Jump to content

Rice Bags?


Recommended Posts

I also used the rice bags and talked to Sharon Schamber at MQS...she told me not to use the bags alone ...they are to be used with the foam...lay them on top of the foam and it keeps the bags from hanging so much weight on the quilt...and pulling your quilt out of shape.....the foam works great too....much better control...do give it a try....roll it under the take up roller ...don\'t roll into the quilt ...

Linda Mc

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you please explain in more detail how the foam is placed under the take-up roller? I have put it under the leveler bar and have not had the control I would like. I took classes with Sharon when she used the foam but it was on a Gammill and the table is different than the APQS frame. Thanks for your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I\'ve used them to help even out bumpy quilts since I started quilting. Any thing will do though. A bag of popcorn, noodles, rice still in the original bag, whatever you happen to have around the house. Anything with some weight to put on the quilt to even it out. I\'ve even grabbed books off my shelf because they were handy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HUMMM>>>>I don\'t have a clue what you all are talking about!! I am confused!!:P(Doesn\'t take much!):) Can anyone maybe show a picture? I thought I knew about the rice bags, but when I really think about it, I don\'t know where or how you put them. And especially the foam part.....I\'m clueless!!! help!! cause I could use some more controll!!:D linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Mary Beth! Thanks! I\'m at work right now answering the phone, (not ringing). I went to that site, but this computer doesn\'t have the right thing-a-mabob to run it. I don\'t know if I can get it at home, cause we still just have dail up!!:o I will maybe check at the library to see if their computers can get it. Thanks!! I am really interested in figuring this out cause I think it will help me. linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven\'t tried the rice bags yet but a variation on the foam trick worked for me. I was a good girl and cleaned my rails after doing about half the feathers in a quilt. it was really dragging front to back... Suddenly I\'m zipping all over the place and thought I\'d give the extra weight/drag thing a try but no foam or rice on hand. So, anything heavy under there should work right... look to the book shelf...Not Karen McTavish, it\'s hard back... Diane Gaudinski... too thin... Linda Taylor... Just right. Great teachers help in ways they would never expect.

post--13461899902475_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Linda,

What the foam/book/rice bags/whatever does is creates drag. Our machines sometimes work too smoothly so that (I find) there isn\'t the control that I need to hit a backtrack or stay in a tight space. Do you know how you can give your machine just a tiny push and it rolls down the table? Well the drag causes it to be just a bit harder to move and it stops right where you want it to. Think about quilting when the wheels are dirty... If I\'m doing pantos or such I want all the free motion I can get. But on those feathers I needed more control to stay right on the previous stitching line as I backtracked. I hear it\'s all explained in the Sharon Shamber video, but I still have dial-up so I can\'t get them.

The book worked OK since I didn\'t need to move more than the width of the book for each feather. I will probably hunt up some foam so I can do borders and such when needed.

Hope that helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, I\'m going to give my 2 cents on the drag thing. I traded to my Freedom SR to GET RID OF DRAG! After seeing Sharon\'s videos (I found it a bit disconcerting that the gals in the class could NOT MOVE HER MACHINE with all her drag) I bought the foam, broke out my rice bags and test drove the concept.

I found that without drag my machine starts out easy but requires more "muscle" to stop at the end point, like the next feather. With drag it\'s easier to stop at that end point but takes "muscle" to start the machine moving.

I had my DH, who is NOT a quilter, try it out and he said that it\'s 6 one way, half a dozen the other. You\'re going to have to learn to control/get used to moving, your machine either way.

I\'ve opted for the no drag way (or possibly semi-drag I do leave my extended base on most of the time and that gives a bit of drag), especially after hearing so many gals say they have wrist problems after using heavy machines.

Of course, I\'m not winning awards over and over, so take my opinion with a grain of salt I guess, but there ARE a lot of big winners who are NOT using extra drag. I think DH is right, it\'s getting used to controlling your machine.

I believe it truly is different strokes for different folks. I don\'t think there is a right or wrong about this. See what works/feels best for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometime back I bought a 20 pound bag of rice to make my rice bags. Then I started thinking...I am not a great quilter, but I do okay. I don\'t like competition so I am not going to do a show quilt on purpose. I may make one to go into the edge to edge or Bread and Butter catagory...but just to see what the judges say and nothing more.

Sooo....Like Bubba Gump and his shrimp....we are having rice puddin, spanish rice, chicken-n-rice, beef over rice....:D:P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...