Cutie Breeze Quilting Tips Plus Hoop Frame Accessories Sale
Hi ,
Last week I was off to Chicago for H+H, a trade show filled with fiber, fabric, machines and more! I went in search of a beginner sewing machine: a solid workhorse with nice features to help quilters begin piecing and quilting.
The Little Rebel Sewing Machine is my go-to machine for piecing and machine quilting, both in a sewing table and on a quilting frame. But with a 13-inch harp, capability of making 1600 stitches per minute, and priced at
$2699, the Little Rebel typically appeals to quilters with a bit more experience and an intense desire for machine quilting.
What did I find? I'm not yet ready to show my stitches on this quite yet, but I'm excited to be offering a few new under-$500 sewing machines this summer.
In the meantime, Grace Company more than keeps me busy with monthly promotions and awesome new quilting accessories to play with.
If you have an Evolution Hoop Frame and have been wanting to upgrade your frame to an Evolution Elite - now is the time!
We offer Evolution Hoop Upgrade Kits to transform your 5 foot Evolution Hoop
Frame into an 8 foot, 10 foot, or 12 foot Evolution Elite, and the current prices are the lowest I've ever seen them.
Just make sure you understand two key elements about the Evolution Hoop Upgrade:
1 - No More Hooping - Once you upgrade, the frame becomes an Evolution Elite Frame, which is rolling rail only. This means the length of your frame determines the maximum width of your quilt. We can load up to a 79-inch wide quilt on an 8-foot frame and up to a 103-inch wide quilt on a 10-foot
frame.
2 - Make Sure You Have Space. When you upgrade this frame it takes up a LOT more room! Double check you have room for the frame and room to walk around one narrow edge and to stand to both the front and back of the frame as well.
It might surprise you, but the Cutie Breeze is actually one of my top 3 favorite quilting frames. I've been using this frame a lot this spring as I quilted pantographs... then more pantographs... then MORE
pantographs!
Yes, the Pantograph Guidebook is almost finished, and the skills I've gained for hoop frame quilting have been worth the effort. Here's a few Cutie Quilting Tips if you're new to using this frame:
Tip 1 - Remove
the Coils for Your First Load - The coil clamps on the Cutie Breeze can take up a bit of space in the arm of your machine. Until you need the circular coils to contain the quilted section of your quilt, you don't have to have them attached.
See the picture above - I slipped the coils off the back clamps, then clamped the quilt as usual. This gave me a few more inches of space right at the start of the quilt, which is a very nice way to get
started.
Tip 2 - Use Side Leaders - Side Leader squares are included in the Hoop Frame Leader Cloth package, or you can rip your own from scrap fabric. I found an 8 x 12 inch rectangle is the perfect length to pin to the backing fabric, then clamp using the side clamps included with the frame.
Tip 3 - Keep the Quilt Clean - If your quilt is long enough to drag on the floor, lift it up and clamp it to the front clamp using Mini Quilt Clips. Notice in the picture above the bottom edge of the quilt is folded and secured to the front clamps with the mini blue quilt clips.
These tips are helping me quilt faster on the Cutie Breeze Frame with more space in the first row and better side-to-side tension with each load. Just in case you've been thinking about giving this quilting frame a try, when you purchase the Cutie Breeze frame this month, you’ll receive 6 free paper stencils:
Quilting is all about building skills one stitch at a time. If you’re feeling unsure, remember that every quilter started as a beginner. And we all level up at our own pace. The most important thing is to keep going, try new things, and enjoy the process.
If you have
questions about hoop frames, accessories, or quilting techniques, reply to this email and ask.
Be looking forward to next week's newsletter as I'm working on a super quick triangle quilt pattern you can piece in a day - and on a Cutie Breeze Frame, you could quilt it in a day as well!
