-inventing the wheel if I don't have to ;-) especially as this rotter *has* to be finished and handed in on the

One of my machines is designed to where I can push a button and it will do its normal stitch in reverse- feed dogs going backwards and I have to pull the work to me. Do you have such a doohickey?

My other machines... well, it depends on how good I steer. If I steer well and pull the fabric evenly, it looks good. Otherwise... Practice is the answer for that.

-georg

welll.. not a button but a leaver - mine is a rather low tech, low end Janome that takes anything thrown at it - even falling to the floor with a 2 year old didn't faze it despite the cracked case (child was bumped a tad by the fall but didn't get hurt by the sewing machine and learnt a wise lesson on pulling oneself up using a sewing machine.)

I'm over half way in quilting the quilt and my right hand is already taped to cope with the stresses of wrestling

next time I do a whopper I'm going to organise time with a handiquilter and

Love the question!! The problem I see with doing a small sample is that it IS just a SMALL sample. Ya never know what the real thing would turn out to be.

I'm really interested in whether other folks have done this. Sure seems like it would save stress on my arms and on my quilted piece if it would work.

Kay Ahr > I could but there is no sense in re-inventing the wheel if I don't have to

What sort of foot are you using?

With or without a walking foot my Janome does shorter-than-normal-sewing stitches in rev. And I don't think walking feet are designed to reverse anyway are they, based on the teeth gripping fabric and moving it towards the back with each needle rise/fall? The mechanism in the WF doesn't recognise that the machine is in rev. If you are using a jumping foot with feed dogs down it wouldn't matter 'cos you wouldn't need to be in reverse.

I guess I could try pulling more to bring the stitches to the "normal" size but with my luck I would break something - a needle, a sewing foot, my neck as I fell backwards out of my chair, . . . . .

I would quilt all the short sides (two per HST) in a zig-zag top-to-bottom of the quilt, then go back and do all the hypoteneuse (hypoteneuses, hyptoenii, sp?) top-to-bottom of the quilt. Lots of thread ends, but easier sewing and the degree of extra work would depend on how you finish your thread ends.

Good luck with the project.

I remember trying to do something like this a long while ago and discovered that the tension isn't quite the same in reverse as it was going forward. My results did not look as good as going forward. Your machine could be very different. It might be worth a try though. KJ

Our Pat on the Hill may be the only one of us who can do the plural of hypotenwhatevers. Meanwhile, why don't you try just an inch or two in reverse? It just might work great. Polly

I'm using the bog standard sewing foot and max pressure. (turned the dial on the side to full foot pressure)

Hummm knowing my luck with this quilt I would do about the same while pulling. heck I have only managed to half quilt it before having to rip it out due to an inch sized pleat - the re-basted and worked on it again and did a row and the treadle belt broke and would take too long to replace the belt and the stitches are visibly different from my home machine so out it all came again. now I am heading towards 3/4 done on the basics (not the triangles) and my right hand is trying to throw in the towel - I have it nicely taped up now (one of the perks of doing a sportmasseurs training all those years ago - I can do it and do it properly) but am going to have to ignore the pain so as to get this finished. No more queen or larger quilts for me on this little home machine!

I think I will indeed go for more threads than more damage to my thumb tendon. thanks for the idea it was not something I had thought of as yet! btw: I do the several stitches on the stop and snip method and snip as I go so I don't miss that one crossover thread that would other wise get missed LOL

I think I will experiment when I have time to do so on a less important quilt - I have no idea why it hasn't been thrown into the proverbial dark corner yet but it's not far off from heading that way :-(

In theory, yes, absolutely you can do this. In practicality, however, how it looks afterward all depends on each individual machine. You're just about gonna have to just take the plunge and find out.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

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yes I feared as much - I think I will do it Cheryl's way and leave the finding out for a lesser quilt

I like my hair the way it is and it's thin enough already so I can't disguise pulled out hair LOL

Practicing enough to do this well might take you longer than just quilting the monster normally. Are you not using the free motion foot? Roberta in D

"Jessamy" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:4527fb19$0$60075$ snipped-for-privacy@news.wanadoo.nl...

no as i am doing straight line quilting a free motion foot would not assist in straight lines ;-)

free motion quilting goes in any direction so the question would not come up ;-)

I just took a free motion quilting class. She had us doing gridwork (squares and diamonds) as well as stitch in the ditch with our freemotion foot. Takes a bit of practice, but it is much faster than a walking foot.

So yes, you can do straight lines.

marcella

ok I will adjust that to *I* can't do straight lines LOL

I don't own a walking foot so don't use that.

I have done it Jessamy and quite sucessful it was too!

I believe it is 'hypotenuses'! Nothing fancy >gOur Pat on the Hill may be the only one of us who can do the plural of

Seriously? Wow!! (How does it compare with following a drawn line?) . In message , Marcella Peek writes