Question:   For a year I have been learning free hand quilting by machine and I find it very difficult to move my work smoothly and with constant speed. Often my movement is blocked because the heavy quilt won't come over the edge of my working table. Can you give me some advice or suggestions where to find information about feehand machine quilting and what kind of sewing machine is best to do this kind of work.

Answer: I do all my quilting on a regular size Bernina sewing machine. I find that I have better control and my body is better balanced if I move the foot control to my left foot. An added bonus is that I can operate the knee lift with my right knee, and never accidentally hit the foot control at the same time (thus making hairballs in the bobbin case).

For large quilts I push together several tables, desks, etc. so that the entire weight of the quilt is supported on the table top.

click for closeup of hand position

It is much easier to move the quilt under the arm of the sewing machine if it is not dragging over the edge of a table. As you can see in the picture, I even set up a little table next to my chair to support some of the quilt that would otherwise be hanging over the front of the sewing table or in my lap. 

Sometimes I spray a little silicone on the table top to make it more slippery. (If you try this be careful not to overspray onto the floor, or you'll have a skating rink)

To get the quilt under the arm of the sewing machine, I roll, pleat stuff and drag........whatever is necessary to get to the place where I'm going to quilt. When I reach a place where I can't move the quilt freely any more, I put the needle down to hold the quilt in place and re-arrange the quilt. Before I begin stitching I make sure that the quilt can be moved freely and is not pulling against the needle.

Most of my quilting is free-motion. That means I move the quilt under the needle with my hands, and the stitch length is determined by the speed I run the foot control and the speed at which I move my hands. Getting a even stitch is a matter of practice. Any machine can be trained to do what mine does. It just takes several hundred hours to train one. If you have tried free motion quilting, you know that after about five minutes all the tred is gone from your hands and fingers, and it is harder to move the quilt. I wear laytex surgical gloves to give me more traction, so I don't have to press down so hard. If you don't like sweaty hands, try golf or gardening gloves. There is also a new tool on the market called "quilt-so-easy" It is a set of flexible hoops that are designed especially for machine quilting. I use them for short jobs and for machine embroidery, and think they're brilliant. You might want to give them a try. They were invented by: Cheri MorningStar, Heavenly Notions, 2588 El Camino Real D-109, Carlsbad, CA 92008, 1-888-QSOEASY (776-3179), email: CheriMStar@aol.com

When I'm working on a large quilt, I don't focus on the vast sea of fabric in front of me that still has to be quilted. I just focus on the six inches of fabric between my hands, and I try to make that six inches a beautiful as possible. I try to keep my left elbow down on the table. It relaxes my shoulders, and also helps me move the big quilt.

There are a number of good books avaliable on machine quilting. Click here for some recommendations: