How to Create a Smooth Glide For Machine Quilting

August 10, 2020

Today: How to Create a Smooth Glide For Machine Quilting

Good Morning, Quilters!

Welcome to Week Nine of The Better Machine Quilt-a-long based on my book 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting.

Find all of the previous Lessons HERE.

Sign up for emails of the class HERE.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LoriKennedyShop
Today’s Topic: A Smooth Glide

In order to create a smooth stitching line, you need to be able to move your quilt smoothly.  However, free motion quilting has two archenemies: Gravity and his sidekick, Friction.

Gravity wants to tug your quilt onto the floor and Friction doesn’t want you to move the quilt at all!

In order to move your quilt to create smooth stitching lines, you will need to minimize the effects of both of these quilting villains.

Fighting Gravity

Gravity has one goal–to pull your quilt out from under your machine and onto the floor where your dog can use it more comfortably! (Yes, YOUR dog is on the side of THE Enemy!)  The best way to minimize the force of Gravity is to support the quilt on as large a surface as possible.  The ideal is to have your machine in a set in cabinet.  This provides the largest possible surface to support the quilt.  Place an ironing board or other table to the left of your machine and at the the same height, to provide even more support.

To keep the quilt from falling off the back of your table, place your machine against a wall. Even better–thwart Gravity by placing your machine table in the corner against two walls!

Quilting on standard machine table–small surface for hand placement

If your machine is not in a set-in cabinet, I highly recommend a Sew-Steady or similar extension table.  The custom fit tables are much larger than the standard table that come with sewing machines.  The extra space provides better support for the quilt and more free space to place your hands while you quilt.

BE CREATIVE–Fight gravity in your own way!  Look around your house and use boxes, foam board, books or other supports to create the largest possible work surface to support your quilt.  Add inexpensive banquet tables behind and to the left of your sewing machine to support the quilt.   I’ve seen a lot of MacGyvered sewing set ups that worked quite well–use your creativity to find a solution!

I like to tape down my Supreme Slider
Fighting Friction

Friction is a more subtle foe. It provides slight but steady resistance to moving the quilt.

Supreme Slider

To combat Friction, I recommend using a Supreme Slider by Lapierre Studios. The quilting mat adheres to your sewing machine and reduces friction.  (I don’t recommend a lot of tools for free motion quilting, but the Supreme Slider is one thing that I think really helps create a smooth glide.) The mat comes in two sizes Small and Large. Buy the largest one that will fit your work surface.

SILICONE SPRAY

Another option is to spray your work surface with a silicone spray like Sullivans.

This is a tip I received from several students.  I have not tried this myself…so I’d LOVE to hear if any of YOU  have tried this technique.

Backing Fabric

Whenever you can, avoid textured backing fabrics–they increase friction and make quilting more challenging!

SPRAY STARCH

Another way to fight our nemesis, Friction--spray the backing fabric with spray starch and press before quilting.  Be sure everything is dry before quilting–a wet surface increases Friction!

YOUR Homework

Evaluate your sewing area.

Would rearranging your space allow you to fight Gravity better?

Is there a corner where you can place your sewing table?

What items in your house can you use right now to create a larger quilting surface? Amazon boxes, books, cases of soda?

Do you have a card or banquet table you can use to support your quilt?

Do you have spray starch or Best Press?  We will use it tomorrow!

What About YOU?

Have YOU ever used a Supreme Slider?

Do YOU use silicone spray?

How have you MacGyvered your sewing area?

We’d LOVE to hear!

YOUR Quilting Superhero (can you tell I have five grandsons?)

Fighting Gravity and Friction daily,

The Free Motion Phantom

(Can anyone help me with my Avenger name?!)

AKA Lori

 

PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ.  For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com.  Thank you!

PPS...More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 has a Troubleshooting Guide on page 36

Visit my Etsy shop: LoriKennedyShop for all of my books!  They are ALL bestsellers!

 

Share:

44 comments

  • Chris Reeske

    I use the Supreme Slider and I really like it. When not in use I keep it rolled up with the paper it came with rolled with it (a la jellyroll) it still sticks well and I’ve never had to use tape. I will however I will wash it off now that I know.

  • Sue Schwabauer

    I use a Slidex Mat made by Benartex. I love it. I do periodically wash it so the threads and dust that gather on the back over time are removed. This keeps it from sliding. I have not needed to tape it. Love all the other ideas if and when this one no longer works!!! I have a cabinet for my machine that has an extension that I put up when quilting large projects or quilts. I am definitely going to try the ironing board at the end To help keep larger quilts from falling off the end. Putting it up against a wall doesn’t work with this table, although that was my usual set up with my former sewing cabinet. Love all the tips!!! Lori, I think your name should be Free Motion Guru. :o) :o)

  • Helen

    I’ve been using a Supreme Slider for years and love it. If you have a machine with a drop in bobbin, taping it would mean untaping and retaping every bobbin change. I have never taped mine and have never had it slip. I do rinse the threads off the back periodically. I’ll bet those of you who sewed through yours didn’t clean the back of them.

  • Laura L. Barnes

    I use Super Sliders all the time. I recently moved into an unused space over our tractor garage. I have a large work table that my brother in law built from plans that I had. Then I bought an Arrow II portable table for larger machines and set that up in front of the work table along with two little portable tables with adjustable height then taped all the lines where the tables meet with white duck tape. My husband installed bungee cords from the ceiling to which I attached clamps to hold the bulk of a big quilt. Also I want to try a silicon oven liner to cover more surface in my quilting space.

    • Suzanne

      Even though my table has a good-sized extension out behind my machine, I’ve been thinking about using bungee cords and clamps as well. Would you be willing to share how your hubby did it? I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks!

  • Bobbie Elder

    I use the Supreme Slider and love it. I have also used my ironing board set up behind me to take the weight off when I throw the quilt over my shoulder. I adjust it so that it is the same height as or slightly higher than the top of my shoulder. It doesn’t seem to tug that way. I really do need a table set up on the left side of my sewing cabinet, however.

  • Marta

    Just a comment today… the owner of a quilting shop told me to use turtle wax and not buy a slider out of her shop !!
    After I was home , i took one look at the turtle wax and said, “Self, we are not putting that stuff on our sewing area! ” I am sure she was trying to save me some money,,but…..nope.Anyone else like it?

    • I have used TURTLE WAX on my sewing machine bed and extension table for years. It’s worked well for me. You just have to be sure to rub it in well to remove any residue.

    • Sally

      Husband made my sewing machine cabinet and used Johnson paste wax; wipe on, let it dry and then buff it, beautiful i also use a supreme slider to glide over machine top, and as per instructions with slider, wash it off or use baby wipe to clean it periodically

  • Claire F

    Hi Lori,

    What an entertaining post! Love your writing style. It had me laughing. I will try the crazy carpet idea first as they’re super cheap from the Dollar store here in Canada. If it’s good, I’ll let you know!

    Claire

  • Debbie Thornton

    My Janome sits in a cabinet I had custom made. It’s a great cabinet but I really needed it to have an extension. My hubby built me one just about a week ago. He finished it to a very smooth finish and he attached it to my cabinet with hinges. It folds down flat after I use so I can have it close to my wall. It’s awesome!! It has really helped with the friction problem!

  • Suzanne

    Until I bought an Arrow table a year or so ago, I was often frustrated. But the Arrow is great. I can’t face the wall, so I sit with a window on my right and the left-end extension up (about 4 add’l. feet of space) and if I’m working on something big, it also has a HUGE extension that can be lifted up behind the machine and slid from side to side as I reposition my quilt. It’s really good for preventing drag. I’m very lucky to have it, thanks to a sale and a generous hubby. They can be ridiculously pricey for what they’re made of (MDF), and they’re NOT easy to assemble. Still, with hubs help, we got it done.(If anyone is interested, it’s the “Bertha” model.)
    I have a Supreme Slider too but often forget to use it. The acrylic insert and top of the table are pretty slippery already. I never thought of using silicon spray; sounds like a good idea.
    As far as other challenges go, my dog couldn’t care less about sewing and neither could my female cat. Now if I could just teach my adorable, highly affectionate male cat that I don’t need his help when quilting, I’d be in great shape!

    I’m not so good at making up funny names, however, – Guru of FMQ?, Mistress Anti-Grav?, Queen of Slide? (that isn’t vulgar is it?-I hope not)

  • I use the extension of a desk for my sewing machine with a Sew Steady table. The left side of my quilt is on the desk itself and is well supported. For support as my quilt comes out of machine, I place my full-size ironing board behind the extension and adjust the height to about and inch above the desk height. The quilted quilt piles up on the ironing board (because of the added height). This works well for me. I use a Supreme Slider after taking a thread painting class. Supreme Sliders should be washed off or through running water before use to further reduce friction and to clean them. The teacher of the thread painting class sent me to clean it before I started. The fuzz and lint on it were gross.

  • I’m wondering…would the same type of vinyl we used to make our “dry-erase” mats work for this??

  • Michelle Maggs

    My sewing table has a hinged flip up extension on the back of it just for this purpose. I’ve seen same idea on IKEA tabletops if you want to use their components to create an extension on your own sewing table. It helps not just when FMQing, but when working with large quits, adding binding, etc.

  • Jill Katzung

    I have my machine in a Sew-Ezi table which has a slick top surface. I can butt up this table to my work table of the same height, a large table top bought for $50 at HOM to which my husband added sturdy legs. I am considering purchasing the Sew-Ezi grande to extend my work surfaces. Has anyone used this?

    I also purchased a polish kit at a MN Quilters convention, though you could use turtle wax for the same result, I believe. The idea is to polish your sewing table top to decrease friction.

    Also suggested at a retreat was to turn your sewing machine 90 degrees so that you are working facing the needle end. This is to allow you greater ease of movement left to right, i.e., without fighting the throat size of the machine. You still have it front to back so I’m not sure how much you gain with this. It may depend on the quilt or the motif you’re using.

  • Linda B

    Maybe Free Motion Glider? I love your signoffs! Anyway, I don’t think you need to put the tables in a corner…I just have a chair with a tall back against the opposite side of the table and it stops the quilt very easily. Has never gone under or over. The glider is great, but love the suggestions from everyone. When I first started FMQ, I actually put Press n Seal over the work area, and it worked really well, but did leave a residue on the machine arm that was annoying to remove. The glider is much better. Had not thought to tape it down…will do that next, AND lower the feeddogs! Love the series. Thanks, Lori!

  • Mary Whitaker

    I like my silicone mat. However, DON’T FORGET TO LOWER THE FEED DOGS. My mat has a few needle marks and it is hard to cut the fabric from it.☹️

    • Kathie Banks

      I get better results by keeping my feed dogs up. My super slider has been chewed up by the “dogs” so I tape a piece if template plastic. with a needle hole cut into it, to that area of the slider and it works great. No more feed dog teeth marks in the slider and no fear of slider pieces in the machine.

  • Patti N

    I have a sit down longarm and I taped two Flexible Flyer 611 Flying Carpet sleds (from Amazon) on the table. I used the overlay that came with the machine as a template to cut out the center.

  • Katherine Tucker

    Some time ago (but not in a winter month) I read the suggestion online to buy a cheap roll-up sled and tape that to the table around your machine to provide a super smooth surface and help further reduce friction. While I use a Super Slider, I haven’t tried the sled idea because they are not available in summer! Has anyone actually used one for this purpose?

    • I bought one but find it very hard to keep it fixed in place.
      The silicone slider is much easier to handle. Have also tried silicone spray but didn’t do too well with that either.

    • Connie Clifford

      I have used one and think they work as well as the supreme slider. Just have to tape it around the edges.

    • Nana in AZ

      There is a You Tube video made by Sew Very Easy showing how to use this. Title is something like “Using a snow carpet for quilting”

  • Kathryn Diamond

    I found silicone barbecue mats at Costco. 3 or 4 in a box for around $12. They.work great. Just had to cut a little half inch hole for the needle area.

  • I can’t sit my sewing machine table against a wall, so I use two dog grooming bars attached to tables set up at the back of my machine table. The bars are adjustable height. From them hangs a leash-type cord and I have attached a padded clamp to each. When I quilt a larger quilt that would fall off the tables, I clamp the back edge of the quilt to the clamps. I adjust as needed. They hold the quilt and keep me from having to struggle with it. I got this idea from Pearl Pereira of P3Designs.com.

    • Linda Paredez

      I also don’t have room for a table behind my table. I saw that dog grooming idea on Pinterest, but then I also don’t have room on the sides to add them, so I devised my own quilt holder by installing a decorative curtain rod on the wall behind my table and use bungee cords and huge binder clips to hold the quilt up when doing a lot of quilting in one area. I also have a bungee cord and binder clip on the floor lamp to my left to help with the drag from that side. The system works well, but only when doing a lot of quilting in one area…too much readjusting of the binder clips if doing a large area and moving along quickly.

    • Sharron woodward

      I have the same set up, very helpful to fight the gravity issue. Instead of the leash with the clamp on it I used heavy duty elastic with my clamp attached. Works great! need a new supreme slider tho- sewed through mine while quilting my last quilt.

    • sondra ordway

      Wonderful idea

  • Donna

    I purchased a silicon oven liner, taped it down, and cut out where needed, works great!

    • I was going to ask if anyone had tried oven liners! Are they all silicone? I have seen oven liners on Amazon.

      • Cindy Clark

        Thanks for your replies. I will look for these. I have sewn through TWO supreme sliders! And I will check at Aldi, but here in MN, though I’d love to travel to Australia. I have a good friend in Melbourne.

      • Linda M

        I, too, have used the silicon mats. After I sewed through my Supreme Slider, I tried these mats. They are larger and inexpensive.

      • Linda Martin

        Cindy, I have used them and they work fine. You can get bigger ones for a lot cheaper.

      • I meant Aldo.

      • If you are in Australia Aldo have then for 4.99 this week

    • Suzanne

      Now THAT’s a #10 on the best, most clever idea list!!!

      • Donna

        Thank you, inexpensive,I bought mine at bed bath and beyond and have used the same one for about 8 years, with new tape now and then.

  • Betty M Monroe

    Lori, I have all of your books. What am I missing in your shop?

  • Mrs. Plum

    So glad to see you recommend the Supreme Slider. I use one all the time for FMQ. It is good to tape it down, as I have sewn through mine. They are expensive, so it’s best to protect the investment.

  • sondra ordway

    I had never used a supreme sliders before this class. I had one that came with some machine wilting rulers I bought. It makes all the difference. Last week, I quilted two samples and things just weren’t going well. Partly because there thread matched too well and I couldn’t see what I was doing and partly because I’d forgotten the super slider.

    When I am fmq a large quilt, I put chairs behind my machine to support it.

  • Marianne Mount

    Following an online source, I took a folding table, added stiff insulation board to achieve correct height, cut out for machine and covered all with cheap Joanne vinyl. Works wonderfully!

Comments are closed.

Discover more from Lori Kennedy Quilts

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading