What I learned today

[peglu]

Today I learned alot. I learned that design boards are not so easy to line up once you've rolled your quilt, but I think I figured out what I did wrong there. I also learned that if you don't stop, or at least slow down at corners, they become curves . I also learned that Millie doesn't like it when I run over pins, which caused me to learn how to change a needle. And lastly, I learned that you should not do your 1st quilt with thread that matches you background too well, because it is a bite to get it back out :mad:. But, the biggest thing that I learned is that I LOVE this. Thanks for letting me share my progress.

Peggy

[bobbi]

Awesome! you're now officially one of us! Just keep PPP and you'll be great!

[lindasewsit]

Yeah Peggy!! Isn't it the most fun you have ever had???!!! I love it too!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

[Hollyrw]

Woo Hoo! Wish I was home having as much fun as you are.

Holly

[mrsbishwit]

Circle Lord design boards have holes drilled into them to help line up the next row when you advance the quilts (the basic concept that alot of pantogragh designers use when they design their designs with the partial row on the paper pattern).

So if you have a circle lord board the drilled holes are usually closest to you when you are working from the back of the machine, when you are finished with your row you just advance the quilt so that the top of the stitching of the row you just stitched lines up with the drilled holes on the template. A lot of us advance our quilts with the needle down in the quilt on the stitching line (which is in line with the drilled hole of the board) if you go this route be very careful because you could rip the quilt if you advance too fast, or if you have your channel locks on or if you forgot to raise your stylus before advancing.

I don't own other design boards so I don't know if they also have some sort of mark or hole in their boards like CL does. If they don't you could always place a piece of tape or make a mark on the board yourself using a sharpie or pencil a suitable distance from the grove at the bottom of the boards. This way the space between rows will always be consistent.

Good luck, the more you do them the easier they get.

[peglu]

Joanne,

I do have CL boards, but the one I am using now is not a CL board. My original problem was getting the board on the table straight to begin with, then I remembered channel locks. That worked well. Any ideas on getting the board not to move on the table? This is a R&S board that I really like, but am finding it a little hard to use. It has rubber on the back, but still wants to slide. Am I missing something?

[mrsbishwit]

Try using blue painters tape on the 2 ends of the templates and on the long edges if the sides are not enough stability.

As far as the initial laying the boards down on the table try using a ruler to make sure that all of the boards are at equal distance from the edge of the back of the table (I like mine to be about 3" from the edge of my table. Also I use the "Rubbermaid" brand for the non skid material under my boards the generic brands aren't as thick and not as gripping as the Rubbermaid brand...also make sure before you lay down the non skid material down that your table is dust free and clean...helps alot. Also remember when you are following the design on the board that you have 1 hand on the stylis and one hand on the handle of you machine (works great for me) and keeps my boards from slipping or moving out of place (I think it has something to do with evening out the pressure on the boards. Also slow down the fast you go the more chance that the boards will get jarred out of place.

Hope this helps.

[peglu]

Very helpful Joann. Just needed a few pointers. Thanks a bunch for the tips. I'm off to try again.

[meg_marsh]

Peggy,

I too have learned a lot the last few days. Did my first panto quilt - will post the pic later. I did a partial float - only pinned/stitched the top end to the backing and batting - did not roll on the bar. Found it very easy to keep everything lined up and my quilt is square!!! Did pin and stitch sides as I went along. Really liked this technique.

Now for the CL......

Today I went shopping for the CL. Bought a piece of 3/8" flashing & cut to length of table. Duct taped it to protect the table. This holds the templates perfectly straight along the edge side. Bought the nonskid material and some carpenters tape (double sided) and will put that on the templates this afternoon. Bought a narrow piece of molding for the top side of the template. Bought 4 clamps to hold the flashing and molding in place. Then will use the 2 pieces of wood that came with the CL for the ends. This should work - maybe over kill but playing the the 7 Treasures yesterday, found it difficult to keep everything perfectly aligned so it made it very difficult to advance to the next position. The 7 Treasures is a very exacting template. Love it though. Loved playing with adding designs in the open areas of the 7 Treasures design. I will have to go study the holes mentioned above.

Isn't this just the most fun............. I actually feel like I am improving - still hard to put my quilts on because I am afraid they won't come out well - but I know I have to just keep going and know that what I do now will not be as good as what I do later............ Just keep practicing and trying!!

Hope your house is all back in order and that your unexpected and unwanted adventures are over for now.

Meg:cool:

[lyonden]

For you guys having problems with keeping your templates aligned, here's what helped me. I put the non-skid down on the table, I mark where I want the template, (I use the pattern grid), I don't tape the template down or anything. I found that if I held both handles of the machine while following the design, that I moved the template, I seem to be heavy handed, also, sometimes the stylus jumps out of the grooves. Soooo, I have eliminated this problem by keeping my left hand lightly on top of the stylus (thus stopping the jump) and I steer the machine with my right hand. I don't knock the template out of whack that way. I seem to have a more gentle hand doing it this way. When I roll the quilt top, I get the quilt as close as I can to the hole or design or wherever I want it. I then put the needle down into the fabric of the last row quilted, and put the stylus down and just barely push or pull the template till the stylus falls in. I then go to the other end and do the same thing. I check both ends at least two times then start the next row. Be careful not to move the template from side to side while doing this. Don't know if this will help anyone but this is what works for me and I can do this quickly now. ;)

[peglu]

Thanks Meg, all is well here. I found my problem. The quilt top is not on straight . I floated it. It seemed great. I did load the top on the roller, then stitched the top end to the backing and batting. OOPs. Forgot to make sure I stitched it STRAIGHT. It is off just a little on one end, so it is throwing the whole pattern off. Now I have to decide whether to rip it all out, including the top border (which is done), or to just rip the center portion and use a more forgiving pattern to stitch. I'm pretty bummed. But, the sun will come out tomorrow.

Love to see pics of your quilt and of your new design board contraption.

[mrsbishwit]

Meg;

I hope you didn't use the duct tape to attatch the flashings and moldings to the table itself...duct tape is a very HARSH adhesieve tape that will leave residue that will be very hard to get off of your table in the future. Also the longer that duct tape is left on to something the harder it is to remove. This is why us quilters prefer to use the Blue Painters tape it uses an adhesive that is not as harsh and can be easily removed with rubbing alcohol if there is residue from the tape.

Yes, you did go over board with trying to keep your templates in place. You only need to buy enough of the non skid Rubbermaid stuff for the length of the table...you don't need to attatch them to the individual templates (that can get kind of costly). In addition to what I posted earlier about keeping the templates secure and in place some might tape (with the blue painters tape) each time they use the templates (they remove it when they are done) is old yard sticks along the length of the table. This has been proven by many on this board as enough security for using the larger templates.

Good luck with your templates

[quiltmonkey]

Hey,

Here's an idea to use for removing "goo" residue left behind by heavy duty duct tape, among other things... etc. .....

WD 40!

It's a solvent and WD-40 pretty much de-goos a lot of things from surfaces that need to be de-goo-ed.

Oh... and then you may ask: "Well, after I de-goo with WD-40, how do I get rid of the excess WD-40 that remains after de-gooing?"

Rubbing Alcohol!

(just thought I'd stick my nose in here and let ya know)

[peglu]

Hey, thanks Shana. WD-40 cheaper than Goo-Be-Gone. Probably works just as well.

[quiltmonkey]

Just be careful to use WD-40 on safe surfaces. It's slippery. On floors, it makes it extra slickery and you could fall.

Read the MSDS to be safe.

[meg_marsh]

I wasn't that silly - used the duct tape on the flashing itself to protect the table. It seems to be working - have to go to dinner now so will give a complete update later. Thanks for thinking of the duct tape - I have been known to do really!!!! dumb things and then paid big time.

Meg