Ask Penny Halgren

Category » Machine Quilting

There were 11 articles found in this category:

1. What is the difference between a free mmotion quilting foot and a walking foot?
   A free motion foot is usually a darning foot that allows you to move the quilt in all directions as you sew. A walking foot allows the quilt to be fed evenly under the sewing machine needle in a straight line. When you want to change direction, you would stop the machine and then turn the quilt. ...
2. What options do I have for quilting my quilt? What do I need to know if I want to take it to a longarm machine quilter?
   The Machine Quilting Adventure Your quilts can be quilted on your home sewing machine. Discover the insider techniques for beautiful and easy machine quilting in The Machine Quilting Adventure. Your family and friends will think you paid a professional machine quilter to finish your quilt ...
3. Tips for Machine Quilting from Ricky Tims
   Just 10 more of the Diamond Sets! The Machine Quilting Adventure Unlock the secrets for beautiful machine quilting using your home sewing machine by simply watching this video on your TV or computer.. Click here to learn more ...
4. Why is the material puckering and my opening on my old machine is small how can I put a king size quilt through to quilt?
   I can feel your frustration in trying to quilt a king-size quilt. A couple of 'hints' come to mind. First, make sure you have the top, batting and backing securely together (and smooth) to start with. Use a basting spray (a brand called 505 Basting Spray is a good one) to 'hold' the layers toge ...
5. Can you give me some ideas how to square up my quilt and how to keep them squarer next time.
   Squaring Up Your Quilt Once your piece is quilted, you need to make the edges even and square before adding your binding. It is easier and more accurate to trim the quilt sandwich if the three layers are sewn together at the edge. Otherwise, the bottom layer can shift and you end up with edges ...
6. What makes a quilt valuable?
   We were honored to have Judy Lyons, a Certified Quilt Appraiser, participate in our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation. In the call, Judy shared with us how to know what makes a quilt valuable. Here are her thoughts: That’s a very broad and wide-ranging question. Determining value is a ...
7. Why do I need a walking foot for sewing machine?
   A walking foot is helpful for machine quilting because it allows all of the layers of your quilt to feed through the machine at the same time. The regular presser foot that comes on your sewing machine works with the feed dogs (the little teeth that are on the machine under the fabric. The feed ...
8. How can I improve my Machine Quilting?
   One of the easiest ways to improve your machine quilting on your home sewing machine is to use a walking foot instead of your regular presser foot on your sewing machine. It does look rather funny, but the mechanism causes the presser foot to bounce, thus allowing all of the layers of your quil ...
9. Is there something I can put on my hands to make the quilt move easier through the machine when I am machine quilting?
   There are all kinds of tools made especially for machine quilting, and every machine quilter talks about some kind of covering for their hands or fingers. These coverings allow you to just lay your fingers down on the quilt and guide it through the machine as you are quilting. That way, you don ...
10. What exactly does a template do?
    A template is usually made of plastic and has a pattern etched into the plastic or is a specific shape. They can be used in a couple of ways. As a plastic shape, they can be used as a tracing or cutting pattern for patches in quilt blocks. In the template set on the left, each piece repr ...
11. How do you transfer quilting designs from your patterns onto a quilt?
    I make templates from the thin plastic template material you can get at your quilt shop or online. Often I am able to find some nice pattern in one of those big books of quilting designs. Pictured here is a quilting design from "It's Not a Quilt Until It's Quilted" by Shirley Thompson. She sugge ...