Quilt Lady Corner

What the Quilt Lady Uses...

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BIGGER PICTURE OF THE 1500S

One of the most frequently asked questions is which machine I use for machine quilting. My machine of choice is the Brother 1500S. This is the machine I was using on Alex Anderson’s show “Simply Quilts”.

The Brother 1500S machine has many features which you do not find on most home sewing machines. Most importantly, the opening to the right of the needle has more height and width to accommodate quilting even a king sized quilt. The added space allows the quilter to roll large amounts of bulk and still have room for their hands. In addition the machine comes with an extension table which is a must for free motion quilting.

The Brother 1500s has an industrial head which can sew up to 1,500 stitches per minute. Although beginners may find this pace a little intimidating it is easy to adjust to this speed and helps creating stitches of the same size. The industrial head is also important for the amount of quilting that I do; the head is built to do continuous sewing for long periods of time.

While free motion quilting you will begin and stop designs which will require that both upper and bobbin threads to be cut. Most home sewing machines and industrial machines for that matter, have no feature to make this process simple. You would have to move the quilt out from under the presser foot and clip the threads with scissors. The Brother 1500s has an automatic thread cutter. With the touch of a button both top and bottom threads are neatly cut and threads are instantly reset for the next sewing operation. This will reduce the amount of time needed and you will have no more thread tails!! This feature is also very useful while piecing a quilt together.

Quilting is done on a variety of thicknesses depending on the types of fabrics being used and the choice of batting. The presser foot can be easily adjusted according to the thicknesses of fabrics and the feed dog settings.

Often it is useful to have the needle to stop in the down position so you can move the quilt in another direction. At the touch of a button you can have the needle always stop in the lower position when desired.

There are 4 different adjustments for the feed dog positions. Of course the ability to drop your feed dogs is necessary for free motion quilting. For those who are piecing or sewing on a variety of fabrics will find the precision pin feeding position a huge asset. A tiny pin comes up with the feed dogs and feeds both fabrics together wonderfully. This feature is great for hard to handle fabrics such as velvets and linings.

Additional features which enhance the use of the machine are: the built in thread stand which will accommodate large spools of threads, the automatic needle threader, and the knee lift. Quilters will find it helpful to use the knee lift for raising the presser foot, leaving both hands free for handling the fabric. The Brother 1500s comes with a variety of feet. The feet which most quilters will use are the ¼” foot, walking foot, and the free motion quilting foot. All these “extras” are included in the cost of the machine, suggested retail is $1,395.00, but shop around, you can usually find it for $1,000 or even a bit less..