Creative Free Hand Quilting Designs on a Home Sewing Machine
Hi ,
I have an intense, eye-catching free motion quilting design for you this week. This creative texture is perfect for art quilts and landscapes. Learn how to quilt this quilting design in this video:
And here's a condensed quick video to give you an idea of this design's intense texture:
Quilting Frame Feature - Evolution Hoop Frame
Over the past 5 months, I've assembled multiple quilting frames for a new quilting studio. Now with every single frame Grace Company offers, I have to share my personal favorite:
I honestly think this is our best
quilting frame because it's built with the sturdy legs and rails of a 12 foot frame, but it fits into a much smaller space at 66 inches long.
Before you begin clearing a small space, keep in mind that you'll need to have a couple feet to one side of the frame and space to the back as
well. The minimum space I recommend for this frame is 7 1/2 feet wide x 6 1/2 feet deep.
This extra space includes room for you to quilt from the front or the back of your machine, and also allows room for a larger Qnique longarm to roll back fully without smacking into a wall (never a good thing).
What makes this frame amazing is:
Super sturdy build - Every element of this frame is built thicker and heavier than all other hoop frames.
Goldilocks Space - You have 42-inches of quilting space with this frame before you have to advance
your quilt side to side.
Rolling Rail and Hoop Frame Loading - For quilts smaller than 42 inches wide, load faster onto the rolling back and front rail. For quilts bigger than 42 inches wide, load using the clamps in hoop frame mode.
Any Longarm You Want - This is our only hoop frame capable of
holding our largest Qnique 21X Elite longarm.
This is one of the most important questions to ask when considering any quilting frame or machine. Unfortunately, it's the question I'm asked the least as a longarm and quilting frame
dealer.
I'm currently testing each of our Qnique longarms to see how much quilting space you'll get at the beginning and end of a king sized quilt. What is the maximum quilt block size you can quilt? I like to think in terms of quilt blocks because I often want to be able to quilt across an
entire block in one pass.
this is our most complicated frame because you have two different options for loading - hoop frame style and rolling rail style. I tested both methods and found with a Qnique 19 the maximum size quilt block is 12-14 inches. The size depends on the way you load this frame.
At the very beginning of your quilt, you can quilt a 16-inch quilt block in one pass if the frame is loaded rolling rail style as shown in the two pictures above. As the quilt rolls up on the back rail, the bulk pushes the longarm forward so that by the end of the king sized quilt, you can quilt a 14-inch block in one pass.
But if you were working on an actual king sized quilt (108 x 108 inches square), you'd have loaded the quilt hoop frame style and the large back clamps will push the longarm forward - giving you less space (13 3/4 inches) at the beginning.
The good thing about loading with hoop frame style is there is less overall reduction in space because most of the quilt gets tucked up in the back clamps. At the end of a king sized quilt, I had 12 1/2 inches of vertical quilting space with the Qnique 19X Elite:
Is this enough space for you? It depends. Every quilter is "qunique" and you may find 12-14 x 42 inches of quilting space to be the perfect creative space to play.
It really depends on the projects you're wanting to quilt, how fast you want to quilt them, and how easy you want the entire process to feel. Reply to this email if you have any questions about this quilting space test or if you have this quilting system and don't have the same space results.
There are many small tweaks we can make to our frame to make sure we're getting the maximum quilting space with our longarm machine!
That's it for this week, . I hope you enjoy quilting this intense quilting design this week and are looking forward to more heart-themed quilting designs next week.
