Quilting with a sewing machine?

Cafe Society
1

How?

I don’t have a sewing machine yet, but my mother has said that for Christmas, she wanted to get me one. However, since it would cost an awful lot to ship the thing, she decided to tell me what she wanted to get me, and then send me a gift certificate to somewhere like Target (which also covers a gift for my husband, too, all on one card, since she’s giving us $400 - sheesh! 3000 miles away and she still spoils us rotten! :eek: )

So, I was surfing around on Target’s website, and found a sewing machine with a “quilting table”. People in the reviews were saying how easy it was to make a quilt. Really? Could I make a real quilt with a sewing machine?

I would love to make quilts. Would I still need to get a quilting frame? Does the sewing machine just sew your top pieces together (the shapes, designs, etc), or could you actually make the whole quilt with one of those things, with the batting in between?

I am a total newbie when it comes to quilting, but I have used sewing machines before, though it’s been a long time and they were very old models. Mostly in Home Ec, though I made a few pairs of sumer shorts at home in my spare time back in high school.

What do I need to know? I would love to make quilts.

In your experience, was it better or worse to use a sewing machine? Easier or harder? Is there more freedom when doing it by hand, or does a sewing machine just make things more convenient?

Help!

2

I am far, far from an expert. I have made one little quilt (bunch of squares) and one for a twin bed (Log Cabin). In both cases I pieced them on the sewing machine and in both cases I tried to quilt them on the machine, also–but that did not work out for me.

However, I know there are people who have done it. What happened to me was that I (1) got a bad skew, (2) sewed two edges together that should not have gone together and (3) ran the needle through my finger while trying to guide the thing. Okay. Three strikes! Back to the quilting hoop, curved needle, and thimble method.

(The Log Cabin quilt was from a book called How to Make a Quilt in a Day. I recommend this book, even though my quilt actually took something like three years. A less sloppy person probably could have actually finished such a quilt in a day.)

3

Quilts are pretty easy, really. The book recommended above is excellent and was also my first.

What you need is pretty much a sewing machine with a quarter-inch foot (quilts are sewn with 1/4" seams, be as exact as you can), fabric, and the usual tools (scissors, seam ripper, etc). A great thing to have is a rotary cutter and mat; it’s basically a pizza cutter for fabric and very handy for cutting strips, squares, etc. and you use a hard foam mat for the base. You don’t have to have those, but they aren’t expensive and they’re very useful.

A quilt top can easily be pieced on a regular sewing machine. Quilting the quilt sandwich is a little more complex; you should have a contraption called a walking foot which pushes all three layers through at the same rate (otherwise the top goes slower than the bottom and it gets screwed up). An applique foot is used for free-motion quilting, where you ‘draw’ with the needle, but for straight lines you use the walking foot. Also, the quilt sandwich gets bulky, and it isn’t easy to shove a large quilt around on a regular machine, though it can be done.

Alternatives to machine-quilting are hand-tying, hand-quilting, and sending the top out to be quilted by someone with a long-arm machine, which is not usually too much money. I send about half my tops out to be quilted and machine-quilt the other half myself. I’ve tried hand-quilting, but it isn’t my thing.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you have, I quilt a lot and know something about most things in the quilting world–but I’m not an expert or anything. I have to go make dinner now, though. :slight_smile:

4

There’s a quilting shop in the southern end of Lake City Way called “In The Beginning” and Pacific Fabrics near Northgate also has a huge quilting section and teaches quilting. (And another place in Pike Place, that’s full of very nice people, but I don’t know if they teach or not). Any of them may be able to help you start quilting, or at least figure out what you’ll need to start quilting.

I’ve tried to start a number of times - I tend to get to the “I bought fabric” stage, and occasionally the prewashing stage. I’ve never gotten very far beyond that.

5

I would worry about the Target-grade machines being strong enough to put up with a lot of quilting over a lot of years. But yes, you can do it–the bigger the quilt the harder it is, though. My mother did a couple of twin-size quilts and it was just about more than she could handle.

6

I’m a hand-quilter - mainly because I have a machine that’s fine for piecing, but quilting is a bit trickier. However, I recently nicked my mother’s 30 year old sewing machine (with her permission), so I’m tempted to try to machine quilt something. But my machine is a $200 cheapie, and it just won’t stand up to three layers.

Of course, I also hand-piece most of my quilts - I’ve been told I’m crazy for that. I just prefer the calmness and relaxation of sitting in front of the TV sewing. It really depends on what you want to get out of it - hand-piecing and hand-quilting definitely takes longer, but to me, it’s enjoyable. You may want to see a finished product faster.

I second the idea of going to a quilting store - I’ve gotten valuable advice and assistance by going to my local store - and it always helps to support local businesses:). You might find your materials a little cheaper at a bulk fabric store, but the advice from a specialized quilting store is invaluable (and many offer classes, too).

E.

7

I’ve done baby quilts using the machine, but nothing bigger. Like dangermom said, it’s tricky, keeping all that buik in the right place. A normal machine doesn’t have enough of a gap to allow you to roll it all up. I’ve seen gadgets on Simply Quilts (DIY Network) that can be attached to normal machines, but they look complicated.

I piece the tops by machine and do the quilting by hand. I just do simple blocks, nine-patches, stars, etc., nothing fancy, and the “homemade” look of hand quilting sorta fits.

I’ve tried to use hoops and frames, but I get better results by just laying the quilt out on the dining room table, and letting the weight of the quilt give me the tautness I need. Which isn’t much – like I said, my quilts do look homemade. :slight_smile:

This is the current project. It’s an easy one, and it’s going pretty well.

If you get the DIY network, watch a few episodes of Simply Quilts. That’ll help you decide if quilting’s something you’d enjoy. I love it, and I have no math skills, no sense of spatial relationships, and I’m lousy at picturing what the final product will look like. But I’m having fun.

8

Thank you for all of the responses! At least now I have a vague idea… I’ll have more questions in the new year, after I get my sewing machine, for certain.

And I’ll definitely pick up that *How to Make a Quilt in a Day * book. :slight_smile:
And amarinth, thank you, I’ll make sure to make a few trips around here to check those places out. My husband and I go to Northgate a lot, so I’ll get him to swing me by next time we go out there.

This sounds like a lot of fun - I’ve seen so many lovely quilts, and I’d love to learn to make some to give as gifts to family and friends. My FIL would especially love something like this.

9

So you know what you’re looking for, it’s really the “Quilt in a Day” series, and you have to find the Log Cabin one. There are a whole lot of them now (log cabin was the first one), in varying degrees of complexity. Only the first few could actually be made ‘in a day.’ They’re by Eleanor Burns.

Also, be warned that this is not exactly a cheap hobby. Once you get hooked on fabric, you won’t be able to stop buying it! It comes in so many pretty colors and patterns, and there’s always more…mmmmm, fabric.

Ask at your quilt shop about what a good beginner’s machine would be. The brands vary a lot and you don’t want to get stuck with a dud. I don’t know much about machines, as I am loyal to my trusty Bernina and have never looked elsewhere (don’t buy one of those unless you’re getting serious).

10

I just discovered that Ms. Burns has a Quilt In a Day program on RFD-TV, once a week. Watched it for the first time the other day, and she’s a good instructor. I might pick up one of her books.

Quilting can definitely be an expensive hobby. I’m making do with a $200 reconditioned Brother machine, but I’m itching for a Bernina, with a sewing table.

When I first started, I bought fabric at the local department store for $3 to $4 a yard. I wondered why the material was so hard to work with, compared to what friends were using. Ding dong! The right material runs $8 to $9 and more a yard.

Now I know why quilters save their scraps. :slight_smile:

11

I quilt with a machine constantly. All the specialty feet are fun but not necessary except for a large quilt or high loft batting. Talk to someone at a fabric store about strip quilting using a rotary cutter–you can make an easy quilt top in a day.

I recommend a Kenmore machine over something from Target in your pricerange.

12

I thought I saw a Kenmore at my local Target, but I could be mistaken (and it could have been another store!)

The ones I have been looking at online were brandnames I have heard before, but I don’t know if they are reliable: Singer, and Brother? Are they okay, or run far away?

13

Oh, and FTR dangermom, the expensive hobby bit doesn’t deter me… though I don’t work, my husband gives me an allowance, and I live a couple of blocks from a JoAnne Fabrics store… I’ve already spent most of my allowances on yarn from my knitting and crochet “habit” - that’s one of the biggest treats to me. They have lots of fabrics, too… I can’t wait! I think I’ll brose and start dreaming tomorrow…

My poor husband. I just love so much to keep my hands busy doing something useful, so when the housework is done, I knit, crochet, even bead a little bit… and there are bins, baskets, buckets, storage containers, and tupperwares full of my needles, yarns, beads, etc. Now my neat-freak husband will be pulling his hair out when he finds new baskets in the new year, full of gasp scraps!

Wheee! :smiley:

14

My grandmother’s Singer, which she bought used in 1955, has now clothed four generations of the Corrvin family and is still going quite well (alas, unlike my Granny, who is now lacking the eyesight for good sewing).

I also have a Brother, which I got for such newfangled innovations as buttonholes and zigzag stitch, and despite the lesser use compared to the Singer, after only 10 years it’s showing distinct signs of being near its end. Oh well, for $100 what do I expect.

15

Piecing is easy and commonly done on a machine, and even a relatively cheap one can do a fine job of it.

Like others have mentioned, it’s the quilting on the machine that’s the tricky part, which is sewing all three of your layers together.

dangermom mentioned a walking foot, which is really, really helpful if you’re quliting in straight lines. Basically, a walking foot is a foot that has moving feed dogs on the top that shift simultaneously with the bottom feed dogs, and pull the entire sandwich through the machine all at once, instead of letting the bottom only get pulled, which leads to things getting wonky. If you’re going to buy a machine at Target, do a little research and see if a walking foot is even made for that machine. And they (the feet) aren’t particularly cheap either. I think mine was in the range of $100 for an older Bernina.

What I haven’t seen mentioned and which is crucial for free motion quilting (not in a straight line) is the capacity to lower the bottom feed dogs on the machine. Lots of lower end machines won’t have this. My older Kenmore had a little plate to put over them that was supposed to block the dogs from grabbing, but it didn’t work very well. With the feed dogs lowered and an embroidery-type foot on the top, you’re the one that controls the rate at which the sandwich is fed through the machine, and also the direction. This is really nifty for machine quilting smaller quilts - you still have to be generally linear to provide for the rolled up material under the arm, but it can be linear in a five-inch swath. I did a baby quilt studded with giant stars this way.

But again, the arm is the limiting factor for freehand machine quilting. At some point, you just can’t stuff a giant rolled up wad under it and expect to be able to move it too. If I have a full-size top that I want machine quilted, I send it out. Professional quilters have a big maching that sits on a frame, and they can baste your sandwich all together too. Your quilt store can refer you do places that do this. (I was going to say ladies that do this, but I bet Quiltguy would take exception to that.)

I also hand quilt, and can’t stand to work in a frame. I can really only hand quilt down towards me, so a frame doesn’t let me get at the other angles. I use a big hoop and move it as needed. Besides, then I can quilt in my recliner and watch movies.

16

I have heard that the quality of Brother machines has gone down in the last few years, but am not sure about that. I’d probably buy the Kenmore. But like I said, I’m clueless about machines, so don’t listen to me. :slight_smile:

JoAnne’s is nice enough, but just wait until you walk into a real quilt store, which will stock better fabric. You’ll go all faint with fabric-lust. Mine has gotten into stocking dupioni silks and velveteens in these amazing colors…

17

I have a quilt’s-worth of Moda “Seaside Roses” fabric that I am afraid to cut into. It is soooooooo beautiful and sooooooo nice–it feels like expensive sheets. You just can’t find fabric like that at JoAnn’s.

Singer sewing machines are, to sewing machines, what Fords are to cars. They are the original and for a long time were good quality, but went downhill when competition reared its ugly head. They are now common but not good quality. I wouldn’t ever try to quilt with one–though they’re fine for piecing.

The Holy Grail of quilt-piecing machines is the Singer Featherweight. They have been out of production for decades (right?) and go for a lot of money.

18

Well, I got my machine - my dear mother, easily confused, just told me to get a sewing machine from Target with my gift card. Anyway, I read some user reviews, and I went to the store itself to see what they had. In my price range, I ended up buying something called a “Shark Euro Pro”. Ay yi yi. Maybe I should have stuck with the Singer brand. :smack:

Anyway, the instructions seem to be aimed at people who already have half a clue about sewing machines. I only have 1/4 of a clue, having last used a sewing machine back in home ec class about oh, 14-15 years ago, now. However, I got by just fine then, and I’ll figure it out this time, too. Damnit.

Here’s my problem* today*:

I can get the thing threaded just fine, and I learned the hard way how to properly insert the needle after having it fall out on me the first time. I get everything set up and ready to go, I use a plain cotton bit of practice material to learn the feel of this thing, lower the presser foot, press the pedal… everything looks like it’s going normal, but then, as I finish off and remove the material to take a look at the stitches, I noticed that only the bottom thread worked (I used two different colours to get started, so I could see better what went wrong where), the top isn’t stitching at all. Every single time, the top thread is somehow “cut”, and is unthreaded from the needle. I rethread, dip the needle down to pick up the bottom thread again, try again - same thing. Top thread gets chopped somewhere. I’m not seeing where or when.

Anyone have any ideas about what’s happening? Or even any links to some good, basic sewing machine FAQs - I’ve checked out a few so far, but was wondering if anyone had a recommendation. I’m thinking of getting a For Dummies type book or along those lines. :wink: The manual is of little help to this beginner.

I’m certain I’ll be back with more newbie mistakes. It’s enough to make me want to sew by hand! :stuck_out_tongue:

19

This probably isn’t the problem, but it’s the only thing I can think of, because it’s happened to me.

Look at the spool of thread and make sure that the thread isn’t catching on that tiny cut in the spool – the little cut where the thread starts, at the top of the spool.

That end of the spool should be placed on the spool holder so that the end is “down”, or else the thread can catch on it as it unwinds.