When you rent a longarm quilting machine at Burlington Electric Quilters, we help beginners as well as experienced quilters. Some quilters want an opinion when choosing thread colors. Others appreciate a hand when loading the quilt. When it’s time to face the screen… you and the longarm will quilt together.
When it comes to hand guided quilting, some of our new longarm quilters feel a bit of stress. Makes sense, right? They’re trying something new, and this is their first time on a longarm. Never fear, we’re here with:
5 Tips for Beginning Longarm Quilters
- Start with a flowing quilting pattern. Organic, flowing shapes that suggest a motif are great for many quilts. You can practice smooth, consistent movement across the quilt which results in lovely, even stitching. From there, practice points and smaller scale, complex patterns.
- Begin with a simple quilt top. Practice makes improvement. Save your quilt top with 5,000 pieces that will be a family heirloom for the day when you have more experience. If you don’t have a quilt top ready, use muslin or a choose a charity quilt top for your beginning longarm quilting.
- Remember that everyone was once a new longarm quilter. You’re new to longarm quilting – don’t expect perfection. Everyone’s first longarm quilting experience varies. Even if you’ve been machine quilting, it takes time to adapt.
- Relax. Are your shoulders hunched, or your jaw tight? Exhale twice, long and fully. Shake out your arms and legs. Longarm quilting can be really pleasurable. Our hand guided machines all have adjustable table heights for a physically comfortable experience.
- View your quilting on horseback. If mistakes aren’t visible while galloping on horseback, everything’s fine.
Remember, you’re renting at Burlington Electric Quilters. Whether you are a beginning longarm quilter or an award-winning expert, we’re here to help!