Kay Anderson Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 I am doing an experiment, I'm piecing a scrap quilt directly on my longarm. I had so much scrap T-shirt fabric, so much batting scrap and some extra backing too. So what to do. Then I remembered talking to a lady at my longarm guild who had pieced a top directly on the longarm. So, after some 4 or 5 years later I'm trying this out for myself. One of those things you make a mental note of at the time then forget it for a long time. I loaded the back and batting. Cut 4 1/2" strips of T-shirt fabric and just sewed 3 of these together on the ends. When I had a big stack of them I just laid them down in rows on the longarm. I can get such straight lines of stitching with the channel locks on. It's looking pretty good, like colorful subway tiles. And no SITD to do at all. To quilt I'm just writing words or names in each "tile". Quick and is going to be a fun "utility" type quilt. I'm pleased with it. I'll try to post a photo when I'm done. If I can figure out how to do it. I haven't been on this forum format in ages. Old minds forget stuff. Has anyone else do this kind of quilt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisquilter Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 I have not tried it, but it sounds fun. I need another longarm to play on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbams Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 Please take some pictures while it's in process, and when it's done, and post them all! Sounds very intriguing, and I'm looking forward to seeing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delld Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 Please show us!!!! Sounds great!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 That sounds sorta like a party! What a great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 I took a class several years ago at Innovations that featured piecing on the longarm and also binding. Great for utility quilts. It would be a great use of jellyrolls. The instructor also used orphan blocks and larger pieces. The only thing stressed was remembering that you build things log-cabin style. Meaning you add to the base you lay down and enlarge it by stitching all the way along the previous fabric. She used pre-pieced strips to add some variety. You don't have an option to piece in triangles or other odd shapes unless they're pre-pieced into a strip. Long strips work great and you can add at the top and bottom as well. I know I've seen a demo of this by one of our educators here. Can't remember if it's Dawn--but if it isn't her I bet she knows who it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyT Posted November 21, 2013 Report Share Posted November 21, 2013 I pieced this 106" square quilt all on the long arm. I started at the top and when I had enough strips added on the throat space (I used 100% cotton batting which I could have pressed the seams, but the pieces were so big that it kind of clung to the cotton when I pulled it down so I didn't even press the seams), then I would quilt the pantograph on it(I did pin the raw edge of the last strip added before quilting the space just in case it would have tried to pull it out of sorts). Forward it to the next pass of the pantograph and then add more strips. I did use my horizontal channel lock to help keep the strips parallel and I used a generous quarter inch seam allowance. When I was finished piecing and quilting, I went back and put the binding on the front with the long arm, too. The only thing I sewed on my domestic machine was the binding to the back of the quilt. It was a quick easy way to make a quilt. I bought enough of the materials to rip the strips lengthwise plus a few inches fudge room. Before adding the binding, I used a ruler to "square off" one side, marking where the edge of the quilt where the binding needed to go. I used my long arm tape to measure 106" to the other side and drew a straight line where the other side of binding needed to go. Then I trimmed the excess after I took it off the long arm. My nephew and his fiance loved the quilt (apparently they like this more modern style...which is not MY style at all...lol), and I have enough material leftover to make them pillow shams for Christmas, if time permits. I had never done this nor seen it done before, and I was happy with the outcome and how simple it was. I have a lot of orphan blocks that I'd like to try this again, but I will probably piece left to right then, too. This one was only pieced top to bottom. With that said, the quilt is sideways in the picture then. lol It's square so it could go either way on the bed. Clear as mud, right? Try it, you might like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted November 22, 2013 Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 I did a couple quilts for the girls entirely on my longarm machine. I posted step by step pictures and explanations on my blog page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay Anderson Posted November 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2013 It was just fun. I'm done with it now. Used it to practice sewing words. I liked how that looked so much I'm not planning on doing much more quilting on it. It's still on the machine so I'll take another look at it in the morning and decide what else I want to do with it. Sure did whittle down that scrap pile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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