Quilt with Confidence: LIVE with the BERNINA Hoop Frame

Hey everyone, thank you so much for tuning in to our live event. My name is Nikki Lafoyle and I'm joined today by Bernina educator Lane Hunter. Laine, thank you so much for being here with us today. Of course, thanks for having me. So today we're here to talk about the Bernina hoop frame talking about its features and functions, how it can help you finish your quilts, and anything else you want to know since we're live and you have any questions, you can type those into the comment section and we'll see those and Lane can answer any questions you have.

So we're going to get started with a little intro into the product. Lane, you wanna tell us a little more about it? Yeah, well, I'm, I'm glad that you mentioned how to get your quilt done because I find that that is the hardest part of quilting. So my quick history is that I grew up sewing. I learned from my mom, but it was all about clothing.

She didn't, she didn't quilt. And so it wasn't until I got to college that I started learning about quilting and seeing them. And so when I started, I, you know, did what everybody does. They buy all the pretty fabrics, they chop it up, they sew it back together, but you don't have a quilt. So the hardest part is the actual quilting, and there's all kinds of methods to do it.

You can do it by hand, which looks beautiful, but I don't have time for that. You can cram it through your little sewing machine, and I, but it limits the size of the quilts that you can do. Or you can take it to a long armor, or you can have a long arm. The challenge with the full frame long arm is that you have to have a big space. And so what the hoop frame does is it allows you to quilt a quilt of any size.

In a 5-foot space. So it's, it's very much like an embroidery hoop. It's just really big, so the, the quilt itself clamps on, you quilt the area that's available in the hoop, and then you move the quilt over to get to the next spot. So I find it particularly um easy because um. I like pushing the machine around versus a table long arm or a mid-arm where you have to push the fabric around.

Even though you're using the same muscles to complete both things, I just find it more intuitive to be able to push the machine around and draw with the thread versus pushing the fabric around. Right. And when you have a, a large quilt, a very large uh project, pushing it under the needle can be really cumbersome. Yes, it can be, it can be really taxing on your shoulders, so. Um, and the, the other difference is on a table or on your domestic machine, if you're doing a small wall hanging or a baby quilt, there's not a lot of weight there, but the bigger the quilt gets, that's a lot of weight that you are pushing around trying to keep everything steady and not falling off the table.

On this, right now, I have um just a scrap quilt that's about um with the fabric by a yard, but I could do a quilt the size of this room and just keep moving over to the next spot to the next spot, which is something you can't do on a full frame long arm because you're limited by the width of the frame itself. Because it scrolls up, but since this clamps on all four sides, then you can just keep going. Right? I love that. And as we are talking about large quilts, we do have a question from Jenny who says, I have a Bernina Q16+ with a 5 ft frame.

My problem comes when I try to load a queen size quilt onto the frame, I have to fold the quilt in half, which makes a huge lump on one side of the frame, making the rest of the quilt hard to smooth flat. Do you have any way of handling a large quilt on a small frame? Yes, you said that was Jenny. Jenny, yes. OK, so.

When Bernina created their studio frame, we, we have a professional frame, a studio frame, and now the hoop frame. So the big difference is the professional frames, and you don't have to be a professional to own one, that we just had to name it something. So, the professional frame comes in a 9 ft 11 ft, and 13 ft width. OK. And the bars that connect the frame are all solid bars.

And then Bernina figured out that they could chop the bars in half, which cuts down on manufacturing and shipping costs, which cuts down on the consumer cost. And then that frame would be assembled, those bars would be assembled on site. Pretty quickly, the dealers out there discovered that if they don't assemble the two bars, if they just use half the bar, they can create a short 5 ft frame and then it doesn't eat up space in their store. But consumers saw that and said, that's great. I only make little quilts.

So the 5-foot frame, because it scrolls up. Jenny's right, it is a challenge because anything wider than that 5 ft. It doesn't, it's too big to scroll up. So what she's doing is folding part of it over and then you've got double the quilt on one side and, and so as it scrolls up, it scrolls up unevenly. So, One suggestion for where Jenny is now is to um maybe add a piece of scrap quilt on the other side to kind of even out what's getting rolled up on that bar.

Um, the other solution is the hoop frame, which does, you just get your quilt on there and, and quilt what's available in the open space, you move it over and start again. I love it. Or or Jenny could also, if there's room in her studio to buy the other half of the bars, she could have a 10 ft frame and then she wouldn't be put in that situation as frequently. Right, that makes sense. Well, and speaking of the size of the frame, the that small frame that's right behind you would be great for my sewing room because my sewing room is quite small.

Um, we had a question from Lisa who asks how much space does the frame require when set up? Yeah, so this frame is 70 inches wide and 39 inches deep, so it's just shy of 5 ft wide. And just a little over 1 yard deep. And depending which machine on it you put on it, um, It, you might have to have room in the back for the, for the back of the machine to extend. But you can also put it on casters, so when you're not using it, you can tuck it away or pull it out to the middle of the room so that you have access to all the sides and things like that.

Um, I think something that I didn't mention earlier. I do have a Bernina Q16 so head on here. So this is a long-arm machine that has a 16-inch throat space. But the hoop frame also has a special carriage where you can put a domestic machine on it. So, um, that way you could very easily take your sewing machine, set it on here, quilt, take it off, and keep sewing, um.

The, the only challenge with that is we recommend a machine with at least a 10-inch throat space, because remember, once you put something on a frame, now there's a bar or uh yeah, there's a bar that goes through the throat space, so you lose some of that. So if you put a domestic machine on there, you'll want something with a deeper throat space. Right. That's nice though that you can use the machine that you have in conjunction with the hoop and quilt your own quilts. I love that.

Yeah. And a lot of times people are um maybe upgrading to a new machine and they keep the previous machine to put on the hoop frame. Yeah. I like that. That's a great idea.

Um, we had a comment from Nancy from Michigan who says, I just got my Bernina Q6 with the hoop frame still in the learning curve and hope that I can conquer long arm quilting like I did free motion quilting, so that is great to hear, Nancy. Awesome. Nancy, um, I guess we can't ask questions back, but conquering, conquering free motion quilting, if you have already done this, if you've already done free motion quilting on a domestic machine where you're pushing the fabric around. The good news is that. By doing that, what you've done is you have already trained your shoulder muscles to create those drawings.

So a lot of times people think that it's about your ability to draw with your hand. And so if you ever go to a trade show and you test out the long arms and, and you try it and you don't draw very well. But, but you're, but you're thinking, you know, I know how to write my name, I know how to draw a heart, but suddenly I can't do it on a long arm. It's because when we write, we use the muscles in our hands. But when we long arm, we use our shoulders.

So it's really just about teaching your shoulders how to do the motion, whether you're pushing, whether you're pushing the fabric around or you're pushing the machine around. It's the same muscles. That are making that happen. So it's just a matter of getting your brain wrapped around what's actually happening in your body to make this happen. Right, and the difference between what is moving, whether you are holding something moving or if you are moving something, but yeah, it's the same it's, it's exactly the same muscles.

You're just either hands flat or hands on handlebars. Nice. We have a question from Joan who says any project ideas for getting started or practicing with the frame. It's a great question. Oh yeah, that is a good question.

I, um, I am like a real low stakes quilter. I, I try not to put too much value. Uh, this sounds weird. I try not to put too much value on things that I make. Everything is an experiment, and if it turns out great.

Great. If it, if it doesn't, it helped me see where to go on the next one. So. Exactly. Even some of the things in the background here were never intended to end up on a bed or hanging.

I just was curious about, well, what do these colors look like together? What does, how do this pattern fascinates me, how can I make it? And then if it gets to be. If it gets to be somebody's baby shower gift, fantastic. But, um, so for practicing, and I have, I do have the fabric folded up on here just so that you can see the frame, but, um, scraps of fabric, and I'm willing to bet that all of us have fabric that we bought that we thought was pretty at the time.

And now it's not, yeah, yeah, yeah. The other thing that's the other thing that I find useful are prints. So a print will hide anything, so. It's great for practicing because you're the only one staring at it that closely to see what you're drawing. But so when I, when I'm in learning phases.

If you put a print as your backing. It hides tons of stuff. Right. If you throw solids on there. And a contrasting thread, then all the focus is on that thread.

So there's lots of ways of hiding it. Um, one last idea is there are panels out there, so it's, it's, you know, like a yard of fabric that already is an image. Sometimes they look like a finished quilt top, sometimes they're just, I don't know, um, cartoon characters and stuff. And those are pretty low stakes. You didn't put a lot of effort in making that.

So, throw it on there, doodle away. And then if you don't like what you doodled, change the color of thread and doodle again, right on top of it, and it just becomes your scratch pad that you keep messing with and trying out new designs before you're ready to put it on a very special quilt. Great, I love that. Um, and like you were saying. Anything that you're working on, practicing on, experimenting on, if you end up then, you know, throwing it away, it's not wasted, it's all experience gained.

You can always turn it into something else. It, it can be a bag, it can be a pillowcase, it can be. Anything, it could be a jacket. My end goal is not always a quilt. I like to quilt things.

I like, I like that texture, but it's not always the end goal to have a quilt. Right, you can take that quilted panel and then turn it into, you know, a tote bag, bind the edges on the inside, make it a tote, easy project. Grab the best part of your stitching and put that in the middle. Exactly. All right, let's get through some more questions here.

We have a question from Kelly who says my sewing room doubles as our guest room, so space is always at a premium. I feel that. I'm curious, is the hoop frame easy to take apart and store when it's not in use? It is easy-ish. It's not, it's not really a fold flat.

Thing, um, but I have transported it, um, back and forth to different events and things, and there are ways of taking components of it off that make it easy to put in a car in my instance, but also you could put it in the closet. But it, it, the intention of it is not to fold, fold up flat. It's, it's out. Right. So it just requires.

A hex wrench or whatever the tool is, take something off and then, yeah, yeah, which, which comes with the machine or it comes with the hoop, so you'll you'll have the tools you need. And it sets up it's when you first get it, when you set it up, it's pretty quick and easy and because it's Bernina, the instruction manual is always really good. I know that I know that sounds like boring reading, but I always find that the Bernina manuals super helpful. Like they're just laid out in a beautiful, easy to understand way and um it makes everything less scary when you make a big purchase. Right.

I always recommend people read through the manual first before starting on like a new machine or something just so you have an idea of what you're going into. Yeah, you sit down and it's like it's like reading the recipe before you cook, because suddenly you need eggs and you didn't know you needed eggs. You're in trouble. Exactly. some of your own questions before you start jumping out.

Awesome. All right, I have a question for Mary Anne from Texas. Marianne says, I love to quilt, but after a few hours, my back starts talking to me. Can you switch between quilting while sitting and standing with the hoop frame? The hoop frame, um.

It, it has, uh, um, I don't know if I can show it to you. It, it has adjustable legs, but, but it's kind of the legs where there's a set of holes that go up and you decide which hole the, the bolt goes into. So it doesn't adjust. Easily up and down from one to the other, but what I do like about it is that Immediately when I set it up, I set it up at sitting height because even on a, even on a long arm frame. The lowest setting on those, you still have to stand at it.

And so for this one, to be able to sit and you can set it at the height that makes you stand or sit tall, so that you can push it around. So the, the answer is, yes, it's adjustable. No, it doesn't flip back and forth. Gotcha. OK.

And a question from Lynn, who asks, what is the actual size that can be quilted? I have the hoop frame and have found that I'm hitting the sides as there isn't a guide showing where to stop. Oh, OK. Um, so I, I usually, um, She didn't say whether she is on a domestic machine or not. The the Q series, the long arm, the burning the long arm has a great basting.

Mhm. Uh, stitch on it. So I often push the machine off to the side and based where that limit is, and I'll even based along the bottom where that limit is so that I know where I can and can't go, and then I don't accidentally bump into the frame and, and ricochet into my design and have to pick something out. Yeah, and the size, uh, that can be quilted, that depends on the machine that you're using, correct? Correct.

So, on the, on the Q16, so that means that it is a 16-inch throat space from needle to the back of the throat space is 16 inches. And so the depth of the quiltable space on that is about 12 inches deep. So, if you consider, so if we do the math and take 4 inches off that. So just know that when you're putting up, say a 10-inch throat space on there, you're going to lose about 4 inches. And so that depends what you're able to quilt.

Right. And also for determining your quiltable area for each hooping, you can also, you know, pull the machine up to the edge and put down like painter's tape or something that's easy to remove for each time you re-hoop it. Yes, but Bernina has thought of that, and so they've given you this, they've given you this strap that when you pull the machine forward, you just lay that down and you know how far forward you can go. And then on the sides I'll just put a little basting up and down that tells me that's gonna hit the side of the side of the rail so I can just quilt in this zone right here. Right, nice.

I love that little strip that they give you. Yeah it's super helpful. And there's also, there's also some side leaders so that on the, on the left and the right, when you're starting on the edge of the quilt and you don't have enough fabric to wrap around and clamp, you just pin these um canvas side leaders so that you have something to clamp. OK, great. Well, that was gonna be one of my questions.

If nobody else had asked it, how do you quilt something that is smaller than the size of the hoops? So you got liters like that. There's liters for the left and the right, um, for up and down. Um, so basic quilting math is you measure your quilt top and then you add. Um, about 8 inches to that measurement, and that should be the size of your backing so that you have about 4 inches of backing peeking out from your quilt top, right?

On, on this, they recommend that on the top and the bottom, instead of 4 inches peeking out, you have 10 inches. So, um, oftentimes I will just use a scrap piece of fabric and stitch that to my backing so I don't have to buy extra batting or extra backing. I just use scraps to get that extra depth that comes up and rolls around into the trough clamps on the top and keeps the quilt out of your way while you push the machine around. Perfect. Love that.

Um, OK, so we have another question from Nancy, Nancy from Michigan, who also said thank you for the comments. Um, she had just gotten her machine, um, and Nancy asks, can you use channel locks with that frame and the Q16? Yes, so, let me grab them real quick. There are these um. There are these two little hooks, and these guys, um, when you're, when you're uh starting loading the frame, What you initially do is you'll move the machine up to the top left corner.

And kind of get your quilt sandwich in place and drop the needle down. And then you, you can lock these, um, you hook these under the uh. The uh carriage that the machine is sitting on, and it keeps the wheels from turning. And that way, if you take one or the other, it works as a channel lock. So it, it keeps one set of wheels from turning so that you can go left to right without it moving forward and back on you.

OK, great. And they're magnetic, so they just stick on the side of the frame. Perfect, so you won't lose them theoretically, theoretically. Um, I have a question from Sophie, which I love, and I, I wanna hear your answer to this too. Sophie asks, what makes the hoop frame worth it compared to other frames?

OK, I think what makes it worth it. Um, one is it's small space. I also think that pushing the machine around is much easier. It's much more intuitive than pushing fabric around. The real benefit to me is the Bernina long arm.

So this so head has so many fantastic features that um just make quilting easy. And I'm, I'm happy to run down some of those things for you, but the main one is that the stitch regulators on this machine are right underneath on the stitch plate. So there are two sensors that watch as the machine gets pushed around, how fast you're pushing it around, and it speeds up and slows down the motor to match you. So if you do free motion on a domestic machine, you have to gauge how much gas you give the pedal. With how fast you move your hands around to try to get the stitches equal.

But because those two sensors are so great at watching the speed you're pushing that I don't have to worry about it. I get to just practice drawing and, and get better at making whatever image I'm making, whether it's feathers or faces or Ribbon candy, whatever. I can just practice that without also worrying how much gas to give the pedal, cause there's no pedal. Yeah, that's great. I love the technology that we get built into our machines now it makes everything so much easier.

It also, I love it because it makes me look like a good cook. You're a pro. And now I'm just turning on the machine and pushing it around, so. Um, so I do have a question from Greer, who asks, could you move your machine to the flat area on the table to sew when you aren't quilting? Um, so your domestic machine, or you, if you put a domestic machine on this, could you push it to, is that what the question is?

Could you move your machine to the flat area on the table? So on the table that's there with the hoop, I think they mean, could you shift. Shift the machine so that you could sew on it. So do you think? I'm not sure if you can see this table portion back here.

I suppose, but, but the machine, if you're using a domestic machine, it's, it's on a cart. It's on a, a wheeled cart that rolls along those rails there. So just setting it on there, I suppose you could, but you'd have to put the cart someplace. And I don't think that's a very ergonomically. Good height for sewing.

Yeah, might not be worth it. Well, I guess it depends. I guess it depends how high you set it up. So where mine's set up right now, I feel like I'd be sewing in the ditch if I put my machine back there. Yeah, OK, might be better to just move your machine to your back to your sewing table for sewing, yeah.

All right, let me see if we have some more questions. And so we have people saying hi from all over the place. Sheila from Colorado, Monica from New Mexico. Oh, I haven't seen Monica in ages. Thank you guys for tuning in.

Um, I have a question from Monica who asks. Um, still usable with my Bernina machine. So Monica, if you have any. Clarifying information on that um. It sounds it sounds like she's saying, can she use her Bernina sewing machine, her domestic machine on it?

Yes. And, and actually, another point is that if she didn't have a Bernina sewing machine, she could use that other brand on it as well. So, the main difference when you put a domestic machine on. If it's, if it's a Bernina, then there's an extra switch that wraps around the handle of the carriage so that you can use your thumb to turn on and off the motor. And so it really kind of turns it into a long arm.

If it's a different model. A different brand, then that switch doesn't work. So you have to make sure that your sewing machine has one of those on off buttons that gets the machine to sew without putting your foot on a pedal. OK. All right, that makes sense.

Um, and I have a question that I was wondering since you have the, the excess of your quilt just sort of hanging down, when you have a big quilt, how do you, what do you do with all that excess around the clamps? So, on the backside, there is a trough, the clamp. On the backside, uh, it is these clamp troughs. And so when you get to the quilt, the stuff that's quilted gets rolled up and placed into this trough, and that keeps it out of the way of the moving machine. On, on the front, you just kind of pull it up around you and if you're, again, it depends if you've If you've raised it so that it's a standing height or you have a sitting height, you just pull it up around you.

OK. Nice. Um, a question just came in from Dana. She says, I love working on bigger quilts. Is the hoop frame sturdy enough, or does it wobble when handling large projects?

No wobbling. It's really sturdy. It's really sturdy. It also has, um, it also has a ratchet on the front. On the front bar, so that when you first load it.

If it's saggy, then you can. I don't know if you can hear that ratcheting, but it ratchets to tighten this area on the front. But it's, it's a very, very sturdy machine with lots of um Kind of L bracket components to it that keep it stabilizing, yeah that's great. It really, it seems like it is sort of the best of both worlds. You have a small footprint, but it's mighty it can handle the biggest thing you can dream up.

Yes, if I had known. If I had known something like this existed when I was quilting, when I was learning how to quilt. I would have, I would have skyrocketed in my quilting instead of waiting years to figure out, well, now I've, what do I do with all these quilt tops. Nice. Um, and Sheila asks, oh, she said, Sheila said, sorry if I missed it.

Last quilt we can do on it. And we were just saying that there is no maximum. No, because it, because it just drapes off the front, the back, the sides. It's like a big embroidery hoop. You just move it to a new spot and quilt that quilt that bit and move it.

Think of it like it's, it's like a table and your quilt is the tablecloth. You just move the tablecloth on the quilt and work on that area. Nice. So when you are moving from one quiltable area to the next, do you like, do you lock your stitch and cut your thread, or do you leave the needle down and then just like slide? It, it depends which way you're going.

So you can, if, if you've ended up on the front of the quilting space and you're gonna move backwards, then you can leave your needle in that spot and roll back, clamp. And, and keep going. But if you're moving left to right or right to left, it just depends where you're going if you need to disengage the thread and start again. OK, nice. Yeah.

Um, so if anybody watching, if you have any more questions, keep those questions coming. We love to hear from you. So Lane. What are, tell us some of your favorite things if you haven't already we've been talking about this product for half an hour now, but. What's your favorite thing about having this in your sewing space?

I want, I think getting the quilt done is the biggest, is the biggest hurdle that everybody has in quilting is how do you actually get the quilt done. So that. Anything that will help me accomplish that is great, but particularly the burning the long arm has so many features that not only make it doable, make it enjoyable. So, I already mentioned the stitch regulators, and I have tried out all the different kinds of stitch regulators, and none of them are as accurate. As the Bernino ones, because it's happening right where the needle is.

So say your thread breaks or um Nothing is going to trip up. This machine, because the because the stitch regulators are right where you are, versus other brands might have a stitch regulator riding along the rail, and if the rail gets dusty and the wheel doesn't turn, then it will skip a stitch. But that doesn't happen here because it's right, it's touching the fabric right where you are. Mhm. Um, so, so first and foremost, that is the main feature that is total game changer.

It also has all of the threading at the front of the machine. So I don't have to be able to go behind the machine to change thread or do anything. I'm already sitting or standing where I need to be. Um, the thread winder is also on or the bob and winder is also on the front of the machine, and it's a separate motor. So technically, I can be winding a bobbin and quilting at the same time.

Those are two different motors, and I can just pop on a new bobbin when I'm ready. Um, it has all of this light inside the, um, throat space. So even if I were to turn all the other lights off in the room, There's more than enough light for me to see what I'm doing. Um, Boom, boom, boom, all up in the front. It's easy to thread.

It's, it's like threading a sewing machine. So it's just up here at the front. So, especially on the hoop frame, if you're limited in your studio space, this has all of the things you need up at the front and a small footprint. So it's really useful that way. And I just think it's fun, and if you want, I can switch cameras and then show you stitching on it.

Yeah, that would be great. Yeah, let's see a little, a little demonstration. OK, give me a second and I'll switch the other camera. OK. Now you'll have to forgive me because I'm stitching sideways and hugging a camera.

But I can show you if I pull this back a little bit, the handles. Let's see, where do I need to go. The handles have 2 toggles on each side. And I can program them to do what I want them to do, whether it's tie a knot or to lift or lower the presser foot or to stitch. I think we you zoomed in really tight there, so now I can't see.

Your screen OK, let's see. Let me switch back just for a second and then I'll, yeah. Um, and Sheila says while you're, you're figuring out the camera situation, Sheila says, I'm so happy I got here today, and we're happy that you joined us for this as well, Sheila. And Laura says, I keep saying I'll finish that queen size quilt next month, but it's still draped over my couch. I always have that too.

I've got my my to be finished pile that keeps growing and growing. Yes. All right, now can you see my screen or? I do not have your screen in front of me anymore now. Well, that's a bummer.

But you see if you can toggle around and I'll read some more questions. OK. Anne Marie says, can it be used on any brand of sewing machine, and that is like 100% yes, absolutely. Yeah, you'll just want to double check that it is, um, that your throat space is deep enough to make that happen because if, if, if you have like an 8 inch throat space, you're gonna lose 4 inches and so. Um, you know, quilting little 4-inch strips.

If it gets your quilt done, I would do it. It would take a while. And then it's, it's also when you have that limited throat space, it's hard to see. It's hard to hide the seams between rows of stitching. Yeah, OK.

Well, I can see your camera now. I don't know if you wanted to try switching over again or if you don't wanna change it. We'll give it one more shot here. I can tell from So You can't see it now or you can't. I can, yes, I can see it.

OK, great. No, nobody moved. No. OK, so if I turn this on. Yeah.

It looks so fluid. Well, it's got two sets of wheels that go left and right, and they're so smooth, and I'm not sure if you can see on the camera when I turn it on. Do you see little red lights? Yes, I saw that red light. So those are the sensors that are underneath on the stitch plate shining through the fabric, and they are watching.

So I'm I'm gonna do a fast and slow, and you can see how you can see and hear how the motor changes. Yeah, you can see the difference and how quickly the needle is moving. So you can hear. Uh well we got to see a little bit before your camera disappeared. So we, we did get to see a little bit and yeah we could definitely tell how that stitch regulator was working to control the speed of the needle by how you were moving the machine around.

So like when you, when we're driving and we're approaching a turn. We kind of slow down before the turn and then we pick up speed on the way out of the turn. We're naturally doing the same thing when we're drawing and, and so. Because the motor, because those sensors take care of all of that natural speeding up and slowing down, I don't have to worry about it with, with my foot pedal or anything. I just push it and draw however I draw.

So sometimes because I'm drawing something more challenging, I kind of slow down. But when it's something I know how to do well, I go fast, and the motor just adjusts in all of those parts, and it's so much easier. Yeah, that's perfect. And if viewers have any more questions, um, now's the time to send those questions into the comment section and we'll get them answered for you and Sheila had asked, so you based between sections, so can you clarify that? Yeah, so, um, for this machine they do recommend that you pre-baste your sandwich before you load it on there.

Um, I have basted. On, on the frame itself. So I've loaded just the backing and then placed my batting and my quilt top on there and then used the basting feature on the sow head to baste that area. I have done it, but I haven't done anything bigger than a baby quilt using that method. So I think if I were doing something bigger, it would, it would be hard to keep everything smoothed out.

To get twin size, queen size. Mhm. Well, so like it's dependent on what you are quilting. So if it's something larger, I would, I would err on the side of caution and pre-based it and then throw it on there. Right.

And Monica asked any chance to show with a domestic Bernina and we were talking about that earlier. We don't have that set up. I don't have it set up, but your dealership that carries them probably does have it set up in both formats because people are using it both ways. It's essentially the same thing. Except that it sits on a carriage that has handles that come up and over to the front of your machine so that you can use those to push the machine around.

OK, that's great and then Sheila had said this looks like exactly what I need, which is great. I have so much trouble having to move the fabric to do free motion quilting, so this solves that problem and then Sheila also said pantographs question mark. Yes, it can do pantographs. So, um, for those of you who don't know, a pantograph is a method where the handlebars on a long arm get put on the back of the, on the back of the machine instead of the front. And then a roll of paper lays on that table that has a design drawn on it.

And from the back of the machine, there's a little laser that shines down, and you use the handles on the back to push the machine around and make sure that that laser stays on the design that you're drawing, and it stitches on the front on your quilt. So it's, it's another tool that helps people get more familiar with the flow and feeling of free motion and quilting. OK. And yes, it can be done. Perfect love it um and Nancy has said great video.

I love the Bernina for all the things mentioned and the frame is is exactly what I need. They're both great products and you did a great presentation for both. Thank you. So thank you Nancy for watching. And I think another fun thing that that I didn't mention is that the Bernina long arms, the sow head itself.

Can move to different um equipment, so. It will grow with you, so you could have a Q16 on a table. You could then put that Q16 on a on a hoop frame. And then you could also put that Q16 on a 10 ft studio frame. So if your situation changes, whether you get more room or you have to downsize, your machine can move with you to the different apparatus of your choosing and, and keep going.

And, and the long arms come in three different throat sizes. There's a 16-inch, a 20-inch, and a 24 inch. Um, this, the hoop frame will handle a 16 or a Um, the 16. Um, when you put, there's a ruler base, so you can do ruler work on it. And there's, but because there's no, there's no tabletop, right?

So you need a base to set the ruler on, and so there's a, there's a plexiglass ruler base that attaches to this sowhead, and then you just lay the ruler there and push the machine alongside the ruler. And you don't, with the Q16, you can put that ruler base on, and it doesn't eat up any of your quiltable space. If you put the longer Q20 on and the ruler base, you will lose a little bit of that. Uh, quiltable space when the ruler base is on, but you can also put a Q20 on here and just have another 4 inches of quiltable space. Nice.

Well, this sounds fantastic and uh like we were talking about just a great way to Finish your quilts rather than having to send it off to someone because that can be a hurdle for people they don't want to send off their beautiful piece quilts so you can do it all yourself. It is, it is hard. You've put a lot of effort into piecing something and then you give it to somebody else to draw all over it. And so sometimes people are better drawers than I am. And I, it's great, but sometimes it feels like, oh, I wish I could do that part myself.

And you can. Yeah. And you might have a vision for what the quilting lines would look like, that you want it to look like that. Someone else might not necessarily do because that's part of the art of quilting is not only the piecing but it is the quilting lines. And I also think because they teach a lot of classes and there's a lot of people who will start to draw and then get embarrassed and stop or or um kind of belittle their own work that they've done.

I feel like anything that you've drawn is your handwriting, and that is, that's more special than anything that somebody else who draws better than you. Yeah, could do. So I think just own where you are in your quilting, you will get better. And let that, let that be your, your handwritten letter to the person that you're giving these things to. Exactly, it means so much to come from you and to know that you spent the time doing it and you know we cherish the hand drawings from our children so like why wouldn't you know it's just it's art it's all art.

Exactly. And also, you are the only one who's looking at the quilting that closely. That is very important to remember. Wash that quilt, crinkle it up, pass it on. It's gonna be great.

Yeah. So, and that segues into a question from Megan who asks, what's the most complex quilt that you've done on the hoop frame? Oh, I did this one behind me. Um, I also have access to all of the things, so what have I done on there? We, um, last year for our Bernina University, which is the big convention that all the dealers come to to learn about the new things.

I have, um, Made uh more of a throw size, a 60, 60 by 60 inch quilt on it. That's probably the biggest thing that I have made on it. And the thing that I really liked is that I could sit while I was doing it, so. I didn't have to get fatigued by standing at the machine and having to stop and sit down every once in a while. I was already sitting so I could just, I could keep going a lot longer than I anticipated.

Yeah. Do you have a favorite, um, like quilting design that you like to do on quilts, or is it sort of dependent on what the quilt is? Yeah, I, I do like. I have my defaults that like I can't think of what to do. Let me just get this quilt done defaults, um.

And because my name is Lane, I draw a lot of cursive L's. So loop de los come really easy to me cause I've been doing it since grade school. So, so if I just need to loop de lu around a quilt to get it done, that's my default. I find that easier than meandering where the rule is you can't cross your own path. Mhm.

So I, I find that much easier, but I also like contemporary things, so I do a lot of straight lines, and on this machine, even without locking the channel locks, because the wheels are so smooth front to back and side to side, if I just put my mind to it and push it straight back, I will get a pretty straight line without using a ruler. And so I do lots of piano keys and ribbon candy and things that have um perpendicular or um parallel lines to kind of divide up different spaces, and I find it really easy to do when you're pushing the machine on these. Mhm. That's great. Well, it seems like this product is great for people who are just getting into quilting larger things and they want to.

You know up their skills with quilting with something that can fit in a smaller space which I think is is great for if you have, you know. A lot of not only a small space, but like a lot of other things also in your space. This is great for that. So not everybody has the luxury of their own personal sewing space. If you can, it's really fantastic.

But if you don't, if you, if it's the room that everybody You know, your college kid comes home too and you gotta put some stuff away, or it's the guest bedroom or it serves also as a den or an office. It's great to have, it's great to have these pieces that can tuck away or aren't taking up too much space. Yeah, exactly. Well, Sheila says finishing a quilt will be so rewarding. Learning may be interesting, but skills grow, which is exactly it.

Skills grow the process is fun, so enjoy every step of it. So Lane, do you have any parting thoughts for us? I am always excited to see what people are making. It gets me excited to try new things. I love um.

Seeing people feel empowered to complete the project and not getting stuck, so. Just keep plugging away and I love seeing what people are making. It's so fun. Exactly, yeah, keep, keep playing and like you said, you know, all of the experiences that we have quilting our learning experiences, so. Everything is going to to add to that and your skills will grow.

Nothing is a disaster. Just keep going. You can always turn it into something else. It's all part of the learning process. Exactly.

I love it. Well, thank you everyone for watching and thank you for all the questions and the discussions I've had such a great time talking with you, Laine and learning about the Bernina hoop frame so it's, it's been a pleasure and. Keep quilting. Thanks, Laine.