My new hydraulic lift is awesome. It allows me to quilt at just the right height, whatever, that happens to be for the quilting I’m doing. With just the push of a button I can set a new height. It has helped me visually see what I am quilting. Definitely recommend.
Yesterday I put on new leaders. I felt mine had stretched out over the years. Fresh ones might help make sure quilts are lined up more accurately. My originals were put on with velcro, so all I had to do was add the velcro to the new leaders and they would be put on straight. I notice a lot of companies seem to just tape on the leaders. Don’t think I would like that. Is it placed on straight? Does the tape stay on?
I also decided to give the Red Snappers a try again. They are suppose to help you load a quilt faster. I was afraid I wasn’t getting the quilt on as straight with them last time I tried them. This time I was careful to line the material up with a line on the leaders. I enjoyed not getting stabbed with the pins.
So today I loaded a new quilt. I’ve been fooling around with how to quilt it. This is my new method for designing. I have been printing a picture of the quilt then drawing different patterns until I find what I like. Then I can refer to it while quilting. If I’m using the piecing itself for guideline I really don’t have to draw much on the quilt which I like. If it’s more complicated then I would draw out more. What do you think? How do you come up with your designs?
Gail Renna 