Long Arm Quilting

Lisa, Carol, Sandy and I went to Fabric Patch to see if we remembered anything about the class we took just a short time ago.

Between the 4 of us we figured out how to get the bundle on the machine, but then ran into lots of problems with tension.

One of the women who know the machine was called and came in to fix all the problems. She loosened the tension [who knew that got changed] and showed us how to baste the top of the quilt to the canvas by machine instead of one stitch at a time by turning the wheel by hand.

I tried to show the quilting here. This was our first quilt and we used the pantograph [sp?] we used in class [didn't want to many variables on our first try alone].

We took turns with rows, and once all the problems were fixed we managed to get that done in no time [well, maybe a little longer than that].

This was the second [and last quilt] of the day. We managed to get it on, handle breaking threads, and get it quilted in a much faster time than the first one.

Both of these are charity quilts, and I'll try to get the bindings on them before our next meeting [Charlene, the head of the charity quilt project, wants 100 finished quilts or fleece tops by the December meeting - quite a number for our guild].

This is the close up of the quilting on this quilt [same pantograph].

I'm not sure I want to do my Montet's garden this way. i may go ahead and have it quilted by check rather than do it myself.

Sandy's already talking about taking her mystery quilt with her on our next appointment with the giant machine to get it done for one of her friends she works with.

It took us 4 hours and 45 minutes [we didn't have to count the down time] to get the 2 quilted. It really is faster than doing it on the Bernina [or Brother] since you don't have to throw it over your shoulder or stuff it thru the neck. Had everything gone well in the beginning, we probably would have had 3 done on Saturday.

House filled with furniture [and dogs]

Finally, I can put photos on the blog.

I've put this Stashbox quilt in the kitchen for the time being [it does have food fabric in it, so I figure that was ok]. I still need to quilt the mystery quilt to hang here, but will try to put the sleeve on that one by machine - not by hand.

Here is my corner of the kitchen [dark photo] with the toaster oven [very handy for small things like pizza and salmon] and my canisters [is it fair to say I have sugar in one and dog treats in 2 of them right now?]

Now, to the bedroom. I've put the Singer cabinet in here as my t.v. stand [no machine inside, that left years ago]. The dogs are also checking out the new bed [can you see the ramp on the far side for them to climb up?]

My bathroom looks so great! It is a mint green with great accessories - along with my lime green towels and bath mat.

Such a great place to live. People are friendly [I have even met the parents of the other chihuahua that lives here] and very helpful. [When does the trash get picked up?] I'm anxious to see what happens when they start all their groups again in September [they close down for the summer vacations].

I still think this is the best move I've ever made.

I can't load photos today - blogspot isn't giving me that option.

I've been here a month [as of the 17th] and am so glad to be here. When I can, you'll see photos of the inside of the house with all my new stuff.

Little Bit and Chico have settled in fantastically. We walk a lot [more than I want - so I went and got a pedometer to see how far we are walking during the day] and they sleep a lot. They're also getting used to having company.

Hey! the place is clean enough for drop-in's now. I even have a cleaning lady every 2 weeks [of course that means I pick up my projects the day before she shows up].

I even went to a concert here put on by one of the residents. It was fun and I even recognized some of the music [he's about 20 years older than me and I'm TURNING 65 IN SEPTEMBER].

This move was the best thing I've done in many years.

I'll try again with photos next time, just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and kicking.