Echo Ditching with Longarm Quilting
Ever have an awesome plan to do something or make something and then have it go horribly wrong? Yeah, that was my day yesterday! I drove an hour to do something fun and quilty and found I’d misread the time and arrived too late. Argh!
But I’m pulling on my big girl underwear and resolving to read dates and times better. Or at least get them transferred to my calendar accurately. In this case, I experienced epic failed on both! LOL!
Today I have a new Frame Quilting Friday video for you on Echo Ditching. A few quilters asked about this technique and how it works so I shot an entire video just on quilting lines inside the seam lines of your quilts.
Click Here to find this Frame Quilting Friday video.
Grace Company has come out with a new smaller quilting frame this month called the Q-Zone. This frame is interesting because you can use either your home machine or a longarm and it takes up a lot less space – only 4 1/2 feet.
The one downside is you still need to baste your quilts before loading it onto this hoop style longarm. It doesn’t have to be pin basted like for a home machine, but you do need space to spread out all the layers flat and pin the top and bottom edges of the batting and quilt top to the backing fabric.
The upside is this little frame takes up a lot less space and it has adjustable height legs so it can be set up so you can sit down or stand up and move your machine. I also like the idea of being able to move a home machine to a frame for a lot lower cost just to try it out and see if it’s something that you like.
As with all machines and frames, this new style of frame will take practice to master. I think the biggest key with any new quilting equipment purchase is to do your research and make sure the new frame or machine will help you make the quilts you’re wanting to create.
Do you have suggestions for the next Frame Quilting Friday? I’m going to film a new batch of videos today and I’m always open to suggestions!
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
Leah, when you say "home machine" for the new Grace Frame, what size throat are you talking about? Because a 9" throat is considered a Shortarm machine which isn't consider a domestic machine. So, should folks have a 9" throat/shortarm machine as in my Jukie and some folks Janome's that are 9" throats or will a regular domestic machines 4 to 6 inch throat work with this frame?