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Quick and Easy Tips for Successful Machine Quilting |
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To control your stitches: - Put your hands down on the area you are quilting, like a frame, with your thumbs touching. The area between your hands is the only area to pay attention to as you work.
- Have in your mind where you will be stitching, and what kind of shape you will be making. Then watch the fabric where you want to stitch - not the needle as it is stitching.
- Practice stitching on a fabric sandwich (2 layers of fabric with a piece of batting between) about 24 inches square. Practice stitching various shapes, and pay attention to the sound of your needle. The goal is to move your fabric about 1/8 of an inch as your needle goes up and down.
About thread: - As a beginner, it is better to use light thread on light fabric. As cool as it sounds to use dark thread on a light fabric, every stitch will be magnified - and every mistake will look worse. If you want your stitches to show, you could use light thread on a dark fabric. For some reason, that
combination does not show the mistakes. - A lot of thread for machine quilting comes on a cone. That saves money and time (having to re-thread your machine). If your sewing machine does not have a built in thread stand, you could put the cone in a glass measuring cup, and let it bounce around in there.
- Be sure that the thread is coming off of the cone from the top, not un-rolling from the side. (I use this method, and have found that I need to place the measuring cup on the side of my machine, instead of behind it. For some reason the angle that it feeds into the machine makes a difference.)
Place your hands so they make a frame around your stitching area. Click the picture to see a video of machine quilting.
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Happy Quilting! 
Penny is the author of 9 books for beginner quilters and a self-taught quilter of more than 26 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts. www.How-to-Quilt.com
Specializing in Information for Beginning Quilters www.TheQuiltingCoach.com
Where Quilters Connect www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact. ©2007, Penny Halgren |
