S.U.G.A.R. Statler Users Group and Representatives

I just returned from S.U.G.A.R., a conference for Statler owners and representatives. I spent a total of 18 hours in classes learning many different things such as how to adjust tension on my Gammill, a bit of history about Amish and Welsh quilts, ergonomic quilting, the latest and greatest features of Creative Studio 3 and some new things to come, a new gadget that allows us to quilt with multiple threads, some new tricks with Auto Sketch, and more or less fine tuning my knowledge of Creative Studio and the Gammill head it operates. I will be posting some pictures and little stories of my new knowledge and hope you enjoy the show.

Ron Parker gave us a great class in how to adjust tension. With a hands-on demonstration of the "tug of war" between top and bottom threads, it became easier to understand the correct look and feel of tension. I've been wanting to use the trilobal polyester slick and shiney threads out but I've failed at adjusting my machine to handle it. I tried all the tricks, needle size, acrobatics with thread path, adding batting and tape to hang on to the slippery threads, and to no avail. Just look at the pictures to see that finally, I conquered the beast! Finally, beautiful stitching and just look at the colors! How would these look on your next quilt?




Penny Roberts taught us how to pull thread from the top to make couching thread, and then stitch with the longarm around appliques and other applications. This is just a sample I did to help me remember the process. I used a neon yellow in the bobbin and pulled it up to include with the Rainbow thread on top. Couching around the applique helps hide the starts and stops of the background stitching. More to come from this author/teacher. . .