I'm teaching another session of Free-Motion Mastery Quantum Leap and fully half of the class are longarm quilters! So, for all you longarmers out there I want to share this tip.
When you are quilting on a longarm, you are moving a
60-pound machine for every single little figure and stitch.
If you stand with both feet parallel to the rails of your frame as shown in the first picture below, when you move the machine forward and back you aren't braced, and your body has to sort of lock up to get enough stability to get the machine moving. If I stand this way facing forward on the subway it's easy to lose my balance when the train moves. When it starts going I'll tilt backwards and when it stops I'll pitch forward.
But if I stand with my feet placed diagonally as in the photo below, when the trains moves -- either backward or forward -- I'm braced and I can maintain my stability. Standing this way at the longarm means that you have a solid base from which to move your machine in any direction, so you will keep your balance, stay relaxed and have more control over the movement of the machine.
Happy Quilting ~ RaNae
To learn more about how Free-Motion Mastery in a Month
can help YOU learn to quilt, click this link:
