Supreme Slider
Today is Feature Friday and it’s time to feature one of my absolute favorite tools for free motion quilting:
The Supreme Slider is a Teflon sheet designed to reduce the friction between the back of your quilt and the surface of your machine and table.
One side of the slider is smooth and slick. This is the side your quilt slides against and honestly, this makes it SO much easier to move your quilt in free motion.
There’s a little hole in the center that you line up with the hole on your machine. A lot of people ask me about the size so the slider itself measures – 11.5″ L x 8″ W.
One other side of the slider is pink and grippy and designed to grip the table and machine bed so it doesn’t shift.
It’s not sticky like a sticker, so it doesn’t leave any nasty sticky stuff on your machine. Instead it just grips much like a suction cup on a steamy window.
Occasionally you will need to take your slider off and give it a bath. The lint from our quilts and fabric can build up on the back and cause the grippy side to lose it’s gripiness (I love the words I start inventing when talking about this thing!)
In the video I was playing with a slider that really needed to be rinsed off, which is why it slid around so much. I shot the video right before a rinse so I wouldn’t be fiddling with getting it off the machine while filming.
Towards the end of the video I mentioned the need to tape down the slider.
When you’re working on a big quilt, the bulk of the quilt can catch the edges of the slider and cause it to pull up or roll over and you can accidentally stitch through it if you’re not careful.
Trust me, the last thing you want to do is stitch through this thing! Use a little masking tape to secure the front edge and this shouldn’t be a problem.
Lastly, I know a lot of quilters are skeptical about this tool. One of the most common questions I hear is “Does it really help THAT much?”
My answer: “Yes!”
When I take my slider off the machine to rinse it, usually I forget to put it on and suddenly I’m fighting the weight and bulk of my quilt and wondering what the heck is going on. I simply cannot quilt as well without it.
The best way to test it: get a slider and try it out while free motion quilting for a whole day.
Then towards the end of the day, take it off and see if you can stitch as well without it. I promise you’ll see a difference! Click here to read more about the Supreme Slider online.
So that’s it for this Feature Friday! I’m headed upstairs to get back to quilting Shadow Self. At this point I can safely say I’m totally addicted and absolutely in love with this quilt. I can’t wait to finish it!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
Leah,
I have a supreme slider and totally love it! I wouldn't quilt without it! I am actually on my second one! They are the best tool ever! Thanks for highlighting it and letting everyone know!
LynnEl in Illinois
The Supreme Slider is the BEST! I couldn't believe how much my FMQ improved almost immediately. Now I have one for each of my machines and can't imagine living without it. Another really neat product is the Little Genie bobbin washers. You put them into your bobbin case under the bobbin and somehow they help prevent thread nests on the back of your quilt. I keep mine in all the time. Those two items plus my Machingers gloves have made a HUGE difference in my work.
Hey Leah, I have a girlfriend who finds it hard to FMQ on her machine because instead of her feed dogs dropping she has a "darning plate" to put over them. The problem is that she says it rattles around (it's not secured, just sits there) and makes really loud noises, which means she can't use it at night when her girls are sleeping.
In your opinion, would something like the Supreme Slider help? Could she put it over the darning plate and go?