Sew Steady Table - Making Sewing Easier

Blog Post by Liz Holpin, Director of The Cotton Patch

This post starts a bit like a fairy tale!  

Once upon a time....I was in Houston, Texas at Quilt Market, which is the buying show for shops like The Cotton Patch and which takes place the week before Quilt Festival. So I was walking around the show and I bumped into the very lovely Lynn Graves who was the quilter who designed the Big Foot and Little Foot machine feet - 

Big Foot

Lynn designed the Big Foot for free motion quilting - it's really easy to see where you're going and holds the quilt down as the needle goes down, smoothing out any puckers. It comes in four types (Low, High, Singer Slant and Viking) and if you're not sure which one fits your machine you can go to the Little Foot website and check your model - Usability Guide for Big and Little Foot 

Little Foot

The Little Foot is a quarter inch piecing foot with markers 1/4" before and after the needle position - great for pivoting and techniques like sewing on binding. It comes as Low Shank (fits most machines and fits Berninas with the addition of a Low Shank Adapter), snap on, Singer and Viking Fittings. 

She was demonstrating using a large perspex table on her Bernina 1130. I was amazed at how easy it was to quilt using the extended work area and how smooth it was plus you effectively had a two layer work area because you could keep your scissors and pin cushion, etc just under the clear table and still find it easily.

This is what the Sew Steady Table looks like - it has a cut-out specific to the type of machine you have so they are custom made to the free arm of the machine (with the tool tray removed if it has one). It has four legs at each corner with adjustable feet and an extra foot on a suction cup which you position near to the cut-out which is to give additional support. The tables also have a ruler at the front which is quite handy and saves locating a ruler when you just need to do a quick check on a measurement.

I was so impressed by the table that I asked Lynn where I could get one because I had the exact same machine as she did - a Bernina 1130! Well, Lynn said she would point us in the direction of the supplier but if I wanted to take this one home and try it out for myself I could buy hers right there and then!  So I did and the rest is history as they say - for the past 18 years we've been supplying these tables to quilters all over the country.

Since then manufacturers have realised how important it is to have a large working area and so more machines now come with these kind of clear perspex tables than back in the 1990s. But sometimes you need a bigger working area still and the Super size is 24" x 24"....

The Sew Steady Tables come in three sizes - we'll need you to enter the Manufacturer and Model Number when you place your order. We'll confirm by email that we can get it made (they are precision laser cut and the cut-outs are known for most but not all models - specific shops like John Lewis own brand for example can be a problem). We'll tell you when we expect it in stock. 

Big 24" by 24"

Large 18" x 24" (the one illustrated with the quilt block in the picture above)

Junior 15" x 11"

We ship these from the USA to order and they take about 6-8 weeks for delivery depending on when you order. Unfortunately we can't supply abroad.

We also have a number of tables in stock that fit specific machines that can be shipped straightaway - just follow this link and scroll down to see which models we have. You'll need your sewing machine Manufacturer and model number. 

The other benefit of the tables as Lynn pointed out is that it doubles as a light table - just get an Ottlite or Daylight light underneath and you have a ready made light table - very useful for applique.

So there we go.... I love my Sew Steady table and the quilt I have on my bed at the moment - a Barn Raising Log Cabin was all pieced on my Bernina using the Sew Steady Table. It is true, I've lived happily ever after.