Judy Lee
These are both beautiful quilts.
Vinton, Virginia
Pretty quilts Judy Lee. You did a nice job on the quilting.
Hi to everyone, this is a great forum. I have been reading past posts and am enjoying & learning. I have a Jewel with computerized program that I brought overseas as excess baggage last January. I have learnt alot in the past year through trial and error and just keep on learning. I do mostly free hand, ruler work and some computerized quilting but am terrified at the thought of doing a pantograph design.
Karen
I see the Dr today. I'll let you know what he says. Thank you Bettie
Hi
I bought a Tin Lizzie longarm machine about two years ago. I have it on a 10 ft. frame and am quite pleased with the setup. I have the longarm in my bonus room, which is the length of a two car garage. The only complaint is the lack of good lighting in the room...
I work full-time, teach part-time and try to quilt full-time so I don't spend as much time as I'd like with my machine. I have a over 80 quilt tops that need to be quilted so I just started out free motion stippling. I have a stitch and speed regulator on the machine so I practice my speed and keeping my shoulders relaxed. The few tension issues I had in the beginning was due to going at an uneven speed; too fast and then too slow. I also "over oiled" the machine as there is nothing to show how much oil is needed; I'm back on track with just a few drops...
I have some pantographs but have yet to use them. I am having so much fun with the free motion stippling; I just added stars and flowers to my stippling and am really enjoying the process. I finished 10 quilt tops in the month of January and have done 4 so far in February.
My goal is to take lessons at the Longarm University in Kent, Washington. I took a beginning lesson from Wanda Rains at Rainy Day Quilts in Kingston, WA. She is incredible! I plan to take an intermediate lesson from her...she does phenomenal machine quilting.
I read all articles on longarm quilting in the quilting magazines and just subscribed to a Machine Longarm Quilting magazine. I have a business, Finishing Touch Quilting Services, but like most other new owners, am still not actively advertising as I feel I more practice at the machine.
I am looking forward to this discussion as I wish to learn more about longarm quilting.
Thanks!
Janell
JudyLee, The quilting looks great to me! I think we set expectations in our own heads & can be hypercritical when "reality" is different. The circles I see in the top photo look really smooth & the leaves I can see in the bottom are lovely :-)
Welcome, Janell :-) Sounds like you're going to be busy learning more. Once you start quilting more tops, you'll whittle your pile down in no time!
Welcome Janell,
I have had my TinLizzie for 3 years now. I have it set up in a room that is long and narrow that fits my 10 ft. setup perfectly... part of our shop space we converted in the garage. It is a finished room with a drop ceiling and in the ceiling we have 3 banks of 4 fluorescent bulbs/tubes that run crosswise to the quilt frame, not lengthwise. There is no angle that produces a shadow on my work. Lighting was high on my list of priorities when we planned this room.
Next on my list... no concrete hard floors to cause issues when I had to stand for very long. Having a concrete floor, we put interlocking cushioned/padded squares that you can buy at Sam's. The padded flooring helps keep my wheeled stool from running away when I am sitting as I panto along. I have a really cool "sit stand stool" that has many adjustments.
I can certainly meander without a problem, but I really, really enjoy doing pantos. I envy those who can create beautiful free-motion designs. I'm getting better at my feathers, but they take so much practice. I guess everything we do on our wonderful machines takes lots of practice. I'd say with 80 quilts waiting in the wings, that you will have the opportunity for lots of practice.
Well Ladies, I have set the date for closing my daycare and officially changing course to long arm seriously. Truthfully I have a bad, bad back which is a strong motivator, that and I need to lose some (a lot) of weight, reason number 2, but the bottom line is no more babies after Feb. 29, and more kids will be leaving mid-March. I will have a few left,but they are in school and don't come 'til later, so I thought that is a good way to ease into this. At least I will have my mornings free to exercise and longarm. I'm excited and terrified all in the same breath. Add to that the fact my husband just started a new job and we will be moving to the Chicago area in a few months...I'm a bit more than nervous. Honestly I've never lived anywhere buy my home town, so I'm a bit apprehensive about it. Anyway, here goes!!!
Snugglebug Quilter:Honestly I've never lived anywhere buy my home town, so I'm a bit apprehensive
i was apprehensive about our first move, too. after the first one, i enjoyed moving to a new place and getting to explore new territory. we're home for good now, but we still go on exploratory road trips. i miss the excitment and anticipation of moving to a new place.
not the work involved though, i don't miss that.
however, the "stuff" purging was good. it didn't seem to affect the stash at all, but it seemed to make room for more stash. now that i think about it, i could probably purge without moving.
gini in north idaho
good luck on your new venture and adventure
Snugglebug, hang in there! I hope the transition goes well for you.
Where in the Chicago area is your husband's new job? I'm not from Chicago but now live on the northwest side of the city, so you'll know at least one person here! Friend me if you'd like & we can converse.
Thanks Kris,
I now have a purple Turning Twenty quilt on my Miss Jewel. I have my really good thread and am ready to kick threads!
Judylee
Welcome Karen,
I have the same machine and love it. I am an artist and do a lot of free hand but I need to learn to use pantos too. Maybe we should pick the brains of everyone who does pantos, I think Jeanine uses pantos.
Welcome aboard Janel,
I have a suggestion on the lighting, my DH put a Tube light in the center of my longarm machine. It gives off lots of light even on cloudy days.
Look forward to see some of your quilts!