Quilting Frame Channel Lock Hack by KathyQuilts

 August 28, 2023

(This post is best viewed on a tablet or computer because of the embedded videos)

    Last week we had a great question come from a new Block RockiT owner, and I thought I’d address this answer to everyone in hopes that it may be of help to some.  Here’s the question: “Do I have a way to make straight lines without following a ruler?  Does my machine have ‘channel locks’?”

    The answer should be quick and easy, but it has many different answers.  First - if you have Channel Locks - it depends on your quilting FRAME - not your machine.  Newer quilting frames have channel locks included with the quilting FRAME.  There are attachments that attach to your upper and lower carriages that allow the wheels to lock in place, which makes it so that your machine cannot move in either the horizontal or the vertical quilting positions.  Older quilting frames, or sometimes less expensive quilting frames probably don’t have these Channel Lock attachments, and there is not anything you can order to retrofit your older or less expensive quilting frame.  Second - you CAN make any quilting frame have Channel Locks by adapting the situation yourself!  Yay!

    Let me give you an example.  Over 25 years ago I purchased a Gammill Classic quilting machine and frame.  At the time, there were no additional special features available for quilting machines such as stitch regulation or channel locks.  You just had to learn (by lots of practicing) to go fast in your tiny areas and very slow in your large areas to try to make even stitching.  And you just had to learn to follow a ruler to make any straight lines, including horizontal and vertical.  (Years later they added these features but I never felt it was worth the $$ to retrofit my old Gammill so I never did.)   My Q'nique 21" pro machine DOES have both features, and it sure would have shortened that learning curve way back when I started.  It’s so nice to have a machine that does these things without any care at all from me!  Yet I still have both machines and use them daily.

Locking lower wheel

    About five years ago, we were working a quilting show in New York and a gentleman came to our booth to visit with us and he gave us a hint that just blew me away!  He showed us how to make any quilting machine have channel locks.  (I’ll try to show pictures.) He said to take a folded T-shirt (or a piece of batting, or a folded up piece of fabric, or even your trusty sew-off piece) and place it under ONE of your back wheels.  Which wheel?  It depends on which direction you want locked.  I lift up my machine on the back by putting my hand under the machine or by lifting my rear handles and place my folded up item under one rear wheel.  Suddenly, the machine CANNOT move in that direction, but CAN move in the other direction. So my machine can go forward or back (but not side to side!)  OR - my machine can go side to side (but NOT forward nor back.)

    Wow!  I came back home to my quilting studio and decided to put it to the test.  I

Locking upper wheel

had purchased a Walmart quilt for the trailer we used to take our frames around the country (I know - I know - but I needed something pretty that was really quick as we didn’t touch home base very often.)  It was a nice comforter but only spot tacked in about ten places on the quilt, and I knew it wouldn’t wash well with that small amount of tacking.  So I took it to my Gammill frame (this was way before any company had added Channel Locks to their frames.)  I pinned on my comforter to the take-up rail and also the quilt top rail.  Just two rails because it already had batting in it, but I had to be very careful and pin it along the edges so it wouldn’t get tweaked as I quilted it.  And I tried to stretch it pretty tight (I don’t normally do this) so that it would come out even at the bottom of the quilt.  I marked the comforter every 6" with a purple pen all the length of the comforter.  I put an old sew-off piece under my top carriage wheels.  My machine would only move side to side.  Perfectly!!!  I quilted the most perfect horizontal line all across this comforter.  I’d never seen such perfection!  I almost cried!  Then I brought my machine back to the side, rolled the quilt forward until the next marking was under my needle, and quilted the next perfect line.  Ohhhhh!   Over and over.  In about half an hour, I was all finished tacking my quilt and it was so beautiful!  It worked!   (Yes, LOTS of exclamation points, can you tell how exciting this was to me???)  It works the same for vertical lines also, but there is more care involved as you are walking around your frame more as you reposition the locking device (fabric, or t shirt, or quilt piece.)

    So through the years, we’ve tried to pass this simple hint down to everyone that has ever asked (and many of you that have never asked, too.)  This method of Channel Lock has an advantage to the channel locks that come with your quilting frame.  With this method, you can ‘fudge’ your lines just a bit.  And - you can move your machine if you use some good force - to get to the next place without walking around and unlocking your channel lock and relocking it.  (I’ll take a picture of this also.)  Try this!  You’ll be so excited to make perfectly straight lines.

    During Covid, I did this “Dwell” house quilt.  The pattern showed it quilted with straight lines, so I tried it on my Gammill using this method.  Here’s a picture.  I marked it every 3/4" and you can see I should have used a pencil to get perfect marks instead of my purple pen, but I still think it turned out great.

    Sorry about the long post today, but I love quilting hints and wanted to share this with everyone that may be too scared to try out some straight line quilting.

Kathy Barlow
www.kathyquilts.com

Custom Quilting a quilt with a Cheater Panel

 

This is part of a quilt with a cheater panel that Kathy quilted for a customer.  Part of it was pieced.  It is amazing how Kathy transformed the Santa panel into something really awesome.  Here is a link where you can see more it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xl_hC4hVfco

 

I hope this inspires you to use some of these techniques to quilt something awesome yourself.

Using a pantograph patterns

Using Pantograph Patterns on your frame

This is a message that Kathy posted to one of her Machine Quilting 

Groups that I wanted to share on our Blog.  (This was previously posted 

in 2005 on an older version of this Blog)

Can anyone give me any hints on following a pattern (where to start, 

direction to go etc.) I can't seem to be able to see the starting point 

and direction or how to make it flow smoothly. Tammy


Tammy,
With a pantograph pattern, I was always taught to move from the
Right to the Left. This is opposite from the way you would normally
read or write. This makes your quilting machine move in a 'forward'
direction. Your tension will probably be much better by moving in this
direction as often as you can. It doesn't mean that you can't move
'backwards', but to constantly move that way is like going in reverse,
and that's when I find that my threads could pop or skip. (I do suggest
that there is probably no right or wrong way, but this is just the way I
was taught years ago, and it's worked great for me.)

First, after your quilt is attached and ready to quilt, you want to
put your needle down into the quilt at each corner of the quilt, so that
you can place your blue tape (or however you mark each side of the panto
so that you'll remember to stop) at each side of the pattern. Twist and
turn your laser light so that you won't go off your quilt and into the
leaders, etc. I also move the machine along that top edge of the quilt
(while looking at my panto) to make sure none of the parts of the panto
run off the quilt. (I often only quilt half that panto on the first
row, especially if it's an interlocking pattern, so that I don't have
empty spots on the quilt top edge.) Move your panto pattern around
inbetween these two marks so that you can center the pattern or how you
want the pattern to look on your quilt. 

So, when you're standing behind your machine, start at the right
side of the pattern, and follow it all the way to the left of the
quilt. Then, I put my needle down in the Red dots on the pattern that
say "top of pattern", and gently roll my quilt. I slide the Pantograph
Pattern so that the 'bottom of pattern' dot will be at the approximate
spot where the laser light falls. With the needle still in the quilt
(be very careful here so that the quilt doesn't rip or tear - gentle), I
get the quilt ready for the next row by getting my quilt tension right
and attaching the clamps, etc. I slide the panto pattern until the
laser light exactly hits where my next red dot is, and this will offset
or align the panto pattern correctly. Then, I quilt the 2nd row.

On panto patterns that don't have 'top' and 'bottom' of designs, I
make my own by deciding the appropriate distance between the pattern so
that it doesn't look like I've made 'rows' of quilting. I put my 'Dots'
on the top and bottom of each design (sometimes I have to put the panto
over the top of itself so that I can see exactly where I want the offset
to land.) I want the look to look like it's all one continuous design
on my quilt, without obvious lines where there is no quilting. Some
patterns are very elaborate with lots of crossing of the lines of
quilting, and most of these either have an arrow to follow so that you
move in the right direction, or they have a different color where the
lines cross so that you don't mistakenly move in the wrong direction. 
Also, on many patterns, when you unroll the pattern and put it on your
frame, you want to be able to read the words and directions that may be
printed on the panto, and many of these show you with arrows the
direction to quilt (and it's usually from the right to the left while
standing behind the frame.)

That's probably as clear as mud, I know, but the machines do run
better if you try to feed fabric through them the same way as if you
were sitting at your domestic machine, in a mostly forward motion. I
always quilt a panto from right to left, and never follow it back the
other way. This can get your quilt to zigzag (how do I know this?), so
aligning your quilt and panto with each row, makes your quilt come out
perfectly in the end. Remember that quilts have a lot of variation in
the size through the center, the different fabrics used, the grains and
bias, etc. This means that each row will be different from the last
row, and I usually treat each new row as if I were starting the quilt
all over, aligning the laser light up where I need it, etc. I don't
want my panto patterns to 'shift' unless I want them to on purpose.

I do about 95% custom quilting, but sometimes a panto pattern is fun and
can enhance a busy quilt. I find it fun for a change, and can really
listen to my books on tape or CD as I go along, and don't even realize
that I've finished my quilt so quickly. I don't have to think nearly so
much when I use a panto pattern.

Happy Quilting!
Kathy w/ gam classic 7 years - almost 1800 quilts (Kathy has done over 4,000 quilts now!)

Time To Share Kathy's Tips So You Can Quilt Like A Professional

We are so excited to share tips that Kathy Barlow from KathyQuilts.com has been collecting over the last 26 years!  These won't be in any particular order so you will want to subscribe and check out the tips as they come.  We will be doing more videos on YouTube so subscribe and click the notify button so you will know when the new videos are published.  If you zoom in on this Flip Flop quilt you will see some really awesome fill patterns.  This gives you some really great ideas of what you can do with your quilt.  This was quilted on a Q'nique 21 Pro but Kathy can so the same thing on her Gammill Classic.

Lynn and Kathy want to help you elevate your quilting so that even if you aren't a professional machine quilter you will be able to quilt like one.  Technique is one thing but knowing what fill patterns to use, what to quilt in a block, whether to use automation on your quilt or free motion, knowing how to use all of these techniques will help you to become the awesome quilter you has always dreamed of becoming.

We will be posting at least one or two tips a week or more if there is more demand. We want to help you free of charge but we ask that you share our web site, blog, Facebook page with anyone that you feel might like what we do.

Thanks,

Lynn