My first quilt on the Handi Quilter

   Well I used my Handi Quilter to make a blanket.  I purchased several fabrics from Joann's clearance section and put together several "quilt sandwiches".  I basted my first quilt sandwich (approx 42" X 42") using safety pins.  I had to press it before quilting since I had it sitting on my shelf and it got wrinkled.  

   I did a stippling design meandering from the center out. 

   I used  Coats & Clark Star Machine Quilting100% cotton thread size 50.  I used approximately 3 bobbins, winding each was relatively easy with the Handi Quilter bobbin winder.  I did have a problem winding one bobbin but realized I did not have the thread in the tension disc and once I did this it wound without a problem.  
   I cleaned out the bobbin and case with the brush each time I replaced the bobbin, lots of lint, and placed a drop of oil on the hook where the bobbin basket and the hook meet (page 15 in the user manual).  I did not have any oil come up onto my fabric.
   I did notice when I got to the end of a bobbin I started getting some looping of my threads.  As soon as the bobbin was changed the problem was solved.  This meant I had to pull out these threads and tie them off before resuming my stippling.  To tie off my threads I threaded a sewing needle with the thread tail and inserted them into the batting, thus hiding them.
   As I moved the quilt sandwich it did slip over the edges on the right and left.  As you can see in the picture I have ironing boards on both sides to catch the fabric. My DH darling husband has a plan to add strips to each side of the table to keep the fabric on the table without the use of the ironing boards.  
  Well, that's all for now! :)

How I prepared my quilts for quilting on the Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen

Hi, I would like to tell you how I prepared my quilts for quilting on my new Sweet Sixteen sit-down system. First I went to Joann's and purchased several clearance fabrics.  Then I pre-washed them following the instructions on the Leah Day website,  http://www.daystyledesigns.com/howtoprewashfabric.htm  
There are those who believe you should prewash all fabrics and those who feel you don't have to prewash.  I have done both and since prewashing using the above method I think I prefer to do this if I can.  The fabrics smell fresh and the starching makes them crisp.

After prewashing I then made several quilt sandwiches using different basting methods.  
1.  I used a hand basting method by Sharon Schamber, her video is on youtube.  
2.  Another method I used was spray basting.
3.  I also used the popular pin basting method. 
As I sew through these quilts I will give my opinions of using these three methods.