I own a HQ 16 and couldn't be happier. I am lucky and live close to Sparrow Studios , I took thier beginner longarm class to help me decide if I wanted to stand up or sit down. I took cost , what I would use the machine for, and how many quilts would I quilt on it. Cause let's face it if your on,y quilting your own and only make say ten quilts those are some pretty darn expensive longarm quilting in them. Since I have no plans to quilt for others and I love the freedom of being anywhere I want on the quilt , I went with the HQ , I did buy mine brand new but I am sure if you can find one used it would be fine.

Simple is a lot harder to pull off than is usually thought. However throw in all the trimmings and you can hide a plethora of boo-boos

Nancy,
Well said. Good words to live by.


Judith

Oh yeah, something else I was told a long time ago that is really true. The way to hide imperfect quilting lines is to add more quilting. The more quilting lines you have, the less you see the individual lines and thus the mistakes. It really is true and, until someone points it out, isn't something that people usually think of. When we are unsure, we usually try to use less quilting so we have fewer "bad" lines. Just another tip that might help you in your journey.

I really look closely at the quilting in shows, magazines and books. It turns out that there are very few quilters out there whose quilting is absolutely perfect. Some notable exceptions: Sharon Schamber, Janet Stone, Sherry Reynolds. You can look closely at every stitch on their quilts and you'll never see even a bauble. But these women are superhuman when it comes to quilting. The rest of us are pure mortals and we have to let ourselves be who we are. Angela Walters is really good at encouraging people to let perfection go and enjoy what they are creating. Her stuff is imperfect, but stunning.

Thank you Nancy!
I co-chair the Kid's Komforts charity project for my guild. Today I am going to move from muslin squares to a double rail nap quilt. I'm going to try a combination of stitch in the ditch and some curves in the squares. I DO expect perfection--need to let that go.
sue

Nancy, an Alaska cruise is on my bucket list too . . . . and a quilting cruise would be all the better! I know you'll have a splendid time!

Nancy, that was great advice. I started practicing on inexpensive muslin layered with batting, but now I work on charity quilts for my guild. Like you said, I try to use thread that won't stand out too much and the people who receive them will not be looking at them with the fine eye that I would. Great way to practice quilting since the guild provides most of the fabric and batting (I often add a bit of fabric from my own stash if needed, but I'm getting lots of experience, so it's worth the trade).

I also signed up for a 'quilting cruise' to Alaska this summer. Two classes offered with four different teachers. I chose to take two free motion quilting classes since I'm confident with piecing. I'll be a captive student, LOL. There are two different projects to work on, but I might take a small quilt of mine that needs to be quilted. Several ladies from my guild are going, too. My husband and I have talked about cruising Alaska for several years and when this came up, it seemed like a great combination.

Kathy

I had a go with my normal fmq foot and ruler and it was fine. I love the curves though, that ruler would be a good buy.

Thanks, Beverly! I look forward to seeing your ruler work! I'm interested in trying that, but have too much on my plate right now.

Nancy, you really hit the nail on the head for me. I don't love practicing on throwaway stuff. And I'm going to follow your lead on practicing on a real quilt and using the designs you are comfortable with and move to the next. I'm also going to make using rulers my goal too. On another forum topic (Bernina needs a ruler foot) I posted the new youtube video by Terri Lucas and Lisa Calle on using rulers on domestic machines. They really stressed that you go slowly and steadily on domestic and long arms, and I need to pay attention to that too. Thanks for the sound advice.

Hi Sue -

Like you say, PRACTICE is the key. How to get the practice depends on your personality and what type of quilting you want to get better at. I know a lot of people practice on panels and you can get a lot out of them. If you use panels, look for panels with the types of areas you want to practice on. For example, if you do a lot of applique and want to get better at ditching around the applique, then look for panels with objects that you can stitch around. For practicing sashing areas, look for panels with simulated sashing. Things like that. The one thing that the panels won't simulate are the ridges that are created by the seams and applique.

My personality is such that I can't stand spending time practicing on an object that will be thrown away or doesn't have a particular purpose. So, I plan my "practicing" to be done on real quilts. For me, every quilt is a practice quilt because every quilt improves my quilting. When starting out, I chose my quilts and my quilting to match what I was comfortable with and what I wanted to work on. My first quilt was a basketweave where I did SID between the blocks using my walking foot and then put free-motion simple flowers in the center of each block because I know how to draw flowers and now I can quilt those flowers like nobody's business. The borders have vines with leaves because I can draw leaves and now I can quilt leaves. I used invisible thread on that quilt, but now I think that's a mistake when starting out because you just can't see where your quilting lines are so it's harder to do motifs. Instead, I would recommend matching thread that will keep your quilting subtle but still allow you to see the lines while you are quilting so it isn't so difficult.

Right now I want to improve my feathers. So, I try to incorporate feather motifs into my quilts. Every feather makes my feather quilting better, and I'm still finishing projects (as much as I can since I'm an ADHD quilter who flits between projects constantly).

I think the main thing to do is to not expect perfection. Instead, expect to do the best that you can and be pleased with it. As I always say, as long as the quilting holds the quilt layers together and the stitches aren't so big that you catch your fingers and toes, the quilting was successful and you have a beautiful quilt you can snuggle with and enjoy. Any beauty you can add beyond that is a plus.

Enjoy the process and please let us see what you are working on!

Hi all,
I have had a sweet 16 for a few weeks and have appreciated reading your comments. I know I need to PRACTICE! Any suggestions on how to approach it---freehand? Following outline on panels? I have tried some of the tutorials from Leah Day--I think I need a few more baby steps til I am ready for those.
Thanks for your help!
sue

gynconnie wrote:
Connie, I'm curious to know which ones you purchased. I bought David Taylor's video and was disappointed. There was no new information other than what he presented when he a guest was on TQS.

For the price of buying videos, consider joining QNNTV.com for a year. There is access to Quilt It! The Longarm Quilt Show with Jodie Davis and various Handiquilter educators and there are all sorts of topics covered...marking, stencils, ruler work, I like it and they keep adding all the time. Handiquilter is one of the corporate sponsors.

Youtube is my BFF for all kinds of videos and don't forget the Linda Taylor videos on our TQS main page. Not everything applies, but I watch all the long-arm videos I can take

http://www.handcraftershouse.com.au/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=8
is another link to free online videos.