Get ready for National Quilting
Month. This hoop is perfect for quilting with your embroidery machine!
As embroidery machines
gain larger stitching areas, they are wonderful for quilting. This hoop, the Snap Hoop Monster from DIME, is so easy to
use for both embroidery and quilting.
This is a great tutorial on quilting with a
magnetic hoop by my friend, Bonnie, at SewInspiredByBonnie.com.
Getting Started
First, make a template of
your quilting design.
Pin baste layers of fabric
and batting together. Make your batting and backing a little bit bigger than
you ordinarily would if you were taking it to a long-arm quilter. You're going
to be quilting off the edge and you want to have something there to stitch on.
Marking the Quilt
Find the center of
your quilt top. Take a water-soluble pen and draw a line down the center the
entire length of your quilt. Fortunately, one of my seams on my quilt was the
center.
Use the template you created
and start about a quarter-inch from the top edge of the quilt and a quarter-inch
from the centering line. I folded the edge of the template to the stitching
edges of the design.
I spaced designs about a
half inch apart. Anywhere from a quarter inch to a half inch is a good
distance, depending upon the size of the stitching or the design itself.
I made columns running
down the center and then on each side. Once you have your quilt sandwich basted
and you have your lines drawn on your quilt, you can start using your magnetic
hoop.
Stitching the Quilting
Design
When it comes time to
quilt, put your template on top exactly where you want it to be. Pin it in
place, using the centering lines drawn on the template.
Position the bottom hoop
under the template.
Line up the top hoop and
then just let it come on down.
Make sure that everything
is nice and centered. If it's not, shift it a little bit. Be sure the center line
on the quilt lines up with the center lines on your hoop and that you're just a
half- or quarter-inch from your first quilted design.
Stitch out the quilting
design and re-hoop for the next area.
With the Snap Hoop
Monster, it was a lot faster for me. I cut my hooping time from 15 or 20
minutes of struggling and fighting with quilt layers, down to maybe five.
Thanks, Bonnie!
Debbie SewBlest