AboutConnie Hester Expertise Quilting and applique expert.Can advise on the following topics:quilting, art quilts, quilt design and construction, machine and hand quilting, paper foundation piecing, machine piecing, hand piecing, raw edge applique, turned-edge applique and fiber art.
Experience Winning awards in international fiber and art competitions since 1983; http://www.conniehester.com/
BS,MS
See my work and books at http://www.conniehester.com/
Question I am in the market for a new sewing machine and would like to learn free motion quilting. Any recommendations for a brand of machine? Also is the YLI thread best for applique work on art quilts?
Answer Rather than recommend a particular machine, I would suggest that you visit your local (or nearest to you) sewing machine vendor and try out all of their machines yourself. Take with you samples of fabrics and quilting sandwiches (with low-loft batting) of the various combinations which you intend to use when you sew. I would also take various threads (.004 mm invisible thread, rayon, cotton, metallic, ....), since some machines may be better/worse at winding and/or sewing with these than others. Try out all of the machine presser feet which you anticipate using the most, esp. the darning foot for free-motion - - sew forward, backward, and sideways. Do so with all the different combinations of threads in BOTH the needle and the bobbin. Check the back of your work for even stitching as well.
If the retailer balks at your doing this, go somewhere else. This is the whole point of having a sewing machine showroom - to allow the buyer to try out every type of sewing which they anticipate using the machine for.
Some machines will pull on the invisible thread as it winds a bobbin, thus stretching it and creating puckers when it is subsequently sewn onto the backside of the quilt sandwich (or anything else, actually). Some manufacturers' bobbins catch invisible thread in the crack between the central shank and the round disks of the bobbin itself as the invisible thread is stretched and wound. [This problem can be avoided by hand-winding bobbins, by hand-holding the bobbin on a horizontal pencil between the spool of thread and the bobbin post, or by fillling the first bit of the bobbin with regular thread. There are other ways to work around this problem as well.]
Some machines will need to adjust the tension on the bobbin case when using .004mm invisible thread for a smooth stitch on the underside of the quilt sandwich. Some machines will shred rayon and/or metallic threads as they feed through particular needles.
I almost always free-motion quilt with a darning foot and invisible thread in both the needle and the bobbin, but I sometimes use colored threads in the needle. I often combine my raw-edge applique with my quilting as it is not dense applique.
I personally have 3 requirements for easy free-motion quilting.
1. I want the needle to be capable of stopping in the needle-down position. This makes it easier to creep around tight curves if I have to. It also makes it easier to follow any lines I may have drawn.
2. I want the stitching to stop IMMEDIATELY when I take my foot off of the pedal. Some machines take 1-2 stitches after the foot pedal is released. This can create stitches in places I do not want them (especially on tight curves where I may be creeping along, one stitch at a time) - and further, require that I stop stitching, pick those stitches out, bury the threads, and start over. Very annoying.
3. I also want the initial stitches, when I hit the foot pedal, to be smooth, not lurching.
I mention these things because I have sewn and quilted on machines which do not meet these 3 requirements and have thus learned their importance.
I use a Janome/New Home 9000. Over the years, I have used their 7000 and 8000 as well. I love the smoothness in which these machines stitch. No lurching as the stitching begins. Smooth as butter. Gently stitches when I am forced to creep along for any reason.
I have never felt a need to use a frame with my sewing machine. I will say, I am a stickler for basting about 1 1/2" - 2" apart all over the surface of a quilt before I begin to quilt. (I don't want to dodge safety pins.) Much as I hate this task, taking the time to do this completely stabilizes the layers before I begin.
I personally have no particular preference for brands of applique threads. I applique prior to sandwiching the 3 layers together to quilt (except for sparse raw-edge applique).
I hope my thoughts have been helpful to you. If I can be of further help, please let me know.
