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I have been a hand quilter forever and in June I got the surprise - my husband said let's go get you a longarm machine. So I have a Lenni , experimented with it and then had the beginner class. I thought I had all of my questions and answers, came home and completed a quilt - some of the stitching is coming out - so one question is - how do you secure the thread before cutting it. Second question - what is a good source to by the patterns for the laser?

I just have to have time to make more quilt tops to put on the machine

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Hi Linda

The number of stitches to secure the thread often depends on the thread you are using. if its a slippery thread you will need more - maybe 4 or 5, a regular cotton or most poly just 3. I use my needle positioner to make the stitches. I put my finger nail just in front of the hopping foot and take a stitch, then drag my finger nail back towards me bring the fabric with it a little then make another stitch, release the fabric and it will go back to where it was, make another stitch, drag the fabric towards me, make another stitch. You just need to drag the fabric a thread or two. The thing is to make sure you are not going down in the same hole or it most likely won't catch and secure.

There are lots of places to find patterns and tools. The two below are Canadian and American designers but just type longarm quilting patterns into Google and see what you come up with.

www.trilliumhousedesigns.com

www.willowleafstudio.com

sue in australia

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Hi Linda,

Welcome to APQS and congrats on your new Lenni! Have a look at all of Dawn Cavanaugh's articles on the www.apqs.com homepage, Dawn lists a wealth of information in those articles.

I was looking at JoAnn Hoffman website the other day and saw that she has a great collection of videos on her site too, great for a beginner...have a look at those...click on this link... http://www.compuquilterdesigns.com/helpful%20videos.htm

There are many places to buy paper pantos too, I am sure others here will post their favorite places to purchase these from. I have a Lenni too, and I really enjoy it. Have fun with your new Lenni!

Cheers,

Nadia

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There are three main methods to secure your threads:

- knot and bury

- take a few stitches backwards (like we did with garment sewing)

- take a few tiny stitches

If you ever want to put a quilt in a show, the judges do not want to see your stops and starts. The best way for this is to know and bury your threads; however, it takes the longest.

I try to design a path to minimize stops and starts if at all possible.

Remember if your thread breaks, that you need to secure the threads already in the quilt where the thread broke. Your options:

- rip out 2-3 inches of quilting so that you have thread ends long enough to knot and bury

- carefully stitch over the previous stitching (with the new stitching - usually by starting where the thread left off and back stitching along the existing threads 3-5 stitches) to secure those existing threads

I like Bayside Quilting as a good place to buy pantographs. They have very reasonable shipping and a good selection.

Good luck!

Julia

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