Elna Lotus
julie
Sometime poster here. I am looking at an Elna Lotus to take to
quilting classes. I have just become enamored with machine quilting
after taking a class with Jill Shumaker. From what I read in the rctq
archives, it would be great for that purpose. However, I cannot tell
if the feed dogs drop down. Can anyone help?
Take care,
Julie
Polly Esther
machine. Don't know if the Lotus feed dogs drop or not. 'They say' that if
not, you could simply set the stitch length to zero. I'm not sure that's a
happy solution. It just seems that the teeth would still be there and
interfering with moving about. Polly
"julie" <julie...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Marcella Peek
If the feed dogs don't drop this is what you do. Tape an index card
over the feed dogs. The needle will make a little hole where it needs
it and you can free motion quilt away.
marcella
In article
<d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
julie
> I can only speak for Elna's serger. There's a 945 here and it is a fine
> machine. Don't know if the Lotus feed dogs drop or not. 'They say' that if
> not, you could simply set the stitch length to zero. I'm not sure that's a
> happy solution. It just seems that the teeth would still be there and
> interfering with moving about. Polly
>
>
> news:d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hi there,
>
> > Sometime poster here. I am looking at an Elna Lotus to take to
> > quilting classes. I have just become enamored with machine quilting
> > after taking a class with Jill Shumaker. From what I read in the rctq
> > archives, it would be great for that purpose. However, I cannot tell
> > if the feed dogs drop down. Can anyone help?
>
> > Take care,
> > Julie
Hi Polly,
Thanks for your quick response. I don't know if that would be a happy
solution for me either. Because I am so new at it, I am not confident
enough to improvise.
Agree about the Elna, though, my main machine is an Elna 3007 and I am
very happy with it.
Take care,
Julie
julie
> I am so jealous! I would love one of those.
>
> If the feed dogs don't drop this is what you do. Tape an index card
> over the feed dogs. The needle will make a little hole where it needs
> it and you can free motion quilt away.
>
> marcella
>
> In article
>
> julie <julie.n...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi there,
>
> > Sometime poster here. I am looking at an Elna Lotus to take to
> > quilting classes. I have just become enamored with machine quilting
> > after taking a class with Jill Shumaker. From what I read in the rctq
> > archives, it would be great for that purpose. However, I cannot tell
> > if the feed dogs drop down. Can anyone help?
>
> > Take care,
> > Julie
Hi Marcella,
Hmmm, well, if this isn't the cleverest thing!!! I may try that on
another machine I have and that may negate the need for another
machine at all.
Thanks!
Take care,
Julie
J*
Julie,
a quick email to this site about the elna
you're interested in buying should be able to tell you about
those feed dogs dropping or not.
worth a shot anyhow.
j.
nayy
> "julie" ...
Kate XXXXXX
No they don't. You need the feed dog cover plate for it.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
Julia in MN
have liked them a lot. I think the Lotus would be great for classes and
for piecing, but I'm not sure how well it work for machine quilting
because it is so small. It might be difficult to maneuver anything very
large under the arm of the machine.
The full-size Elna I got in the era of the Lotus had a plate to cover
the feed dogs instead of dropping them; I don't know what the Lotus has.
I never used that machine for free motion quilting, and I'm not sure how
well it would have worked, as it was designed more for darning. People
weren't doing a lot of machine quilting at that time. I don't remember
whether I was told to use it for free motion embroidery -- never did
enough of that to become very accomplished at it. Generally, you should
be able to do free-motion quilting without dropping the feed dogs
because you can stop the feed dogs from moving by setting the stitch
length to zero.
Julia in MN
--
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Leslie& The Furbabies in MO.
http://www.ismacs.net/elna/lotus.html
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
"julie" <julie...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Allison
the feed dog, ie, when using a darning foot- that way you get a better
grip for the stitch part of things. When the darning foot "lifts"
between stitches the feed dogs also "drop". Then the two come together
to squish the fabric as the needles passes thru. It might not work so
well if you were using a different kind of food or if you were a "pedal
to the metal" kind of FM stitcher. But that is not me :)
Allison
julie
Thanks, j, it did indeed answer a whole bunch of questions.
Julie
julie
wrote:
> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
Ahhh, I did not know there was such a thing. I did know that you liked
this machine, but did not know if you did any quilting with it.
Thanks Kate!
Julie
julie
Hi Julia,
This machine would have been to take to the classes that teach machine
quilting so I would only have worked on 14-16 inch squares. The feed
dogs not dropping is an issue, though.
Thank for your response!
Julie
julie
<quilteac...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Here's a link to some in depth info on the Lotus-
>
> http://www.ismacs.net/elna/lotus.html
>
> Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
>
>
> news:d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hi there,
>
> > Sometime poster here. I am looking at an Elna Lotus to take to
> > quilting classes. I have just become enamored with machine quilting
> > after taking a class with Jill Shumaker. From what I read in the rctq
> > archives, it would be great for that purpose. However, I cannot tell
> > if the feed dogs drop down. Can anyone help?
>
> > Take care,
> > Julie
Yes, alas, the feed dogs do not drop so this is not the machine for me
me thinks.
Thanks for the link, very informative.
Julie
julie
> Sometimes setting the stitch length to zero works better than dropping
> the feed dog, ie, when using a darning foot- that way you get a better
> grip for the stitch part of things. When the darning foot "lifts"
> between stitches the feed dogs also "drop". Then the two come together
> to squish the fabric as the needles passes thru. It might not work so
> well if you were using a different kind of food or if you were a "pedal
> to the metal" kind of FM stitcher. But that is not me :)
> Allison
>
> Polly Esther wrote:
> > I can only speak for Elna's serger. There's a 945 here and it is a fine
> > machine. Don't know if the Lotus feed dogs drop or not. 'They say' that if
> > not, you could simply set the stitch length to zero. I'm not sure that's a
> > happy solution. It just seems that the teeth would still be there and
> > interfering with moving about. Polly
>
> >news:d7c092f0-38e6-4a74...@y4g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> >> Hi there,
>
> >> Sometime poster here. I am looking at an Elna Lotus to take to
> >> quilting classes. I have just become enamored with machine quilting
> >> after taking a class with Jill Shumaker. From what I read in the rctq
> >> archives, it would be great for that purpose. However, I cannot tell
> >> if the feed dogs drop down. Can anyone help?
>
> >> Take care,
> >> Julie
Hi Alison,
This is good to know. I am a newbie to machine quilting so this sounds
like a complication I don't need. It is very enlightening however.
Take care,
Julie
Laurie G. in CA
long as you can cover them with either a feed dog cover or a business card.
Jill probably mentioned that.....
However, a machine that does have feed dogs that drop is really a bonus!!!
Good luck with you machine search.
Where did you take Jill's class? Must be Calif. I'm guessing.....
~~~~~~~
Laurie G. in CA
http://www.finishingtouchesquilts.com
http://community.webshots.com/user/lagrant7
~~~~~~~
"julie" <julie...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1d5ad70a-7905-410d...@b25g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
julie
> Julie - I have taken Jill's classes. It doesn't matter if the dogs drop as
> long as you can cover them with either a feed dog cover or a business card.
> Jill probably mentioned that.....
>
> However, a machine that does have feed dogs that drop is really a bonus!!!
> Good luck with you machine search.
>
> Where did you take Jill's class? Must be Calif. I'm guessing.....
>
> ~~~~~~~
> Laurie G. in CAhttp://www.finishingtouchesquilts.comhttp://community.webshots.com/user/lagrant7
> ~~~~~~~
>
I didn't know about that until I asked this group and got some great
help, ideas, links, etc.
I, too, thought it would be a bonus to have one with dropping dogs :)
so I got myself a Janome Jem 2. My main machine is an Elna 3007, which
I love dearly and don't want to heft to and from class. I can't wait
until I get the JJ2 in about seven days.
I took Jill's class at Thimble Creek, formerly of Walnut Creek and now
in Concord. She did not mention anything about feed dog covers so
maybe it was that no one in the class needed that information. I can't
take her next class at TC because of a time conflict, however, she
teaches at so many places that I just may opt to drive a bit to take
the intermediate class.
Take care,
Julie
Kate XXXXXX
They are too small to do serious sized quilts, but I have made one for
the cat on one of the Lotus machines, and they are perfect for piecing.
Laurie G. in CA
Benicia. Jill has taught at our guild before and we want to get her back but
she is booked until into 2010. She is a great teacher!
It's fun to find someone in your own backyard (so to speak) on a group that
is international! :-)
~~~~~~~
Laurie G. in CA
http://www.finishingtouchesquilts.com
http://community.webshots.com/user/lagrant7
~~~~~~~
"julie" <julie...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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