I need to get something off my chest. You know it and I know it.

Quilting CHANGES the quilt.

Not only in an "it's not a quilt until it's quilted" way,

not just for beautification,

but in a real-deal the top was 50" x 50" and now it's.... smaller kind of way.

We call it shrinkage, fabric draw, draw-up, and probably other names, too. It all refers to the way that quilting will cause the top to shrink inward.

I like to offer this comparison: Say I have an ink stamp and I want to decorate a block of wood by applying the stamp over and over in a pattern across the surface. The ink doesn't change the wood's density or size. The stamp can be applied predictably in the same manner for the last repeat as the first repeat. Or think of a sticker applied to a piece of paper, or a wax-resist applied to batik fabric.

As digital quilters, we aren't just overlaying a design, we are embedding it into the top and through the layers of batting and backing...

This design called Fancy Feathers is a digital pantograph design that was released to Longarm League members in February 2020. Our designs are not exclusive to members, though. Anyone can buy our pantographs from our shop. 

My story as a longarm quilter began by operating a non-computerized APQS machine. I was able to apply the quilting motifs I had practiced so hard to master on my domestic sewing machine by "translating" them to free-motion quilting on a longarm. This feather design came about from yet again "translating" the fmq design to a digital, repeatable pantograph. 

I really wanted to make the rows as invisible as possible, and so I created diamond-like repeats. This means that when setting up the design digitally, every other row needs to be offset at 50% and then nested closely so the gaps aren't too obvious.

I think the multidirectional feathers help disguise the repeats and the rows. The dynamic...

In this demonstration, we'll talk about the Tweak function for Intelliquilter. Tweak is perfect for expanding or contracting a pantograph to fit a space. I tend to use this for dense pantograph designs or ones that need to match up precisely. 

The digital pantograph design I'm using in the video is called Fancy Feathers. I thought this one would be a good example to use for demonstration purposes because it's a dense design and it requires every other row to be offset at 50%.  When I first started learning how to use the Tweak function, I could not figure out how to make it work when the rows required offsetting! So, what I'm saying is that if you learn it this way, the steps for using Tweak will be even more straightforward when working with a digital pantograph that requires no offsetting. :) 

Before we even start stitching, let's talk about the initial setup of the quilt in IQ.

I select Pantograph and then Enter Rectangle...

'Business Builders' are members that have already started their longarm quilting business but are looking for ways to optimize their systems or grow their client base.

On the third Wednesday of each month, our Business Builders meet for a Group Call. We meet via Zoom so that it's interactive, but then we also record the calls so that anyone who is unable to attend the live meeting can watch later. Anyone who joins the Longarm League at the Business Builder level can access our whole library of previously published lessons and recorded calls. 

Today was our one year anniversary of adding the Group Call feature. In the last year, we've covered the following topics:

• easing the fullness of a quilt
• additional income streams
• cloud-based accounting
• Profit First
• creating a brand
• collaborating with designers
• search engine optimization (SEO) for beginners
• small business taxes
• running multiple longarm machines
• common Instagram mistakes
• Sew Tites Magnum magnets...

In the Longarm League membership, we published an interview with Jenae Alves of Vintage Stitch by Jenae. 

This was one of those times that as soon as we hung up, I couldn't wait to share the Zoom call with the membership because it was packed with lots of useful tidbits about business. Plus, it's just so interesting to hear how other quilters in our specialized, little realm  do things! 

Jenae has grown her reach on Instagram by over 10k followers in the last year! She attributes a lot of her growth to effectively using video on the platform.

Let's start by talking about setup, shall we? 


TIP #1:

It may surprise you to learn that in order to record a video of her longarm stitching a digital pantograph, she simply holds her iPhone in her hands as steadily as possible. How is that for a low-tech solution? I love the simplicity! 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jenae Alves | Longarm Quilter...

Having a thorough quilting intake form can cut down on a lot of back and forth communication with your client, making the process clear for both parties and your workflow more efficient.

I found that whether I was serving a neighbor from across the street or a mail-in client I'd never met, it was easier for me to stay organized to direct all requests through the same channel -- the "Book A Quilt" form on my website.

Having an online quilting form on my website made it really easy to send people a link to my form through direct messages on Instagram. This happened too many times to count! You could also link your "Book A Quilt" page in your Instagram or other social media bio links.

The page on which the form appears should have clear instructions for how to work with you. In my opinion, your whole website should serve to facilitate work flowing into your queue. Place a link to your "Book A Quilt" form on every page. Link it in a...

Geoglyph is a large 120" wide x 12" tall extended-width design. Watch the video above for just one example of how to use this design file. I think you'll see how many permutations are possible!

For more information about extended-width designs, check out our blog post here.

You'll see this in the video, but when I imported the design, it was resized by Intelliquilter to have a row height of about 7". I scaled to 100% for the row height of 12" before I began placing the blocks. Make sure to maintain the ratio of the design to avoid distortion and clip or trim away the part of the design that's not needed when you actually quilt it out.

To give you an idea of the density of the designs at 12", the spacing of the lines ranged from 1/2" to 1", so there is room to scale up or down depending on the density you'd like to accomplish. The wholecloth baby quilt I stitched out shown above is roughly 43" x 53".

There's no backtracking and blocks do not have to be placed...