More on How I Quilt

I thought I should finish telling you how I quilt. The photo at left or at the start (I never know where this things will land without going in and messing the the html code) show a couple of things. Good lighting really helps so that there isn't a shadow on the spot where you are working. I 'set' the horizontal and vertical lines with straight stitching using a walking foot. I am just about finished with that part of it on this quilt. I mentioned before that I use a Slider and that really helps the quilt slide on the bed of my machine. One major thing is that I turn my cabinet to face the wall and add a small table to my left. The table helps support the extra weight of the quilt as I work on it and an ironing board works too. The reason I turn my cabinet to the wall is so the quilt doesn't hang off the back of it and pull on the needle. A good, supportive chair at the right height works wonders for ergonomics. I also loosen my top tension just a wee bit. I also start each quilting session with a practice quilt-let like those you see in the second picture. This loosens me up and gets my rythm right. I also loosen up my top tension just a wee bit. I am quilting this quilt with invisible thread and when I started on my practice quilt-let the bobbin was snarling on the back. After several false starts, I realized that I needed a lighter weight thread in the bobbin. I changed to Superior's Bottom Line and Voila! problem solved.