Is there a machine that does this by itself? (I doubt it but...) Do you chalk on the patt and folow tthe lines? I'm SO impressed!

Of course there's a machine that does it by itself! It's a long-arm quilting machine!

http://quilting.about.com/library/graphics98/nolting2.jpg

They're only about $10,000. :drool:

Yeah, neat huh? My great aunt has a sewing shop & it's taken up almost entirely by one of those big quilting machines. My grandma pieces quilt tops & takes them to her sister who quilts them. The have another of their sisters sell them in AK for $1000 ea, LOL! Quite a little business they have going...They do some great quilts though, a lot of hand applique & intricate piecing...wish I had the talent/patience/resources to join in!

Buying one of those & quilting other people's quilts for $$$ is my ultimate sewing goal. I wanna be a long-arm quilter!!! :D

My aunt has one of those. She really only does her own, but every so often she'll quilt one for someone else. She usually charges around $100, so the price on her machine is gradually being knocked down. :D

I found some templates that you peel off the back, stick them to the quilt-top and sew around it (or you can do dotted lines to do this, too, using the template)....they were made by June Taylor???

Oh, and got mine at JoAnn's where they have the other templates.

My mom has a long arm quilting machine, most of the quilts on my site are quilted using this. However we dont have a computer attached or anything, we have to make the machine go where we want it to.

As for hand quilting, check out painting stencils and use chalk to trace them off. To do curves you can chalk off an edge of a paper plate, books, whatever.. it's easy to look around the house and get creative.

We also machine quilt quilts for $45, for $75 we inclued a pieced backing and batting. I hate sewing the quilts but I'll do just about anything to get my hands on the quilting machine.. that thing is FUN.

Originally posted by ktashes
We also machine quilt quilts for $45, for $75 we inclued a pieced backing and batting. I hate sewing the quilts but I'll do just about anything to get my hands on the quilting machine.. that thing is FUN.

DANG! That is way under market for my area. How much to quilt a king size? :D

I just saw one in the local paper. 4 years old, excellent condition (i think it said that) for $1700. *drooling*