Friday 14 August 2015

Our NEQ frame is 'just right'!

Emily on the QVP and Ellie in the background on the New English Quilter frame
Long arms are WOW! But many people just don't have the space. That's where our New English Quilter frames come into their own. These smaller more affordable frames are an American idea that has been adapted to fit into our smaller English and European homes.

Ellie demonstrating on the 6 foot New English Quilter frame with the Juki TL98P
These versatile frames clamp to any table. The frame perfectly tensions each layer of the quilt so you'll never have to baste, pin, tack, or glue. Your sewing machine sits on a set of carriages that ride on tracks. This ingenious frame allows your sewing machine to glide effortlessly across the top of your quilt. Just like a long arm but for a fraction of the cost.


People are so surprised the first time they see it! And often a bit reluctant to have a try. But we really encourage people to  give it a go so that they can feel the easy movement of the sewing machine.


Here's a shot of Ellie showing how to guide the sewing machine with the ergonomic speed control Nifty Grip handles


And here's our visiting quilter giving the JUKI TL98P a 'test drive' on our New English Quilter frame. She's surprised at how easily the sewing machine glides and happy that she tried something new at the Festival. It really does move "like magic!" 

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Long Arm Fun at the Festival


Emily Milne and George Franklin setting up the JUKI QVP 2200
 The Festival of Quilts 2015 was our best ever! We had a brilliant stand this year with lots of room for our new JUKI QVP2200 machines. Emily and George were the JUKI QVP2200 team. QVP stand for Quilt Virtuoso Pro. This is the 'papa bear' of quilting machines with an 18 X 10 inch throat that glides at 2200 stitches per minute.


Emily demonstrated all the really cool features and George kept it running smoothly. Here George is playing with this awesome software that enables the machine to copy designs hand drawn on the tablet.

For the gals lucky enough to have purchased one of these machines, George will come with the Juki QVP 2200 and get it set up and running smoothly for you too. One of the customers asked George how long he would stay? And George replied "I'll stay until you're happy." It doesn't get better than that! The Franklin's Group are the UK Juki distributors.  We believe that any machine is only as good as the service behind it. It's great to know that this amazing machine has amazing back up too.

Wednesday 5 August 2015

Behind the scenes at the Festival of Quilts 2015

After a long drive and several coffees, we're finally setting up our stand for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham. We're really excited to be here, and we hope you can make it too!

We're here with Juki Sewing Machines (stand A55 in case you wondered), and we're going through the long process of putting together our stand. We thought we'd give you a behind the scenes look at our set-up...

Normally we put up the quilts ourselves, but this year Juki brought along Liv. Liv is a window dresser, and she's absolutely fantastic. She's working wonders with our stand. Here's a sneaky peak:

Liv is into making displays 3D - so fun!

Coming together. Slowly...
Juki have got some snazzy new headers this year too - we think they look great! Here's a first look:

Shiny and new!
Emily's Thread Painting is also on display. I just looooove the colours in this. Mmmmm... The threads she used are Superior Threads, which are also on sale at our stand!

Close up of Emily's gorgeous thread painting 
We're also hosting a social media giveaway at the show - you can take part while you're here! 
Come take a selfie at our stand for a chance to win a machine quilting DVD!

Saturday 1 August 2015

Festival Frenzy: Five days 'till the Festival of Quilts

5 days to go! We can't wait to see you. You can find us at stand A55 we're listed in the catalogue under 'J' for Juki. Come test drive one of the Juki Sewing Machines on our Machine Quilter frames. We've got a great selection of Superior Threads for you to browse, try and buy too.

To celebrate the Show we're hosting a social media give-away. We even made snazzy banners.

Sneaky peak of our banner for the show! 
Here's the bottom line...

Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest, and like us on Facebook while you're at the show for a free Bottom Line pre-wound bobbin! All you need is your smartphone or tablet and you can follow all our social media directly whilst at the show by just scanning the QR links on our banner.

Another sneak peak of the banner.

Get #FramedAtTheFestival!

Here's another giveaway: post a selfie of you with our frame to Instgram with the hashtag #FramedAtTheFestival for your chance to win one of our La Mer Machine Quilting DVDs. Tag @machinequilter, and you'll be entered into a draw. We'll announce the lucky winner after the show!

See you soon!