Helpful hint for bobbins

I'm working on a quilt.  The thread I want to use is on a bobbin.  (It's left over from a "quilt upside down" project.)  I don't have a full spool but the amount on the bobbin is enough for what I need for this quilt.  There's no place on the machine to hold a bobbin so I can use it like a spool.  What do I do?  Repurpose of course!

I found these items around the studio.  Two empty spools and a nail should give me a good temporary bobbin holder attachment.

The nail will go this way in the smaller spool.

A bit of hot glue to hold it in place.

Be sure to hold it centered while the glue cools.

Now put the smaller spool, upside down, inside the small end of the larger spool, with the nail up.  Like this.

It fit perfectly and tight enough to stay in place without any hot glue.  Now the nail becomes the bobbin holder.  The flat part of the smaller spool become the platform for the bobbin to sit.

The whole thing fits right onto the regular spool holder of my machine. 

This is a great way to use left over bobbins of specialty thread as the top thread on a quilt.  Hmm... it would work to help empty some of those extra bobbins of thread colors too.  You know, the dozen or so of one color you wound because you couldn't find the ones already wound?

Adding borders after quilting

I want to add borders to this quilt.  It's a wall hanging that needs more oomph.  A bright color border might help.  As you can see, it's already quilted.  So how do I add borders to a quilt that's already quilted?  Duh, one piece at a time.  Just kidding but basically that's true.  The backing is added, then the border, then the batting. 

 I'm adding a 5 inch border to this one.  I thought I could add an 8 inch border but there wasn't enough of the fabric I wanted to use.  So 5 inch became the size.

Lay the quilt upside down like this and measure the end.

Get some backing fabric and cut it to the size you want to add.   For this quilt I'm making the backing fabric 10 inches wide.  I need extra backing fabric because I plan to put it back onto my quilting machine to do the border quilting.

Pin the backing to the back of the quilt and sew it down with a quarter inch seam as usual.

I'm always in a hurry so I tend to pin on two opposite sides before sewing.

Here the two sides of the backing fabric are sewn on and opened up.

Now measure the remaining sides (including the previous border fabric) and cut backing pieces to fit them. 

Again, I tend to pin the two opposites sides before sewing.

Now open those two sides and you can see the backing fabric has been added. 

Can you see this little area where I sewed across the previous seam?  I frog stitch (pick out) the seam allowance only. 

That's so I can fold the backing fabric completely out of the way like this. 

Pin on a border fabric and then stitch it on.  Oops!  I skipped taking a couple of pictures.  Hmm.... I could have sworn I took those photos but can't figure out where they went.  Anyway, you are going to fold back the backing and add a border piece to all four sides. 

The only place where you will encounter a problem is when adding a border piece to where one has already been added.  At the corners.  You should sew just to the seam line.  Remove the needle and cut the thread.  Fold back the other backing fabric out of the way and sew just the two pieces of the border fabric.  Do not catch the backing in the stitching. 

Here are the 4 borders added to the quilt.

Now it's time to add the batting.  You want the batting to be the same type as you have used in the quilt.  Cut a piece of batting larger than the added border.  You will butt the new batting up to the old batting without over lapping.  If you overlap you will get a lump at the seam. 

Usually I use a spray baste to hold the added batting.  Hmm... my spray baste seems to have ran away and hid from me or else the quilt gremlins got it.  I used a glue stick so I could finish this post.  A little glue next to where the two batting pieces will butt up against each other is all I need.  Later I can add a strip of iron in stabilizer if it needs more hold.

Open the new border onto the new batting and backing then pin to hold it all in place temporarily.

Go to the border on the opposite side and do the same thing.  Repeat for the rest of the sides.

Be sure to either use a spray baste or a glue stick to hold the batting together really well in this area too.  This is where the batting of one side meets the batting of the adjacent side. 

See how I just butted them together where the two side pieces meet?  See how the batting just butts up to the old batting along the seam line?  There won't be any lumps here.

Here all four borders, backing, and batting have been added.  I can keep adding more borders if I want using the same technique.

There have been times when I've sewn both a backing piece and a border piece on at the same time.  I almost always have a problem with one or the other when doing them that way.  It almost always requires a bunch of frog stitching.  I do each one individually these days to avoid those headaches.  I hate frog stitching.

I know this post was done hastily so if anyone doesn't understand the process please let me know.  I'll see if I can  redo the explanations.

Quilting and groceries?

You might be wondering to yourself..... what has stockpiling groceries, washing plastic bags, flash freezing food, and various other things on this blog have got to do with being a professional machine quilter?  Well, think about it, if you are extremely busy with the xmas rush season or a quilt show deadline.... how much time can you devote to staying within your budget? 

Trust me, if you are truly being a professional, your personal life will start to fall through the cracks in time management.  As a result you will start to take shortcuts by buying things and doing stuff just to keep your quilting schedule.  It will happen gradually, one shortcut at a time.  Buying takeout instead of cooking.  Rushing through a grocery store buying prepared frozen foods (the personal chef) instead of carefully planning meals.  Paying someone to do repairs around the house that you could do yourself but just don't have the time because quilts are waiting.

It happened to me and it could happen to you if you let it... like I did.  It happened so gradually I didn't even notice except for a slight twinge of guilt the first couple of times I took a shortcut.  After that it got easier and easier to take shortcuts..... until one day I realized I was working just to keep working.

Here's a thought for you.  Suppose you are spending on average of $200 a week for grocery items.  That would be both food and non-food stuff that makes your life easier so you can keep on quilting.  Hmm.... do you realize that $200 per week adds up to over $10,000 a year?   I don't know about you but I sure could find other uses for ten thousand dollars, can you?  How many hours does it take you to earn $200 at the quilting machine?  Would you really be happy giving ten thousand dollars a year to someone else just so you can earn another ten thousand to give away again and again?  Really?

If there was a way to cut that $10,000 down to $5,000 or even $2,500 couldn't you find another use for the extra $2,500 or $7,500?  A nice vacation?  A new organizer system for your quilting studio?  A new bedroom set?  Yes, I think everyone can find a use for the extra money.  That's why having a stockpile of groceries can be so helpful to a professional quilter.  Just go to your pantry to find what you need for a quick meal and then you can get back to quilting OR spend quality time with family.  Having a well stocked pantry is just one item in your professional tools that will allow you more time to have a life.

That's the reason I'm writing so many posts these days about creating a well stocked pantry.  It's a tool I plan to use once more.   A tool I had long ago set aside and forgot how much it helps... until recently.  I have other tools that I long ago dropped in favor of keeping a quilting schedule.  I will be posting about those too.  I don't mind others using what I type-talk about so they too can become a better professional quilter.  In fact, I hope it helps before someone make the same mistakes I made.

Just a little thing

Way back when I was quilting 80+ hours a week, it was often the little things I couldn't get done.  Anything that might take only a few seconds to do, just didn't find their way into my schedule.  That's all changed now.  I actually have time for little things again now that my life is not consumed with quilting. 

I bought some of these from the discount table a few weeks back.  I love these little hooks but I especially like the glue part.  It won't damage anything if it's removed.  Just a little pull and you can't tell it was ever there. 

Yesterday, while cleaning the kitchen, the fact that I don't have a place for my hand towel really bugged me.  It's one of those little things that never got done.  

Well yesterday was the day I said "Today I'm going to make a place to hang a hand towel!"  Hmm... I could sew some fabric strips to the corner of all my hand towels and use a hook to hang them.  I wasn't in the mood to do any sewing.  I wanted to clean the kitchen.  So I got a clothes pin,

and made a towel holder that can be changed later if I want. 

It was a quick temporary fix.... but oh so satisfying to realize I took the time to do it.  It's far too easy for a professional quilter to tell them self "I'll do it later.... after I finish this quilt." but later doesn't seem to get here.  There is always the next quilt, and the next quilt, and the next quilt.  Before you know it there is a LOT of little things that never got done. 

If you are just starting out with your machine quilting career, take the time and learn to say no.  You'll be glad you did a few years down the road. 

Unequal and unfair exchange

Thank you to all who have responded to my question.

Lately, I've had several requests from people to be my apprentice employee. More requests than I normally get. These people are toppers, but not my customers. My answer is always NO. The main reason is insurance coverage but there are several other reasons too.


I did put a little sarcasm in the post but only because over the years I've seen this sarcasm from other machine quilters when discussing the same issue on some forums. Machine quilters invest large amounts of money into starting and running a machine quilting business. The machine itself is only the beginning.

I was trying to show the unequal balance between the person who has invested years of learning and the person wanting to take advantage by becoming an apprentice employee.


Hmm.... how to put it more simply? Ok, if a neighbor is constantly asking to borrow food items from me. Eggs, rice, potatoes, sugar, etc. This goes on for a long, long time. This would be ok if the neighbor bought and returned the items or would loan me things when I needed them. An equal exchange is fair. But if the neighbor never replaces any item and never has what I need to borrow; then, I'm supporting not only myself but them too. It's unequal and unfair. Eventually, I will need to tell the neighbor they have to support themselves.



Here is another example. Someone asks me to teach them how to make a quilt. They really, really want to learn but need individual instruction instead of a classroom. I agree to help them get started. I do this because the person is so eager to learn and I'm a very nice person. Over time, one quilt turns into several. I furnish everything from fabric to patterns, templates, sewing machine, and thread. I get nothing in return and the student never buys anything for their own quilts. Suddenly I realize I've been supporting not only my own hobby but theirs as well. This is unequal and unfair. Eventually I need to tell the person they must support their own hobby.


The point of the examples is about the unequal exchange of having or being an apprentice employee. Unless the apprentice employee has a knowledge and talent, equal to the established quilter, then the exchange is unequal and unfair.



Hmm... Another example. Let's say I really, really want to learn to draw portraits. So I go to my favorite portrait artist in the hope of learning from them. I don't have money to pay for private lessons. I could offer to be the apprentice and create an unequal balance. The artist would have to teach me before I could do portraits for the customers. Does that sound fair?

It would be much better if I barter for lessons. I could offer to do other things that the artist needed in exchange for classes. I could offer to wash their dishes, scrub their floors, clean paint brushes, cook their meals, make their beds or what ever they need done in exchange for the lessons I really want but can't afford. This is much more equal. You get the idea? I'm giving the artist something they really can use in a more equal exchange for learning.

In all the years and all the people who have asked to be my apprentice, there is only one who has been serious enough to actually buy a machine. She did offer to become my house keeper but I said no. She's been waiting patiently on me, for several months, to help her learn. I will be going to her house so she can learn on her own machine. Now that I'm retiring I will have the time needed to actually be a really nice person again. (smile) I'll be talking with her in a few days to set up a day and time to get together after the last waiting quilt is finished.

Ok, I gotta go make another post on the other blog.

Or.... you could....

So..... you say you want to become a machine quilter. You've seen the prices that machine quilters charge? Of course you have. You've been a customer and know how much you pay for getting just one top quilted. That's really good money isn't it? You say to yourself; "Why not get a machine and become a machine quilter so I can earn the money instead of paying it? It's so easy, just move the machine around and get paid for having fun."

So you invest a few thousand dollars you happen to have laying around doing nothing. To the tune of $20,000, sometimes even as much as $50,000, depending on how many bells and whistles you want added. There are stitch regulators, computerized machines so it will work by itself, hydraulic lifts, push button advances, white light and black light, tool kits for working on the machine, special chairs for sitting and sewing, a floor mat specially made for the chair, special handle bars for closer work than the supplied handle bars, zippers by the set to be used on the leaders, and the types of gadgets you can get with your machine go on and on. You can find cheaper (midarm and shortarm) quilting machines today than when I got my Gammill. This Gammill, at the time I got it, cost more than my house.

Once you own the machine you have to take some classes to learn how to use it don't you? Other than how to load the machine and maintain it... you won't get any free training. The only way to get the training for doing stitching designs is to start taking classes. Wherever you can locate the classes. Online, in a far away city, at the local quilt shop, at a quilt show..... just start paying for those classes and trips out of town.

Ok, now that you have the machine and have taken some classes, you need practice. You need fabric by the bolt. Can't practice without something to practice on.... am I right? You could just use this as both top and back while you practice or it could become the backing for the tops you already have of your own.

Ok, you bought the practice fabric. Now what? Well, you will need thread..... lots of thread. Every color possible of every possible type and every possible weight is best. You want your customers to have a good selection when they start beating a path to your door.

As you get more and more customers you will need lots more thread! It will seem like you just don't have the right color for one of the tops waiting to get quilted so you buy more thread. Then naturally, you need something to store the thread. Before you know it.... there is a few thousand dollars worth of thread living at your studio.

Now you know you can't have lots of thread without lots of bobbins. Well of course you need a bobbin or two for every color thread you own. It's such a waste to pull off the remaining thread so you can use the bobbin for another color. Especially if the bobbin is full. You must get expensive bobbins, because nothing about these machines is cheap. At $3 each it doesn't take long to have quite a bit invested in several dozen bobbins. Oh, and don't forget to buy plenty of extra bobbins because they do warp out of shape and become unusable over time. You can't use warped bobbins, it messes with the tension of your machine.

What next? Oh yes, you gotta have batting. At least one of every size, type, weight, and color from every batting company you can locate so your customers have a good selection. You can buy batting by the piece as I have done or buy it by the roll. If you buy batting by the roll you also need a rack to store it so it's easy to pull off a piece to cut. I chose to buy by the package so it stores easily under my machine table.

An intake table comes next. Somehow this table will always become a catch all for everything. You've got to clean it off regularly. You need a nice big table for laying out and measuring your customer quilt tops when they are brought to you. I mean really, without laying the top out to look at.... you won't be able to come up with a quilting design in 30 seconds or less. Customers expect a professional to know right away what design is going to be done. If you are lucky, over time, the customers will come to trust your judgement and say "do what you think best". This will leave you with the freedom to think about possibilities and search through your books etc for just the right design.

Ok, speaking of books.... you will need to buy lots of quilting design books. Not piecing designs. You need quilting designs. At from $25, to as much as $200 each, when you have one or two hundred books that's another substantial investment in your quilting business.

But wait..... there are also stencils and pantographs too. You need to invest a few hundred dollars in buying these too. You really need lots of them so your quilting looks fantastic on the customer quilts. Stencils require marking devices. Pencils, erasable markers, chalk, etc.

Ok, let's talk about videos as well. Videos show you techniques so you can learn to do them. It's like a class with a famous teacher right in your own home. A class that can be repeated over and over again until you get it right. Another hugh investment of a few hundred dollars. Some tapes cost as much as $100 each. Multiply this by a few dozen and it's become a really big investment.

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Just when you think you are getting really good at the designs.... another machine quilter in your area will come up with something new that you just gotta have so you can do it for your customers too. So you start buying the newest thing.... quilting technique dvds. A few more hundred dollars to invest. Oh, and don't forget the player. Can't view videos or dvds without a player. Invest in a good one.

Then along comes the computer software or computer quilting disks. Won't work in the dvd player.... must be played on the computer. A couple hundred of these dvds and computer disks mean a few hundred dollars more invested in your quilting business. You must also have an updated computer so it will play the disks. A few hundred dollars more.

Hmm... now what? Oh yes, the gadgets. Towa bobbin tension gauge, hand held templates to quilt around, marking devices, magnifying glasses, mirrors for checking the back of quilts on the machine, needles for the machine, extra check springs, oil, seam rippers, scissors, a spare bobbin case or two, extra light bulbs...... before you know it you have a drawer that looks like this full of expensive gadgets you absolutely need for your business.

Then you have another drawer full of more gadgets you really need too.

Then you fill another drawer with stuff for testing out the designs before you actually stitch them on a customer quilt.

Then along comes the plastic pantographs. You really need these for those quick designs on a customer's utility quilts. Who ever thought a single piece of plastic could cost an average of $300 each? Well worth the cost in time saved doing a customer utility quilt though. Oh, and you need to buy a new pointer piece for your machine so you can actually use the plastic pantographs.

So you invest in more of the plastic pantographs.

and.... even more investment.

Then you decide on some smaller plastic pantographs.

Well now, you've taken classes, bought devices, bought dvds and cds, bought templates, and gotten lots of little gadgets to make the quilting work go much easier. This is not all. Now you need your business licence and to set up an account with companies you will buy your supplies from like batting companies, thread suppliers, etc. (Actually you should have done this right after buying your machine but I forgot to write about it above. I'm putting it here rather than editing.)

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You need intake forms, a waiting list to keep track, batting prices at a glance, and quilting prices at a glance. Hmm.... how do you set your prices? Lower than everyone else in town? Higher? The same? What type of quilting will be your specialty? Well of course you want to earn lots of money so you set the prices that will earn you the maximum for the least amount of work. You must do a bit of every kind of quilting. This works for getting as many customers as possible.

You need a brochure and business cards too. Both must be designed to get the topper's attention in 30 seconds or less. If a brochure reads as interesting enough, in 30 seconds, they will continue reading.... if not, it never gets read.

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What will you do about storage? Tops brought to you need to be stored somewhere. So invest a few hundred more dollars in storage devices. It could be a hanging rack or drawer units. The choice is yours to make and your money to invest.

Finished quilts waiting for the customer to pick up need storage too. A few hundred dollars more depending on how particular you are about the storage. These also become catch all places and need regular cleaning.

I can write much, much more about the money you will need to invest in your business. There are things like hiring an accountant to help with the taxes. Buying a digital camera so you can share your work with other machine quilters or just photo all the quilts you will do. Then there is storage of all the photos you share... this cost money too. Maybe paying for a website domain and a person to build the website. The expenses (investments) are never ending. Just when you think you've got it all; something new comes out.

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Now you could do all this investing over the course of a few years. Not everything must be bought before you go into business. If you start with the machine, and keep investing most of what you earn back into it, in a few years you will have invested thousands upon thousands of dollars more than the initial cost of a machine.

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Or..... you could.....

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convince a long time established, well known quilter to let you become their employee apprentice. She or he will have already invested the thousands of dollars in a machine, years of time learning, paid to attend many classes, gone to many quilt shows, bought thousands of dollars worth of gadgets, cds, dvds, templates, books, worked hard for customer relations, created good advertising, established a good reputation, created really good forms, gotten good credit with suppliers of batting and threads........ and the list goes on. You get the idea, right?

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You won't have to invest anything at all; not one cent when you become an employee apprentice. But, you will be able to take advantage of their years of taking out of town classes. You can watch their videos, dvds, and cds. You can read their books and study the designs. Practice with their plastic templates and hand held gadgets. The quilter will be there to show you what you did wrong and help you learn to do it right.

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Just walk in as an employee apprentice and start earning money. She or he can teach you everything you need to know.... for free.... and pay you while you learn. Then give you a customer base to get you started when you are ready to open your own machine quilting business as a competitor.

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Think about it..... but reverse the roles..... you are the established machine quilter with the years of experience and thousands of dollars invested. I am the one with no experience asking to be your apprentice. What do you say to me when I plead with you to be your apprentice?

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Yes, I really do want to know what you would say to me. Nicely of course. Feel free to ask questions of me if you need to understand the roles better. This is a make believe situation. I'm preparing myself for the eventual requests from quilting friends as the economy gets worse.