I can usually position designs accurately using the centre marks on the hoop or the grid inset , but I'm having great diffculty with quilting designs. I'm lost if I can't see the hoop! As it takes me about an hour to unpick 2 minutes worth of stitiching I'm about ready to give up! Your advice would be most welcome.
140717
My question for all of us is..... why must we torture ourselves this way? I do it too.... We probably all started out with a sewing machine and then grew up to an embroidery machine....I know that I want a long arm quilting machine but I don't want to hand over the $$$$$ for it - nor do I want to hand over my quilt to someone else to let them quilt it for me. I feel like its my quilt and if I'm going to be passing this quilt down my family line then it needs to be all my work. We make ourselves NUTS sometimes!! I just made that quilt for Ms. Alice and I SMASHED that quilt into the the hoop. It took both my mother and I to force that sucker in there but we got it - over 100 times I had to hoop that thing. Both of us had blisters on our fingers for days :) but I didn't have time to figure out how to do it any other way. Ms. Sue - I don't have an answer - I only have envy for those people who own long arm quilting machines while I sit here any try to learn how to do free motion quilting (which I am TERRIBLE at). And thank you to everyone for all the suggestions - I'm learning how to hoop better and I'm going to try every suggestion!! All my love and giggles to everyone :)
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1784I use masking tape on my quilt to mark my design center,(no marks to get rid of afterwards)and other longer pieces can also be stuck on to show the Axis.
I then fold the quilt so I can see the markings on the hoops ,line up the fold on the top and bottom marks, flick the quilt open again and pin to the tear away. Use the machine's function to hop to the center mark,remove the tape and begin to sew.
I aways hoop towels like this too.
From Bev
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7875Suggest... Mark edges of fabric sandwich. Hoop stabiliser & light spray with adhesive. Lay hoop on your gridded cutting board. Place hoop marks in line with cutting board grid. Lay fabric on top again lining fabric marks with cutting board grid. Should line up ok. Pin if necessary. Sorry if reply is too late!
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1996I don't see that anyone has suggested printing your design if yiu have siftware that will do this. Print a template lay it where you want the design to go,with your hoop on, put your quilt down.Then match up center point. You can put your needle down through the point and make sure everything is okay then just take the paper template off. At this point I baste around the hoop then recheck to be sure everything stayed where I wanted it and you should be good to go. Hope this is clear,wish I could just show you! Good luck. Oh, I have found that stabelizer isn't necessary on a quilt.
2 comments
by caroldann
21 Mar 2011
Sue, if you are just a the pont of "quilting" your top, you don't need to use stabilzer on the back. I never do. Just line up everything the way you normally do and it should be ok. I have the acufil hoop for my Janome 11000SE, it has magnetnic clamps and works like a charm. I'm sure by now with all the advice you've gotten you've come up with a good plan. Carol
8230Thank you for all of your tips - I've tried a combination of them and I think I'm getting better!
140717you have arrows on your machine that help you. I mark the middle of my material, as the other ladies do, pins or eraseable pens. spray your stablizer and position your material as close to the middle as you can. Then use your machine to position your needle in the middle of your pins or middle mark. Does this make sense?
41781Hi Sue, I am not good at giving instructions so bare with me..I draw lines from top to bottom and side to side on the stablizer so you get a centre mark , then I mark the centre and draw the lines to the edge of the fabric sandwich with a washout pencil or pen. then lay the fabric on the hoop making sure the centre it correct then stick pins through the sandwich at the edge of the hoop while off the machine to line up, I flick back if the fabric if it is bigger than the hoop to check where it should be. sounds complicated but I find that works for me was taught that when i did a class where we used a 4x4 hoop with a 15x15 square sandwich.... PM if you need more info...Hope it helps! Hugs Sally
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by mops
21 Mar 2011
I do the same as far as marking lines is concerned, lay the hoop on some board you can stick a pin in - cork for instance -then I stick a pin in my sandwich and push that straight down into the centre of the stabiliser. Now I can fiddle around to get the material straight without getting off-center.
by michele921
21 Mar 2011
I do it the same as you with a pin in the middle, then start working my way around the item
24342Thank you for asking as I can read the answers from all the people who know how to do it along with you.
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48168AHAH! What I have done before was when I hooped the stabiliser I put glass head pins through the stabiliser hanging over the outside of the hoop, facing toward the centre aligning each one with NSEW hoop markings. (You can also put a pin into each corner too).
I have previously aligned and marked the material with the hoop markings.
Now when I place the marked fabric on top of the hoop, I feel for the NSEW pins in the stabiliser and without moving them I pin through the fabric and the stabiliser making sure the fabric pin and stabiliser pin are perfectly aligned.
I usually work from north to south, then west to east gradually stretching the fabric all the while keeping the alignment pins together.
Then I pin the fabric to the stabiliser, INSIDE the hoop area.
It sounds much more difficult than it is but if you are a perfectionist like me then you will find it is worth the extra fiddling.
Hope this helps, I'm sure it's as clear as mud.
Hugs and roses, Meganne
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122864I use the plastic grid that came with my machine. I hoop the stabilizer and using the grid as a guide and a pencil I mark the centre and a vertical and horizontal line through the centre. I sometimes spray the stabilzer VERY LIGHTLY with adhesive. I then put the same marks on the piece to be embroidered using the plastic grid and a water soluble pen. Laying the fabric flat I use 3 big glass headed pins and put them straight through the centre and either along the horizontal or vertical line and folding the fabric back use these as a guide to line the fabric up with the corresponding lines on the hoop. The light glue will hold it in place until you can baste on the machine or if you can, put a few pins around the outside. It is easier than it sounds. This method is great for large towels as well.
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2109Another thing I do is mark the square etc. that is being put into the hoop. I find the centre by folding the fabric in half lengthwise and by width. I mark the centre with a marker pencil that washes out when you wet it. I hope you can try this as it always works for me. I am showing a picture of part of the memory quilt I'm doing for Dad as an example. Good luck with it and I am sure you will work it out. Love and blessings Chris
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by spendlove
21 Mar 2011
I have been doing that with a magic blue pen. It is the next stage which is causing me hassle!
234497Dear Sue,
What about just laying the quilt on the top of the hoop and pinning each corner? I don't actually hoop the quilt that you are trying to put a design on. For example I put the hoop on my sewing table put some stabiliser on and gently lay the quilt top onto the hoop. I place my hands either side of the hoop and manually push the fabric till it is centred. I then put a pin in opposite corners to keep it in place. I hope you can understand this?
Is this what you are trying to do? Another trick I do is only sew a few stitches to make sure it is in the right position. That way you won't be wasting all that time trying to unpick your design. Love and blessings Chris
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234497I have never tried to quilt in the hoop. I only do it by drawing the design (lightly & with a washable marker/pencil) I then freehand on my straight sewing machine.... with the embroidery type foot & the feed dogs down.. so not to cause friction... also to help hold the fabric I wear gloves that have rubber grips on the handling side. I HATE to unpick any computerised embroidery & have done for a long time.
Good luck,
Reggie
XXOO
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by spendlove
21 Mar 2011
I haven't tried freehand embroidery for years - I seem to remember I wasn't very good at it! With you all the way on unpicking!
7532Sorry???? I don't quite follow what you are asking Sue.
Hugs, Meg
3 comments
by spendlove
21 Mar 2011
I hooped the stabiliser and then pinned the fabric sandwich to it. This completely hides the hoop so I can't see the half-way markings unless I fold the sandwich back. This isn't as accurate as I want to be. Does that make any sense?
by ethan
21 Mar 2011
Can it be possible at that stage to lay the clear insert that came with the hoop on top of the quilt sandwich,pushing it down to see where the centre hole in the plastic is?.
122864