Lasers

This is one of those things I brought in from the garage and my woodworking. One of the first things I noticed about longarming and quilting...'straight lines' lots of them. Square is good, or rectangle but trapezoids can be problematic...especially when it was supposed to have evenly measured top/bottom&sides.

I know it looks like a big red quilt...but when one end or side is narrower, wider, not the same, however you want to call it, problems can develop. I know at some point after I'm done longarming someone is going to come along and 'square' it up. But if it is not as right as I can get it loaded and quilted, squaring it up still may not make it right. So to aid in that I use lasers.

These are two that I currently use. They were both purchased at Home Depot...sometime ago...and each have their own function. The lower easily attaches just about any where, via magnet or double stick tape and can be used for squaring up tops, sides, along seams and can be attached to the head and will project the line onto the fabric. The larger one is very adjustable, has an adapter plate to connect to a tripod that can be set up off of the machine and  table eliminating any vibration caused by the stitching process and holds the line steady.

Here the laser is attached to the head. I put a piece of paper to simulate the fabric to show the line and how easily it's path could be followed by the needle. There are numerous ways it could be mounted to project the line and direction you want to go.

Here it is mounted to the front projecting the line front to back...you can see the line on the plate, I didn't put the paper in. Oops.

There are also a couple of photos on the Potpourri post that depict the laser being used to check the accuracy of the quilt on the machine prior to longarming.

Maybe it's just me...and we all know I'm not a big fan of basting...but if I get it started straight, my chances of finishing straight are greatly improved.


Please, if you baste, and many do, top to bottom down the sides and left to right at specific intervals that's great...I prefer to float, from start to finish and just take a different route. Can I get away with never basting, I wish...but that's not reality.

I saw this one on ebay for like $6.50...in all appearances it looks like the smaller Ryobi I use...just Orange.

Quilt till you wilt...