pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Working on a dresden plate in between painting my daughters bedroom - can't wait to show it! In the mean time my birthday is coming up and I've already asked the Husband for a few long arm rulers. I'd like a cross hatch ruler, a straight/ditch ruler, one or two circles, and something for applique. I think these are enough to get me started as I've already wished I had one or all of them while in the middle of a quilt! My questions are: #1 - Marci (whitepinesquilter) is a huge sweet heart and sent me one of those little white adapters to try out on my Ultimate 1 hopping foot...thank you SO much Marci!!! I'm particularly excited because I was hoping this would allow me to use Deloa's appliguide ruler. Has anyone tried the ruler with an adapter on their foot? #2 - I can really only afford one cross hatch ruler at this time - what size would you say you use most often? #3 - Circle rulers seem REALLY expensive and hard to find in single sizes rather than sets. Anyone have suggestions for affordable circle rulers I could buy maybe one or two of at a time? I have seen the nesting circles on quilters rule but they look like they might be difficult to hold on to. I can't thank you all enough for all of your willingness to share and offer suggestions and help!!! I have only had my long arm about a month and you all have made me feel so welcome and comfortable and it has just made the whole experience wonderful. I think I would have been AWFULLY discouraged if I had not had all of you to talk to and look to for advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Valerie, I'm not sure exactly what your looking for for a cross-hatch ruler, there are many on the market. I mostly use my quiltazoid for my crosshatching. For little spaces I use Deloa's Castle ruler and for really little spaces I use Deloa's Little One (this is my all time favorite ruler and I use it more than any other. I just like the way it fits in my hand). As for circles, Deloa has really cool circle rulers that you can buy individually. The are wonderful because you can keep the foot on the right side of the ruler instead of trying to go all the way around. I find them very handy. Linda Rech sells wonderful Cross hatch rulers that would I would have if I didn't have my quiltazoid. There have always been rave reviews on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisae Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I highly recommend Linda Rech's crosshatching rulers! I also have the Topper for circles and it is a great tool. Go to Linda's website and check it out! http://www.topperquilttools.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 For ditch stitching, DeLoa's Castle. For curved cross hatching, DeLoa Jones's boomerangs. For applique, DeLoa's appliguide. I have a set of nested circles. I don't rememer who made them. I will try to find out. Some people like them, some don't. The set was about $50, which was cheaper than individual ones. I don't use them a lot because I have a Quiltazoid. I use them more for marking, or for partial circles. They would work fine for larger circles if you marked the circle first. You have to walk your fingers around the ring, and it would be possible for the rings to shift. If you mark, you can keep the ring adjusted as you work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enchanted Quilting Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I have circle templates now, but for the 1st 4 years I went to my scrapbooking templates and used those circles (and sometimes ovals). I even used an ice cream pail lid once:) My main advice for rulers and templates is go slow, use others recommendations and PPP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Valerie, I'm not sure exactly what your looking for for a cross-hatch ruler, there are many on the market. I mostly use my quiltazoid for my crosshatching. For little spaces I use Deloa's Castle ruler and for really little spaces I use Deloa's Little One (this is my all time favorite ruler and I use it more than any other. I just like the way it fits in my hand). As for circles, Deloa has really cool circle rulers that you can buy individually. The are wonderful because you can keep the foot on the right side of the ruler instead of trying to go all the way around. I find them very handy. Linda Rech sells wonderful Cross hatch rulers that would I would have if I didn't have my quiltazoid. There have always been rave reviews on them. Heidi, to be honest I don't know what I'm looking for in a cross hatch ruler either! I'm looking for a curved cross hatch ruler (I was typing quickly and left out the CURVED part in my original post - sorry!) and I hopped over to Deloa's site and I'm thinking the middle of the road size would get the most use for now? On my domestic I had some really inexpensive curved half circle rulers I bought in a set of six for like, ten bucks at Walmart. I don't know what the quiltazoid ruler is - I'll have to go look that up. I don't want to buy too many rulers just what I think I'll use for now. I can ditch free hand but my stitches are really un-even so I'm thinking the ruler is going to help with angles and keeping my stitch length more consistent. Charlotte I like the idea of an ice cream lid!! I like rulers because they can be used for other unintended purposes when I'm not quilting!!! LOL* The circles seem really pricey everywhere I look though so I might resort to a tub of Ben and Jerry's for now. Hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Gahhh ahahahaha I just looked up the quiltazoid. It looks amazing - but I just got my long arm so I'm poor!!! Hahaha, ok, ice cream lid it is. LOL****** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Valerie, Curved makes a big difference. Nothing better then Deloa's boomerangs. My most used are 8", 10" 12". Depends on how small you like to go but IMHO 10" would be a good place to start. Love them. A quiltazoid is a tool used to do designs using boards or the spirograph attachment. I use it mostly for cross hatching and bead boarding. I love it. quiltazoid.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Valerie, I have to echo Heidi, I love Deloa's curved crosshatch rulers. I also have a quiltizoid for my circles, but if I am drawing spines, especially for curly feathers, or whatever, I use my old hand embroiderer hoops. They hang on my pegboard and I happen to have a gazillion sizes. Y0u can even put marks at the 1/2 and 1/4 sections. Plates, Ice Cream lids, old thread spools ect. make great design templates. I liked Charlotte's idea of scrapbooking templates. Maybe some day I will buy "real" circles, but for now these work great for designing and they were free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Oh Chris, great suggestion that I never thought of!!! I have tons of hand quilting hoops too...and for a while I was really into cross stitch so I've got lots of those smaller ones. I will try those!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie H Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Here's an inexpensive place to buy circles from. A gal on another list posted this link the other day. Great timing for you, if you are interested in them! http://www.deepbluetemplates.com/Longarm_Circle_quilt_templates_p/0006401.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Ahhh - perfect!!! Thank you Bonnie!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanbrug Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I have Deloas rulers and those are the ones I use the most , the smallest boomerang is use alot for curves too. I do alot of applique quilts and Deloas applique ruler is the bomb, I couldn't do without it. What I did was get the SID, Deloas crosshatch and then I watch one here and alot of ladies that get computer system on their long arm machine sell their stuff at a good price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferBernard Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 I am so enjoying my Quiltazoid. Circles, stars and the cross hatching templates are just so easy and fast. I tried and tried to crosshatch with rulers and I just couldn't hold them steady. My circles were never good. They always slipped. The Quiltazoid is well worth the money! You can do a Baptist Fan with the basic unit and it is fairly fast, about $.015 per square inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Valerie, lots of good ideas here, I too like Deloa's rulers but since you are new I thought I'd mention that you can use lots of lids, and other items for templates but don't try to quilt with them as they will go under your foot and may throw your timing out on your machine. I use various items to mark my quilt and then use little rulers to help guide my hopping foot around what I mark, those long arm rulers are made just the right thickness to work well with the hopping foot and not cause a problem for your machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaC Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 I know I am the odd quilter out with this statement, but I own DeLoa's appliguide and do not have good luck with it; we just don't work good together. I finally learned to use my plain old stitch in the ditch straight edge to guide around applique and curves and it works well for me. I also love my micro-drives for going around a lot of applique; no ruler; nothing better. It is personal preference and what you get used to using. Have fun shopping for rulers and HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamarack Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Here's an inexpensive place to buy circles from. A gal on another list posted this link the other day. Great timing for you, if you are interested in them! http://www.deepbluetemplates.com/Longarm_Circle_quilt_templates_p/0006401.htm Thanks for the link Bonnie. I have been looking for some circle rulers and these are a great price. I placed an order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Thank you all - and Lisa C. thank you for the pre-birthday wishes!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewlinzi Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Quiltazoid is great for big circles Quilters Rule does reasonably priced circle rulers where foot can go round inside of circle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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