rupe

I have also used mine to make wired ribbon. stitch the wire right on to the strip of fabric. Have to make sure the cutting blade is out of way.

Quilt30

Kaye Wood wrote a book titled The 6 Hour Quilt which is totally made on the serger. Similar to log cabin and all three layers are sewed at same time. Crib size.

rjwilder

I have a Babylock serger, it's so nice and easy to thread compared to the older models. It has Jet Air threading for the loopers and it self adjusts the tensions. It was also very expensive compared some that are $300.-$400. dollar range. I use it for many things, receiving blankets, baby bibs, pillowcases and other items for charity. I also serge the edges of my fabrics before I wash them, I wash all my fabrics before using them. I have made terry cloth robes, men's shower wraps. I use it when I have old towels and I cut them down for rags or shelter pads. Having nice serged edges so the fabric doesn't fray is really nice. I also use it for clothing, hemming and I do make PJ pants, napkins and other home dec items.

junegerbracht

I bought an expensive Babylock - I know it’s a great serger but I rarely use it. Thought I would use it when making charity pillowcases but decided I prefer French seams. If you do a lot of garment making with knits that’s a different story. Think about it before buying.

RedGarnet222

I am sure you will hear good and bad about sergers. I love mine and use it often. But, I make clothing and home decorating items like serged edge napkins, curtains, pillows and drapes. The quality of a machine makes a big difference in the end product. I started out with a babylock mid-range and quickly realized that I didn't like it at all. I spoke to the salesperson and she upgraded me to another better model and that made all the difference. Like anything, there is a learning curve. There are classes and whole books on the subject. Also, utube has tons of videos to help you to see what can be done with one.

By the way, when you want to change the thread color, you just clip the thread at the cone, square knot tie on the new color to the thread still in the machine, lift the foot and gently pull the thread through to the needle or looper. Put the new color thread spool on the pin. It is very quick and easy that way. You don't have to start from scratch every time you change colors or thread type.

mjkgquilt

I've made Kaye Wood's 6-Hour Quilt. Love it and it is warm.

tropit

Sigh...I'm going to be the contrarian here...sorry. I hate sergers...with a passion. I used to have a swimwear company and I would have to make the first samples with them. I had 2 domestic sergers and both of them gave me nothing but headaches. I think that they were both Baby Locks, but I can't be certain. They each had 4 spools of thread and very complicated threading systems. Things were always going wrong and I would have to re-thread them all the time. It was a nightmare. My contractors said the same thing about both, their domestic and commercial sergers. They had a guy on the floor who's only job was to walk around and come over to each problem machine and fix it until it went crazy again. It went on all day like that. (He had the patience of a saint.)

To answer your question, no, you don't need a serger to quilt. A straight stitch machine is all you really need, unless you want to get fancy with embellished stitching.

~ C