What to do when you’ve got long-arm quilting envy and a “to-be-quilted” pile of unreasonable proportions. Hints and tips from Andrea Gorman, quilt designer, author and illustrator.
We’ve all done it. Scrolled endlessly through Instagram, drooled over magazines (Today’s Quilter especially) and swooned in the aisles at quilt exhibitions. Despite the slow stitch movement and, more importantly on the time side, the big stitch movement, free-motion quilts and quilting (FMQ) just seem to have a certain wow factor. But when it comes down to sitting in front of your domestic sewing machine with a freshly-basted quilt squashed to the right side of the needle, those dreams seem hopelessly out of reach. Maybe you could squeeze in a long-arm sewing machine somewhere? Do you really need that guest room? How often does Aunty Marie come to stay? Maybe you could clear the shed of all those useless things like lawn mowers and strimmers and lay claim to the space? (Or put Aunty Marie in there.) Or, maybe the machine isn’t the real problem. Sure, if you want to create a king-sized bed quilt covered with elaborate feather designs complex enough to look like they should adore a palace or be part of some complex ancient ritual, then yeah, a long arm is going to make that a heck of a lot easier. But, if you want to give your quilts a richness and texture and enhance their designs, a domestic machine is just right for the job. And Aunty Marie might still be able to come and visit over Christmas. (Sorry.)
Get your equipment ready
So where do we start? A free-motion machine foot. And this is something that I think people don’t investigate enough. Most machines are capable of using a number of different FMQ feet and, like with everything else, what works for one person might not work for the next. They typically cost between £10 and £20 each. So, try a few. I’ve got four different ones and I worked out my favourite. That experiment was a lot cheaper than forking out for a new sewing machine, especially when long arms cost more in the region of £5K, assuming you don’t need an extension to your house. My favourite is a darning foot. I like the smaller, clear, closed foot. But maybe a big open toed foot would work better for you. Give them all a try.
Likewise with needles. I prefer an embroidery needle. The eye size is a little bigger and it creates less drag on the thread, so everything goes smoother. Try quilting some small samples and see
