So what does teflon grilling liners have to do with free motion quilting?
If you are a free motion quilter then you’ve probably thought about or looked into purchasing a slick product/mat that goes over your sewing area when you free motion quilt. They are very helpful with taking the drag off your fabric when moving it around to quilt.
I do like this product but have found them to be a bit “pricy” for the size. I have found that they can move a bit while quilting and the center hole can get torn up by the needle. I use scotch tape to help fix this for a while but eventually end up purchasing another teflon slick sheet.
Now that I own a sit down long arm, I’ve been looking into a cover for the top of my machine so that my fabric and my stitch regulator can move easily and freely while quilting.
My machine drops into my table as you can see in the picture above. The edges are smooth and my fabric moves OK while FMQ, however, when I use my stitch regulator the ridge caused by the edge of table and machine becomes a problem.
If my stitch regulator moves into that area, it will glitch a bit and mess up my stitching.
Handiquilter sells a cover that I can adhere to the top of my table and it covers the whole top and takes care of this problem. The price for the cover is $89 and I can only order online.
As a side note . . . The Husqvarna Viking Platinum 16, Babylock Tiara 3, and a few other brands are made by Handiquilter and are very similar to the Handiquilter sweet sixteen model. Most items that work on the Sweet 16 model will also work on the other machines I mentioned.
I purchased Non-stick Heavy Duty Grill Liners by Magic Grill from Amazon. There are other brands and sizes available with varying pricing. I used all three sheets to cover the top of my table.
I started with the middle piece first by centering it in the middle.
I then marked the area just underneath my foot so I could cut it out. Next, I cut out a circle to expose the area where the bobbin thread comes up. From there, I placed my other two pieces of teflon one on each side and taped them down with packaging tape.
It was important that I get the overlap and the tape to lay very flat. I didn’t want the stitch regulator getting hung up on any of it while I was FMQing.
I then rounded off the corners to match my table top and taped down the sides so my fabric didn’t catch an edge and pull the liner up under the fabric while quilting.
I’m very excited to say that my test run of free motion quilting went well with my stitch regulator. No glitch or getting caught while moving on the surface.
Now this will work for your domestic sewing machine as well. In most cases, you will only need one of those grill liners but if you buy a set of three like I did, you will have extras. Both sides of the liner are slippery so you will need to find a way to keep it in place during use.
I hope you like this sewing room hack. Be sure to read my other free motion quilting posts. Happy sewing everyone!
Blessings,
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