You all know how long it took me to decide to add robotics to my longarm. Part of the reason I hesitated was because of my fear of the learning curve. Turns out, even though the ProStitcher is a powerful program with monster capabilities it’s also pretty user friendly for the scared and not so skilled longarmer. Specifically, me.
I started by learning how to do an edge to edge design. I choose what looked like a pretty easy design – no backtracking, no wrapping of the design, not too big, not too small…..juuust right. After I picked the design I wanted to use I loaded up one of my Mom’s quilts and hit the Go button. Okay, there’s not really a Go button, it’s more like a >Quilt>Run button. And there’s a bit more to it than just loading a quilt and pressing a button, but I won’t bore you with the details. Basically you tell the computer what area you want to quilt, set up the design (which involves fitting the design to the area by making it larger or smaller), choose a start point and then press that >Run button.
Mom’s quilt turned out really pretty. The design I used was the perfect choice. I even braved using a darker thread on the light fabric back and I’m soooo glad I did. It really lets the design show on the back, and I think the back is almost as pretty as the front.
I had a few mistakes on this first quilt. My biggest mistake was marking the area for quilting. Turns out when doing an E2E design, you should mark your area about an inch bigger than the quilt on the sides, the top, and the bottom. Because I didn’t do that the design began shifting on the quilt top each time I advanced the quilt. This shifting occurs for two reasons. First, if the top isn’t the same width all the way down the quilt. By the time I got to the bottom of the quilt, the design had moved in about half an inch.
Second, it turns out this also happened because of the way I moved the design on the screen when advancing the quilt. So, lesson learned. In the end, after adding the binding to the quilt my mistake wasn’t even noticeable. But it was a lesson I needed to learn and I’m glad it happened on this first quilt.
There is a lot more to learn about edge to edge quilting. Figuring out the size of the design in relation to the quilt top will come with more practice and experience. Even though the ProStitcher allows you to see the design full size, it’s difficult for me to make the visual translation from screen to quilt top.
I feel like the size of the flowers on Mom’s quilt was okay – not too loose, not too dense. Again, juuuust right! 🙂 Later I did an E2E on another quilt where I think the design is a bit too big. The quilt looks good, but a smaller design might have been a better choice.
I hope you don’t get tired of reading about my adventures with the ProStitcher. I know that I would have loved to have read posts like this when I was considering making the purchase, so hopefully what I write will help someone else who may be holding an internal “should I, shouldn’t I” debate.
In other news, I’m excited to announce that Bernie of Needle & Foot has started carrying a couple of my patterns in her Etsy shop. Thank you Bernie! She is the second shop owner to carry printed copies of my work, and I was just so pleased when she contacted me. So hop over to her Etsy shop by clicking this link, and check out all the great fabrics and patterns she has available!
Finally, I’m going to brag for just a tiny minute. Our local quilt show began on Saturday, March 9 and I entered “A Little Less Grunge”. It won Best Machine Quilting! How exciting is that?? I haven’t made it to the show yet to see all the beautiful quilts, but it’s high priority on my list of things to do this week. If you have a chance, go on down to the Blennerhassett Museum and check out the show. It runs through March 17th, and there are always fantastic quilts hanging at this show.
This week I’ll be quilting like a crazy mad worker bee, trying to keep ahead and on schedule with the quilts I have to do. I would also like to do some piecing – I have fabric cut so maybe I can sneak in some sewing. My ‘one seam a day’ plan hasn’t worked out real well, but I’m optimistic I can turn it around. 🙂
What are you working on this week? It’s time for you to share the projects that have you excited to be in your sewing space. You can link any blog post, Instagram or Flickr pic – here’s how:
Congrats on the ribbon! I remember when you were working on that quilt.
Congratulations on your winner Beth, and best of luck learning how to use that amazing tool!
But just think, Beth, you own that monster of a machine and can use it whenever you want — imagine how quickly you will master the learning curve and show it who’s boss! I do appreciate your accounts of these longarm adventures. I’m headed to my LQS in the next week to do my second edge-to-edge design on a quilt. Wish me luck!
As with everything, learning how the new robotics work takes time. I used to have a robot, but found I spent a lot of time setting it up, and felt I could get the quilt done faster by hand. Maybe in the future I’ll look into robotics again, but for right now, I’m happy with my setup, and can accomplish quite a bit, even custom combined with a panto.
I really appreciate that you are sharing what you learn about the ProStitcher as you go, Beth. Those kinds of things are subtle and I think it’s going to be a great resource for people in the future. And congratulations winning best machine quilting in the show! I hope you can stop by and get a great photos beside your hanging quilt.
Congrats on your decision! Good luck with the learning curve. And it seems that computerized long arms are all the rage now. Another thing to aspire to!
It’s hard to imagine what the small “drawing” of the whole quilt on the computer will actually look like. I’m glad you mentioned you need to make the size parameter bigger. I was thinking I needed to make mine smaller but have had to enlarge while trying to get the robotics to quilt it out. Sigh. I would love to know the name of that cute design. Nice job.
Congrats on the quilt show win!! I hope you get a chance to see it hanging in the show! I enjoy your posts on the trials and tribulations of using the Prostitcher. I don’t have a long arm, but it fascinates me when I’m able to see what they are all about. Who would have thought there was so much involved in edge to edge quilting?! There might be a learning curve, but eventually you’ll figure it out and from there…you’ll become a master at that too!
I so appreciate your comments. I am saving for a long arm now, and now that when that day comes I will come back and re-read your posts.
I love the fabrics in A little less grunge, beautiful. I’m progressing with my ruler work on the longarm and soon I will try pantos. Right now I am enjoying the hand guided, I dont know that I would like the robotics. Thank you for the linky party.
Love that daisy quilting pattern; so cute! I’m excited that Bernie is carrying your patterns; I can get your pattern and help both of you at the same time – how cool is that?!? Congrats on the machine quilting award; no surprise there! That is a beautiful quilt. (I just realized I completely forgot to mention link ups in my post – haha)
sounds like you are getting it figured out – love that little quilt
Hi Beth! I love, love, LOVE reading about your quilting lesson that you’ve learned. While I seriously doubt I will ever get a longarm, one can still dream about it, right?! Yes, I imagine scale and even choosing exactly where a quilting pattern falls on the pieced top might be things that you gain confidence with over time. With such a powerful tool, you have to allow yourself time to learn and get comfortable with it. My money’s on you! ~smile~ Roseanne