They Laughed When I said I was Going to Machine Quilt a Quilt I had Spent Weeks Stitching Together …But When They Saw the Finished Quilt, They Couldn’t Believe Their Eyes and They Accused Me of Sneaking it to the Professional Longarm Machine Quilter and Paying Cash from My Cookie Jar so Nobody Would Discover My SecretFunny thing is that I was Amazed at How Easy Machine Quilting was Using Tips from PamFrom: Penny Halgren Dear Friend, If you are anything like I am, I spend hours making a quilt top. Should I sew sashing into the block, or just stack the blocks next to each other, creating a design within a design? Should I take on the challenge of circles or clamshells, or stick with the known quantities of squares and half square triangles, with maybe some Flying Geese sprinkled in? Once I have worked my way through those issues, there’s the decision about how large to make the quilt. Often that is based on who it is for. My son is over 6 feet tall, so a quilt that is much less than that is pretty useless in his eyes. Stephanie, on the other hand, loves her cuddly couch-size quilts – bigger than lap but smaller than twin. Then it’s off to the quilt shop to pick the fabric. I do make a quick stop at my fabric stash to see if there is something interesting, but truthfully, most of the time a new quilt requires a trip for new fabric. Then there’s the whole process of cutting the fabric, stitching patches into blocks; blocks into rows and eventually into a quilt top with sashing and borders. By the time it is finished, I have invested hours and weeks in the quilt, and the last thing I want to do is ruin it with puckers and tucks created by poor machine quilting.
Years ago, I tried machine quilting. The experience was full of frustration and the resulting quilt - - well, I’m glad it hadn’t spent hours and hours making that quilt. You can get a flavor of the results to the right. It was a baby quilt for a friend; one that she was planning to use with her baby, so I knew it wasn’t destined to be any kind of prize-winning quilt. But the quilt I just finished is different. Frankly, I’m too cheap to take a quilt to a professional machine quilter to have it quilted. It just seems to me that somehow I should be able to figure out how to finish what I started without making a major investment in someone else’s time. So, I decided to take the time and learn how to machine quilt like an expert. Doing the Research on Machine Quilting With my background in strategic planning, I decided that the first thing to do was research. So, I invested in a book. Then another. And then another. Each one advertised that it had the answer for successful machine quilting. There was lots of information, much of it was the same from one resource to the other. It all sounded so promising. But when I tried, all I got was more of the same frustration I experienced many years ago when I machine quilted my first quilt. Six machine quilting books later, I decided to call on an expert. But who should I call? There’s The Quilted Rose right here in La Mesa. They do some fabulous machine quilting – all of it on a longarm machine. I called an old friend to see if she could help. But she only does longarm machine quilting, too. But, she suggested that I call another old friend. Jackpot! Like they say “third time is a charm.” Now, an Expert Who Will Share Her Secrets My friend, Pam Bauer, turns out to be an expert machine quilter. Little did I know that a couple of years after we lost touch, she decided that she was going to learn how to machine quilt. Mostly because she wanted to be able to piece and finish more quilts. Once she jumped into machine quilting, she was hooked! She still remembers the frustrations of learning. And she wants us to avoid all of that. She took classes, spent hours quilting on her machine, invested in all of the special tools for machine quilters – finding some real treasures as well as some real dogs – and experimented with all kinds of different techniques. And now, 10 years later, she has narrowed it all down to what is essential, and eliminated what is frustrating for beginners. After investing that much time, money and frustration, many machine quilters would be happy to share one or two tips, secretly wanting us, too, to suffer through. But not Pam. She wants all beginner machine quilters to avoid the frustration and suffering so they will become highly skilled at machine quilting in a short time. And so, she agreed to be interviewed on the phone and share her secrets with us. But, first, we wanted to find out what questions about machine quilting our quilting community really had. Why should we decide what topics should be discussed? A survey was created. A list of questions for Pam was generated, and those questions are the basis for the interview with Pam. And She Shares Her Secrets with You The Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation interview with expert machine quilter, Pam Bauer was held the evening of May 21, with almost 100 quilters in attendance – from all over the US and Canada. More than 25 questions were asked of Pam, and she generously shared her detailed and honest answers. Topics like:
In addition, Pam explained how to tie a square knot and bury it inside the quilt – under the top – while your quilt is still in your machine, so you don’t have hundreds of annoying threads all over your quilt while you are machine quilting. And she told us exactly what gloves to buy. These Atlas 370 gloves have rubber fingers and an open back, so your hands don’t sweat. And they are washable, and (thankfully) not that expensive. And What Did the Eavesdroppers Have to Say About the Tips from Pam? The quilters who were on the call were thrilled with the great information Pam provided:
Listening is One Thing, Doing it is A Whole Different Story ...... Or is it? The information from Pam was outstanding, and everything she explained was very clear. Still, I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about MY ability to use the tips and have success. But, over the weekend, I decided that it was a beautiful weekend for a challenge. So, I got my final few resources that Pam suggested - Bottom Line thread, Atlas gloves, and transfer paper. Saturday morning I did everything I could to delay starting. I had a long breakfast, played with the dog, had a long conversation with m. mouse (the official How-to-Quilt cat), set up the sewing machine, re-arranged my sewing table... Well, you get the idea. The only thing I didn't do was unpack more boxes from moving. Finally, there was nothing left to do but sit down and work. I did some stitching on my practice square, which showed me that I needed to adjust the tension on my machine. Once I got that right, there were really no more excuses. So, I put the quilt in the machine and started. Boy, was I surprised! The quilt just glided through the machine. I'm not going to tell you that it is perfect, but it is 1000 times better than any of the machine quilting I have done before. Plus, it was 1000 times less frustrating.
And, what exactly did I change? First, I changed the batting. My favorite batting was tossed aside for this project. I still got to use 100% cotton batting, but I switched to Warm and Natural. Second, I got different thread. My favorite thread was tucked away in the drawer - saved for more piecing - and I used Bottom Line. Third, I used the practice square. I'm not one for too much practice. My kids will tell you that I usually just jump right in and the "doing" is the practice. Not this time. I actually used the practice square for that. It gave me the opportunity to check my tension and get comfortable with my technique. Fourth, I knew how to change the tension on my machine. Well, changing the tension wasn't too much of a mystery before. I knew how to move the dial. But, I was never quite sure which way to move it based on how I wanted the stitches changed. After listening to Pam, I knew I needed to increase the tension (move the dial to a higher number) in order to make my top stitches tighter. Fifth, I used Pam's miracle gloves. It was really difficult for me to believe that just gloves would make a difference. I had seen gloves and rubber fingers before, but never thought they would make a difference. Boy, was I wrong. Those gloves were the best! Before I was grabbing the quilt to guide it. But, with the gloves, you barely need to touch the quilt, and you've got it under control. Just listening to Pam, and using those 5 simple tips and techniques changed my machine quilting experience from a nightmare to a dream. And your machine quilting experience can be equally successful. Whether you are a beginner machine quilter or an experienced machine quilter looking for some tips to improve your skills, you will discover more tips and techniques than you can try in just one quilt. As a matter of fact, one of my "it hasn't been quilted since I made it 11 years ago" quilts is next on the list to use more of Pam's techniques and tips. I can't wait to get my hands on the CD with this information on it! After all, who wouldn’t be happy to hear, in detail, how to layer your quilt and virtually eliminate the possibility of machine quilting puckers and tucks into it? Because the information Pam shared during this call is so valuable, we decided to make it available to you. Plus, Pam said that each workshop required her to bring 10 fabric sandwiches for practice. The cost of those alone could be $31.95, plus the cost of the workshop (at least $80.00 for a 2 day workshop) and the cost of the fabric for the quilt (from $100-200, depending on the size of the quilt), for a total of $211.95 per workshop – plus the hours sitting in class. And she told me that she attends 2-3 workshops each year. And I'm sure that workshops with world renowned machine quilters such as Kathy Sandbach, Karen Stone, Paula Reed, Karen McTavish, and Diane Gaudynski would cost way more than $80.00 apiece. That adds up to a grand total of $4,239.00, if she took 2 each year. (Shhh – don’t tell her husband!) In addition, she told me that she has a book shelf full of books about machine quilting – yet there are just 2-3 that she continually refers to and considers valuable resources (see the links below). I’m sure that she has at least 53 books about machine quilting – of the hundreds that are available. Since quilting books generally cost between $19.95 and $27.95 each; that could be an investment of $1,269.35. Plus, every time she goes to a quilt show or takes a class, she invests in the newest tool, to get every advantage in her machine quilting. With the cost of quilting tools ranging between $6.95 and $30.95, over the past 10 years, that could be a total investment in tools of $947.50 (and that’s only 5 little goodies each year – and we know she bought more than that!). All of that adds up to a grand total of $6,455.85. Plus 10 years of practice! You'd probably agree that spending 1 ½ hours is a rather small amount of time to invest to save 10 years of aggravation. And, think of how much fabric you could have with $6,455.85 in your pocket. You could make skiddles of quilts. By investing in this CD set, you get every word of the call, as if you were there - even though you might have been doing something else during the live call. You’ll be able to play it whenever you want and as many times as you want to. You can enjoy listening to the call in your car while you are on the way to the quilt shop. Imagine learning new tricks you can use when you start quilting when you get home. We all know that telephone calls are fleeting, and it’s easy to forget what was said. And, if you have your very own copy of the call, you’ll never need to wonder whether you missed anything important when your dog barked in the middle, or when the other phone rang. This call is worth its weight in gold. Pam shared every one of her secrets that beginning machine quilters need to know, that has taken her over a decade to uncover and sort through. All of her insights, inspiration and hard work, without the pain of your learning are right there on the CDs for you to use. Just listen to her, and you'll know exactly what to do to make your machine quilting perfect.Your copy of the CD set is a tiny investment of $27.97. Plus, you get a CD with the transcription of the call so you can read what she said and highlight the most important points. This makes it actually a 3 CD set - since the call takes 2 CDs and the transcription is on a separate disc. You can't afford to pass up the opportunity to have this information on your very own CD set to listen to and read whenever you want. And, you won't be racking your brain to remember what Pam said. Just a month ago, I attended a seminar, and was so fascinated with one of the speakers that I ordered a copy of the exact speech he gave at the event. I was listening to it in my car just yesterday, and I could swear it was a different seminar. I recognized some of the speech, but there were many parts of his talk that I had totally forgotten - and I took great notes, didn't fall asleep, and wasn't distracted by anyone sitting next to me or across the room I was amazed - how could I have forgotten things he said such a short time ago? But it happens. We forget 80% of what we heard in about a week. Whether or not you were listening to the call, having your own copy of the CD can make your machine quilting experience a most pleasant adventure. And your family and friends will be amazed at the beautiful quilts you will make. Even if you think you'll never want to machine quilt, invest. Six months ago, I thought I'd never want to machine quilt, either. I was a dedicated hand quilter, and look at me now - ready to jump into machine quilting with both feet and eyes wide open. You might decide, too, that you want to try your hand at machine quilting - now that you have more than one finished quilt top just waiting to be quilted. You'll be missing the boat if you pass up this opportunity.
Please send me the CD with the Pam Bauer, expert machine quilter interview for the special price of just $24.97. Special Introductory Membership in TheQuiltingCoach.com
Resources abound in TheQuiltingCoach.com. Hundreds of quilt block patterns, articles about quilting, pictures of quilts and quilt blocks, step-by-step guides of quilt blocks and quilts, discussion forums and tons more. Every resource you can imagine is right at your fingertips in TheQuiltingCoach.com, and you can play for free for 2 months! What could be better than that? After the second month, you will be charged the low rate of $24.97 per month. You can cancel any time. Once your order is complete, you will be taken to a special, secret page where you can test drive www.TheQuiltingCoach.com for two months for FREE.
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren www.TheQuiltingCoach.com P.S. These are two of Pam's treasured resources. If you are interested in them, click below to order from amazon.com at a great price!
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