Your 10 Immutable Laws of Machine Quilting

Do you have strange creative forces at work in your quilting studio?

It seems there are many "Quilted Muses" having fun disrupting you machine quilting life.

Thank you all for your contributions to the 10 Immutable Laws of Quilting. For those of you who have shared the "goings-ons" in your machine quilting life you received the Terry Twist pattern pack. Thank You!!

Your contributions are most clever and insightful, thanks for sharing.

There must be as many strange forces at work as there are studios...so let's uncover the next 10 laws and let the Muses beware of being discovered!! Please send your Law of Machine Quilting that is daringly present in your studio to sally@sallyterry.com. Just copy and past "Immutable Laws of Machine Quilting" in the subject line. So here is your Quilted Muse at work:

The 10 Immutable Laws of Machine Quilting snap us back to reality and demand we pay attention...ah the Quilted Muse has the most playful sense of humor....

1. Fabric silently takes over the whole house.
   
2. The back-lash spring when dropped matches the flooring.
   
3. You can never have too many stencil or find the one you want.
   
4. The final inch of your machine quilting top thread deliberately runs out in the last block on the last row.
   
5. Backing cleverly turns 90 degrees and is always a smidge short of the quilt top.
   
6. Bobbin threads whoosh out or snap on your most proudfully executed delicate curve in the longest feather
   
7. The one quilt you delayed quilting for lack of head-turning designs is the one that took the shortest time to quilt with blue ribbon spectacular results!
   
8. Inspiration can come at the most inopportune time -the quilt room is cluttered with doodles on napkins, gum wrappers, utility bills; and even though it looks like garbage to others, it is very important to the machine quilter. Cathy Keindl, West Point, CT
   
9. Inspiration and great ideas always come the moment the machine goes out for cleaning and repairs. Kay Benedict
   
10. You vaguely remember the perfect quilting design for this specific area on your new prize top. Do I have the design??, doodling on paper is just not working.....
    
    Maybe I didn't buy it, I thought I'd get it "next time". Totally frustrated I use another design, it's OK but not quite as special as" the one that got away".
    
    Two weeks after quilting is done, I find said special design " in the safe place to keep it from getting lost so when I need it I can find it for that special top." Linda Tramm, Wisconsin
    
11. That last cone of special thread runs out and no one stocks it anymore. You know you have that thread color for that quilt, but you don't find it in the back of the drawer until after you received the new one you ordered. Eileen Keane, NY
    
12. The phone will ring as soon as you are in the “groove” if you answer you will need to warm up and start again, if you don’t
    you will miss the outing to the quilt shop you’ve been trying to set up with your mini group all month. Gale Gleim

SURPRISE!

We have uncovered the 10 Immutable Laws, and from your response there may be as many laws as quilting studios... so we shall expose the next 10 laws...because there are puzzling forces at work out there.

Please send your Law of Machine Quilting that is daringly present in your studio to sally@sallyterry.com. Just copy and paste "Immutable Laws of Machine Quilting" in the subject line.

Winners will receive the new Terry Twist® Pattern Pack and I'll send them out as the Laws post. You will be notified for your shipping address by email. I will keep you all updated on my blog.

Good Luck! XXXXOOOO

Load It And Go Video Series with Sally Terry

Want some new "Load It and Go" inspiration and machine quilting pattern solutions for your quilt tops?

Check out Sally's three videos in her new "Load It and Go" Video Series and get great ideas for different types of quilt tops with different machine quilting design challenges.

Follow along as she thinks pattern layout designs through, getting her inspiration from the Terry Twist® patterns, stencils and templates.

Eavesdrop as she comes up with clever ideas you can apply on your own quilt tops, even if you don't have any of the TT (Terry Twist) tools. And if you do have some of the TT products already in your machine quilting studio, hope the ideas on the videos help you make your quilt tops sing and put joy into your machine quilting.

Thanks for watching, sally

3 New Machine Quilting Videos have been launched on YouTube

Here are three new videos for you to watch and get some new ways to use the Terry Twist Pattern Pack, Stencil and Templates Set for machine quilting. Watch as we think through some possible quilt pattern layouts in creative ways that you may not have thought of before on some very traditional quilt tops. Hope this helps!

Be like jello

Are you "white knuckling" your machine. Remember if you feel that your quilting machine is really dragging then lighten your hold on the machine.... use two fingers instead of all five. You see, your brain does not know if your machine really is hard to push or if it is just your right hand fighting your left hand.

So....be like jello and you will have a lot more fun!

Continuous-Line Asymmetrical Designs With The Terry Twist

There is so much you can do without planning. Afterall we are "Load It And Go Girls and Guys"! And because we don't want to mark I have discovered the Terry Twist works beautifully on all those randomly assembled quilt tops with what else....asymmetrical blocks.

Lately many of my clients are bringing me tops to be machine quilted like ToadUSew, Alter Ego, shown below. By the way you can get the pattern from Mainely-Sewing, just call Marge in 48 Atlantic Highway Nobleboro, Maine 04555 at 207-563-8445, she may even have some kits left.

Notice the Terry Twist spines that are only marked and not stitched and using only the 5 Basic Shapes of the Language of Quilting to add texture and movement, the completed with the new Walking Border technique found in the latest to my Pathways Series, published by American Quilter's Society entitled, Pathways From Quilt Top To Quilted. It took less than a day to machine quilt with minimum marking. The Terry Twist just pools and puddles it's way randomly across the quilt top, sometimes following the construction lines and sometimes not. The results are stunning. Marge loves it.

Now you don't have to do edge-to-edge or a meander anymore. Hope this helps. Quilt Happy, sally

Pathways From Quilt Top To Quilted Is Here for Machine Quilters

Good News! Now you can be one of the very first to add the newest book in the Pathways Series by Sally Terry to your machine quilting library and start using many of the new assymetrical continuous-line design ideas and patterns.

No matter where you are in your machine quilting journey, Pathways From Quilt Top To Quilted gives you never seen before layouts and design configurations, complete with illustrations and "how-to" instruction for working with templates, stencils, printed patterns and even your own free-motion designs. Plus, the Trouble Shooting section will help you eliminate many of the pesky problems we deal with once the top is pieced and it is too late to fix before machine quilting.

If you wish find out more click here and go to the product page

Eaves Drop On Ann Collet and Bonnie Browning with Sally Terry

Don't miss this opportunity to catch Ann Collet Founder of HMQS in Salt Lake to hear about all the exciting events she has in store for this year. You will want to start packing as Ann gives you a sneak peak of all the incredible quilt exhibits, contests and great classes. Plus learn about the new quilt categories and even more prize money to be awarded. And if you use this number when you register for classes you will receive a discount. Use this at the end of the ordering process ST9PJ88B and when you sign up for one class you will receive a 3 day pass to the show. Go to the home page and click on the recording button.

Also Bonnie Browning, Executive Show Director shares the latest on the second year of the new Lancaster Show...the latest in the AQS line-up of superb quilt shows as they celebrate their 27th year at Paducah. Bonnie as always takes you there. The special exhibits, the tours, the food and the classes. She even gives you all the ways that AQS makes it easy for you to attend...including a page on the website devoted to tour buses to Lancaster leaving from your different areas of the country. And explains the new online class live link you can sign up for in case you cannot make it this year. WOW! The prize money grows as well. So don't miss this time with Bonnie.

Here is the link to the home page where you can listen in   http://www.sallyterry.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

New Machine Quilting Book Is Almost Here

I has been over a year in the works....a machine
quilting book that was written to be a guide from
the first time you see the completed quilt top
ready for quilting until you take it out from under
the needle, sew on the binding and hang it
on the wall.

The book is another in the Pathways Series titled
Pathways From Quilt Top To Quilted. It is loaded
with over 130 photos, "how to" instructions,
54 illustrations, 24 patterns in 112 pages of
helpful information.

AQS has been wonderful in granting my request
to keep in two important chapters for you.
The Shadow RhythmsTM and Walking BordersTM
sections are full of patterns and illustrations to
help you use these great techniques in your
projects. They save so much time and the
results look custom despite the fact that the
patterns are mostly unmarked.

There are trouble shooting chapters to make
the most of offending fabrics and piecing errors.

If you go to www.sallyterry.com home page
there is a sneak peak of some of the patterns
and techniques. And, if you want there is a small
form you can fill out to be notified about the
release date.

A sincere thanks to everyone for their support and
contributions to this book.   sally

Traditional Machine Quilters are wanting to finish their UFO's

Today, two traditional machine quilters were in the studio wanting to learn how to machine quilt some of their smaller projects. One of them lamented that she just did not feel she could do a good job without lots of practice and taking many more classes...here was my suggestion.

You can do this. One of the most important things when you start machine quilting I think is the feed dogs. Try leaving them up for more control. Lower the pressure on the pressure foot to almost nothing and set the needle speed a little higher than you are used to. This will all help as you coordinate your foot pedal speed to the movement of your hands. If you have a constant speed control on your machine all the better to use it.

Next, put a small drop of liquid silicone on the needle plate to help your fabric glide.

And finally, learn the 5 Shapes of Quilting, called the "Language of Quilting"™. Remember there are only 5 shapes, an arc, s-curve, straight-line, loop and hook that you will have to make, now that is refreshing isn't. You will not need to master any other moves, and when you get those shapes down, small, medium and large, in  360°,  then you can use all the stencil and patterns you desire....there is no limit, and your UFO's are completed. And that is something to celebrate.

If you want to learn more about the Language of Quilting here is the link...http://www.sallyterry.com/utility/showProduct/index.cfm?productID=15

Hope this helps, yours in the love of quilting, sally

Why So Many Attend A Machine Quilting Show

This year is no exception....the quilts just keep getting better and better. Whether they are on display or on your bed, machine quilters are improving their techniques and skill by attending. Even if you don't take one class, am not sure that is even possible with all the incredible offerings, you will return home inspired.

There are many reasons to attend a show which are very conveniently located across the country. First you may want a specific instructor, or a specific machine quilting class that will be offered there and no where else. Also, you may finally say, this is my year to attend a machine quilting conference to see what is new from all the wonderful vendors. Or, maybe you just want to be inspired...and it will happen.

You can also enter your work and win fabulous prize money in many catagories, which is so generously offered by each event.

Hope this has inspired you to plan to attend a machine quilting show sometime soon. Besides, there are usually a few openings in many classes if you will be registering at the last minute. Sometimes there are classes already purchased and available from an individual, along with free demonstrations, that really helps your budget. And many vendors offer products with event sale pricing. Plus, don't forget there are roommate connections and ride shares available, too.

Listen to all the audios about the shows located on the home page at www.sallyterry.com. Call a fellow machine quilter and make plans. See you there...sally