indycat32

Ordered a HQ Simply 16 with the 10 foot frame. It should arrive in about a week, and naturally I'll want to start playing immediately. I'm wondering what you folks use for practice fabric. Is a cheap muslin OK. How about an old sheet? I don't want to use good (i.e., expensive) fabric but also don't want to create problems for myself.

Also, to anyone who has this set up, how much quilting space do you have by the time you get to the bottom of, say, a queen size quilt? Maybe I should have asked that question before purchasing.

dunster

A friend of mine recently took a longarm class at Road2CA. Her instructor told them to use felt as a practice piece. I bought some and tried it, and it's great. You don't need any backing or batting, and felt is often 60" wide, so it's very inexpensive.

topstitch

You can get more use from the fabric you use for practice by making your first practice run in two light color threads the second practice run in medium threads then number 3 in dark threads. In each practice run use a different color of thread for the top and the bobbin.

oksewglad

Congratulations! I have had my new to me LA about a month now. My initial practice piece was a quilt sandwich with a thin batting about 3 x 3 feet which I then cut up into potholders and have added a piece of insulbrite and new backing.

Have you been FMQing on your domestic? If so you have developed some muscle memory, ie simple meandering.

Do you have a quilt flimsy already to go? For my next "practice" I put a scrappy top and started with a meander and in no time had a full size quilt done. I figure I might as well have something to show for my practice work. The meander quilt helped me learn to gauge how far I could quilt before I reached the front edge. I put Quilt #11 on the frame last night a HST scrap baby quilt for donation and each one has been a learning experience.

Get yourself a notebook and list Date, Description, Size, type of batting, backing and thread. Make note of the stitches that you have used. Make notes on what worked and what didn't...things like tension, thread breakage. It takes little time and you will be glad you did. Oh and look at the many tutorials on line. I have a large white board (18" x 24") and practice doodling every once in a while. And most of all have a great time!

Dolphyngyrl

muslin, practice panels, you can even use same sandwich and put a new piece of muslin over it so you don't have to reload a new sandwich

cathyvv

Congrats on your new long arm quilting set up. It is an exciting thing for a quilter to get one!

I have an HQ16, no stitch regulator, on a frame. (I use the pcquilter, a computerized system to "do" the actual quilting.) In general, the thicker the sandwich, the less depth for the quilting. Flannel, minkie and fleece are thicker than most 100% cotton quilting fabric, so take up more room on the take up rail/in the throat of the machine.

The same is true for batting. The thicker it is, the less depth you have for quilting on the frame. Batting that I use is Hobbs 80/20, not too thin and not too thick.

Note: for a variety of personal reasons, I only do end to end quilting. If you intend to do more customized quilting, the numbers I'm giving may not work for you.

Having said all that, and considering that most of the quilts I quilt are 100% cotton with the Hobbs 80/20 batt:

For larger quilts, over 70 inches long, you are probably best off allowing no more than 10 inches of depth for quilting/in the throat of the machine.

For a baby or toddler quilt, which I define as 40 - 50 inches long, I have gotten away with a 12 inch depth for quilting, but generally allow myself only 11 inches of depth to quilt in.

Lap quilts, 50 - 70 inches long, at most 10 - 11 inches of depth for quilting.

Happy quilting!

mama's place

Where did you buy your new 16 inch machine? I am considering going up a bit and cannot find anything much that is affordable. I have a Grace SR2 frame and a Juki 98 and that doesn't allow much quilting area. Big jump in price though when you go to wider harp space.

indycat32

Thanks for all the great information. It never would have occurred to me that I could use the same sandwich more than once. I've been renting a longarm and have done meander, loops, and spirals. I've also taken a few classes. I have my notebook and my dry erase board which I play around with while watching basketball.

oksewglad: Really good idea to keep notes. again, would not have occurred to me. I have a few flimsies which I've had for years and never finished because I don't really like them. Perfect for practice!

Mama's place: I bought the full setup from Handiquilter.

ckcowl

I used inexpensive muslin for practice quilts sheets ( from the thrift shops would be good options too.)

goldsberry921

Congrats on your purchase! When we got our long arm ( King Quilter 18x8) we used a sandwich scrap to practice on. Let me know how you like your new machine! We are in search of purchasing a sit down quilting machine. We are going to test drive an APQS George next week. Happy Quilting!!!