BERNINA Corporate Blog -In a local Facebookgroup for sewing, I saw an invitation to test the longarm quiltmachine Q16 during a fair. I made up my mind quickly and contacted the dealer. It’s my advice to every sewist to take your chances when a demonstration is announced. You learn so much and you find new possibilities and techniques in sewing. So, the dealer agreed I could take my own project to try the machine.
The longarm quiltmachine Q16
There’s more information about this machine on the BERNINA site. The BERNINA Q 16 is a fantastic machine for everyone who is interested in quilting, free hand embroidery, threadsketching.
The fabric sizes I take are about 80 x 105 cm. There was a batting and a plain light weight fabric for the back. The project I have in mind is a Dutch poem, written by a friend with a very special handwriting. In fact, you can’t read it, and that’s the aspect I like so much about this handwriting. It’s mysterious and artistic. Look at the picture of the writing:
How it started:
As a start, I needed a frame for the quiltwork. The 3 layers of fabric need to be attached with a basting stitch. Parallel lines 5 tot 6 cm are ideal. Settings are 2 stitches per inch, so each basting stitch is about 1,25 cm.
This machine has a BSR technique, it gives you a constant stitch length, independent from the speed you are moving the fabric with.
That is so typical for this machine, you move the fabric under the presser foot and it has no feed dogs. I used Adjustable Ruler Foot with Slit #72S
Let’s start the quilting.
Basting is preparation and then the real quilting starts.
I want to fill the background with loops. An irregular height and size gives my work an extra dimension. The thread for the text is sewing thread Seralon van Mettler in a slightly contrasting colour.
You move the fabric in all directions you like the sewing to be done. There is a lot of space between the needle and the motor of this machine ideal for large projects!
After filling the background with the loops, I start with the text. I take a thicker thread, in a darker colour Silk-finish cotton Mettler, in a size 40. It works well to draw the lines with a wash away pen.
To get smooth lines, I choose for a smaller stitch length, SPI 10, this means 10 stitches per inch, that is stitchlength 2,5 mm. On this screen you can see there is a pedal function to secure stitches and there is an animation to warn an empty bobbin.
After sewing the background and the text, I thought the project needed an extra frame with loops.
Quilting on the Q16 took about 5 hours.
Finishing the quiltproject
On the embroidery machine I make a label for the back, with names and year, on the sewing machine and with the biastape attachment 87 I sew the binding. With a handsewn tunnel, all is finished.
I am so pleased I got the invitation to test the longarm quiltmachine Q16. It was very comfortable to quilt this work with the Q16
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