Jannie

I am trying to decide if I need an embroidery machine or not. I am wondering, once you get your quilt sandwiched together, can you do simple embroidery for the quilting. What is the pro and cons of doing this? I am trying to justify buying an embroidery machine and what features I should consider. Thanks for any input you have.

sushi

Hmmmmm. I'm a newbie to embroidery machines and think of them as tools to embellish my quilt tops. I'd not thought of them as quilting devices.

I'm as eager to learn as you are, Jannie!

justflyingin

You can. But it is a lot of work. This one I finished earlier this year. I call it my 'snow' quilt. Guess I need to go find it and pull it out now that we have snow.

I use poly batting because that is what we have here (Poland) but with cotton batting it would be easier to quilt with the embroidery machine.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]450330[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]450331[/ATTACH]

and

[ATTACH=CONFIG]450332[/ATTACH]

The patterns are from www.emblibrary.com

Mdaniels

That us a beautiful quilt.

QuiltMom2

I really like that quilt!

Plumtree

Pro's- lots of cute and traditional single pass quilt designs and looks really good when finished

Con's- depending on quilt size a lot of work; hooping and unhooping 3 layers and aligning each time. The lining up each design can be tricky and time consuming each square will have to be centered and it takes up a lot of space, again depending on quilt size. You need a table to support the weight of the quilt while its running or the weight will pull and distort design or worse break machine

That all being said I used mine 3 times to do the quilting for me and I will probably do it again tho nothing larger than a baby quilt or crib size it is just too much for me on anything bigger..I have done a twin, full and baby quilt this way the full size was the worst I thought I would never finish.

PaperPrincess

I was never very successful in doing a whole quilt, but it is really great for doing quilt as you go blocks.
You can also do embroidered labels, however, that will require and additional software purchase.

pattypurple

I have used it a couple times. You have to remember that the design will show on the back. I embroidered spools in between the blocks on my quilt and they don't look great on the back. It is a lot of work to line everything up, but can give good results. Just be prepared, embroidery is addictive and not cheap. But it is so much fun. If you get a machine, get the biggest hoop you can afford. Trust me, you'll want to go bigger soon after starting. Here is a picture of my latest project

SingerSewer

I purchased an Anita Goodesign collection that is SUPPOSED to all go together and make a finished quilt top with batting using the embroidery machine...then you add backing and quilt the sandwich together with the stitch in the ditch method using a regular straight stitch.

Should add: I haven't tried yet so don't know how easy or difficult it will be.

mighty

I love my embroidery machine but I have never used it to quilt a quilt.