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Favorite Finds
Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan
I am not good at machine quilting using a regular sewing machine. I don't have a longarm machine, so I take my quilts to a professional to be quilted. She does a beautiful job, and she fits me in no matter how busy she is. It would be nice if I could feel confident enough in my own work to machine-quilt my smaller projects, such as wall quilts and runners.
Pat Sloan says it's easy to machine-quilt once you follow her simple hints. In her book, Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan (Leisure Arts, 2007, $16.95, 80 pages, softcover), she shares her favorite hints and tricks to help quilters like me.
You don't need a fancy new machine, but one with a larger space between the arm and the needle helps. The machine must have the ability to lower the feed dogs. It helps to have several types of darning feet. Having the needle-down option is a great feature, and so is a sewing-machine-bed extension or a cabinet that allows your quilt to lie flat and even with the machine's throat plate.
I found some good hints about preparing the quilt for quilting -- the part I hate the most. I also learned that I just need more practice and some patience. I can't expect to be able to completely machine-quilt a project in an hour or two -- patience really is a virture in the machine-quilting world.
If you are interested in learning to machine-quilt using your home sewing machine, check out Pat Sloan's book at your local quilt shop.
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