I first heard about machine quilting back in the late 80s from Harriet Hargrave. She was one of the pioneers of machine quilting, and she'd come to QuiltNebraska to share her techniques. I remember a lot of things from those lectures but the main thing I took away was that quilting could finally be fast. [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I've been watching machine quilting videos, and a lot of them. I bought them as classes over the past dozen years or so. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I haven't taken time to view many of them before now. I'm watching now because recently, a popular [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador The HQ Capri stationary longarm with the Insight table comes as a set, and together they're proving to be a great team. I've been quilting a lot on the Capri to get my feet wet, but sometimes it's as if I've fallen headlong into the lake! And I [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Yesterday I shared the story of this UFO, which has now happily become an FO: Finished Object! It feels great to have this one done. I kept the quilting simple but that's because Mary Beth Krapil, my tutor in all things machine quilting, has taught me to ask [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador and Mary Beth Krapil, Handi Quilter National Educator I started machine quilting an old UFO this week, and because I'm not experienced, I had questions right away. Mary Beth is a seasoned longarm quilting pro and is always just a text away. I sent my questions to her! [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I'm astonished at the new thoughts I'm having in the wake of my excitement about machine quilting. 1. "I can't wait to quilt this!" 🤗 In the past, I was a piecer and only a piecer. I made patchwork endlessly and the quilt tops just kept piling up. [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador No, not the morning TV show. I'm talking about your view of the machine quilting as you're doing it. In my last post, I talked about some lessons I took from quilting my Wild Garden. Lessons in Machine Quilting When you’re machine quilting, you’re so close to the [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador Eight years ago I started an improvisational quilt project during a retreat with Mary Lou Weidman. Mary Lou was doing improv long before anyone called it that. She makes amazing story quilts and she is full of ideas. A day spent with her is like slurping creativity from [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador I'm learning so much about machine quilting each day. The lessons apply whether you're quilting on a domestic like HQ Stitch or on a stationary longarm like the HQ Capri. Some of them would also be useful if you're longarm quilting with a machine on a movable carriage. [...]
By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador A few weeks ago, my HQ Capri stationary longarm arrived in two boxes. I had been concerned about setup because I am new to longarm quilting and I have a lot to learn. I kind of love the boxes. "Happy Quilting!" So I thought I'd share how everything [...]
