Advice For New Machine Quilters

I have a Bernina with a BSR and I love it! I had never done free motion quilting before and it cut my learning curve by 75%. You still have to practice, but it makes it SO much easier. That fraction was the one the lady who taught my BSR class said....I think it's probably true.

Yes, the water soluble that looks like Saran Wrap. I did cheat a little. right about the time I was learning, JoAnn's was clearancing a brand and I went around town and bought up every roll of it. I even asked my son to stop at JoAnn's out of town while he was on a business trip.

Thanks for all the words of encourgement!! I actually love Bernina but DH doesn't love the price! So I figured if I got one around $200 that I already have accessories to he'd be easier to convince lol I can machine quilt on my current one but I want that heriloom stitch. Gotta love to compromise with DH.

CC.. I have used that tissue type paper that you describe. There is one that is made specifically for tracing on then pinning to your top and quilting through it. I have found that the more intricate the design the harder it is to take the little bits of tissue off and sometimes the paper gets stuck by the thread so much that you have to wash the quilt to get it all off. I even tried to spray water on the paper to get it to loosen up prior to tearing it off....didn't work as well as i would have liked. So, I found it easier to trace directly onto the top with either a air erase pen, water soluble pen, chalk or other marker that is easy to get off...I have tried all and still find the water soluble pen easiest to use, see and remove. I even use it with my long arm as well as the air erase one (purple ink) ...but you do have to mark just what you are working on, quilt then move on to the next area, mark and quilt...till you get your project done. The purple air erase marker does not come back to haunt you like the blue water erase one can sometimes, all though I find if you are not heavy handed when marking with the blue one..then the chances of it coming back is very low.
Chalk works nicely, but can be messy and will disappear with little movement...so I use chalk pencils and that works better.
all in all... I guess you have to work with what you find is best for you.

I have heard that the BSR on the Bernina machines are pretty nice. I have not used one. Still I say, bring some sqr's of sandwich fabric into the store and play with the machines. You might find one that suits your needs better than what you thought you wanted....the higher priced machine are not the only ones that do good jobs on quilting and regular sewing!

CC---here is a online course on machine quilting, that you can review and see if it would be something you would be interested in....

http://www.craftsy.com/class/Machine-Quilting-Free-Motion-More/37

I do almost all of my pattern quilting freehand. Initially, I tried marking and following patterns and found that for me, the results were jerky and generally unsatisfying. One form of pattern that does work for me is a piece of paper that I pin to the quilt top and quilt around. My LA friends say that one should draw the free motion pattern several times before doing it on the fabric. some use felt tips on old newspapers, some use chalk. Painter's tape works well to mark straight lines, such as the traditional diagonal grids.

Thanks for the link Mamu. I'm getting ready to machine quilt a smaller quilt and will give the air erase pen a try. Has anyone had trouble with it not disappearing? I have had trouble with the blue water soluble pen staying when I left it on a UFO for near a year (my fault)

I have not had any problems with the purple air erase pen....if you do you can mist it with a dab of water and wipe with a cloth....my problem has been that the pen erases prior to me getting to that section for quilting, I just have to be patient a only mark one area at a time

I can't remember which one it is, but one of the marking pens will become permanent if you iron it. I can't remember which one though. I always test before I use them to confirm that if I iron on it, it will still erase with water.