tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35803533700462672552024-02-06T21:37:06.198-07:00Turning Over a New LeafThoughts From a Montana QuilterMTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-64111344472899937682013-05-08T05:12:00.000-07:002013-05-08T05:12:03.818-07:00Patriotic Quilt continued....So the excess batting is all trimmed away and the quilt is loaded. <br />
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I have a marathon quilt session in store for me this weekend. I have the music cranked up and the wine poured. Doesn't get much better than this....<br />
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Yes, that's a Harry Potter book on tape next to the wine. It's the little things... : )<br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-38324743733921149712013-04-25T05:25:00.000-07:002013-04-25T05:25:47.585-07:00Patriotic Quilt ProgressSo I've been working on my friend's Patriotic Quilt and the trapunto words in the border are starting to take shape. They were too subtle and the font was pretty thin for the quilting design I chose so I'm going to have to outline the words in some way.<br />
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I couldn't wait to see how it looked without the water soluble thread outlining it so the "O" is darker because it's wet. Overall, I'm loving it.<br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-43221404078167635132013-04-22T06:00:00.001-07:002014-10-12T19:44:02.772-07:00Patriotic Quilt <br />
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So I completed the quilting on the patriotic quilt and outlined the trapunto words in red thread. I'm not very happy with it though because the words are really hard to see. Fortunately I only outlined a couple of letters in the red because I ripped it out. I hate ripping out stitching.<br />
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I then tried a 40 weight cream colored thread for outlining the words.<br />
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Much better! I love the quilt now. I did the binding in red fabric and reluctantly gave it back to my friend. She cried when she saw it. I'm so glad I went to all the trouble to do the trapunto. It took the quilt to the next level. She decided not to give it to her son because she loved it so much. <br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-57883892984029533212013-04-22T05:39:00.000-07:002013-04-22T05:39:22.781-07:00Patriotic QuiltMy friend approached me about a quilt top she needed quilted. She started it when her oldest son was a baby. This was a quilt that was taught in the one and only quilt class she has eve taken. Her son was graduating and she wanted to finish it for him<br />
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The quilt was well done with the exception of the borders. With the number of blocks she made it would fit a double bed. Her son's bed is now a queen size and someone convinced her to turn the quilt sideways and add extra large borders on the long ends of the quilt in order to attempt to make it fit a queen. It was not a pleasing look.... at all....<br />
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She gave the quilt to me and told me to do whatever I thought would look best. She really didn't like the borders either. In my usual style, I kept it in my studio for a time contemplating what to do. I wanted the quilt to really reflect my friend's likes and personality. She is a fellow Christian and very patriotic. So I had a plan. First, I whacked off the weird borders and made them all the same width. Then I found a font that I liked and printed out the phrase "One Nation Under God." I took the quilt to my place of work which has these amazing light tables.<br />
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I traced this phrase on both of the long ends of the borders. Isn't this table amazing!!! It really made this job easy.<br />
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I then used water soluble thread to stitch on the batting and cut away the excess batting in order to make the trapunto. The plan is to have the words by somewhat subtle in the borders and just have them raised up as trapunto.<br />
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I'm pretty excited about it and can't wait to see how it quilts up. I'll post more as progress is made.MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-77835987695229530942013-04-20T17:06:00.001-07:002013-04-20T17:06:30.608-07:00Red Snappers Purchased and InstalledI made the plunge this week and puchased some Red Snappers for my long arm. I am so tired of pinning quilts onto the longarm. It's time consuming and I keep pricking my fingers. I've been contemplating a quilt loading system for about a year now and decided on the Red Snappers based on reading reviews from others. It was also much easier to determine the size needed and I loved her videos on how to install and use the Red Snappers. <br />
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I've also been contemplating buying new leaders for my Ulimate I longarm for about a year now. After loading a quilt I would find that one edge of the quilt would be taught while the other edge of the quilt would sag a bit. The canvas seems to be a loose weave which allows quite bit of play. To top it off they are not the same width. So finding the center point is an issue. After writing out all the issues with my leaders I don't know why I haven't changed them yet. Anyways, I decided that I would keep them for now and see if I could square them up when I installed the Red Snappers. You have to sew a sleeve to hold the rod and I figured I could make one end of the sleeve slightly larger on the side that sags. In the process of doing this I found that the leader used for the quilt top was the one off of square. Which is perfect because I'm considering taking that one off and floating my tops anyways. As for the different width leaders, I sewed tape measures on the two leaders according to the directions on the Red Snapper web page. I think this will really help me ensure the quilt is on the leaders and frame square. <br />
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Now it's time to get sewing and finish a quilt top so I can try out those Red Snappers!<br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-31819397873779237852011-10-05T07:11:00.000-07:002011-11-22T07:20:25.218-07:00#7 54 40 or Fight Quilt Block OrnamentHere is block #7 Fifty Four Forty or Fight. This block was so easy to make. I had it done in about 1/2 and hour. <br />
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The name of the block is quite unusual though. It caused me to look up 54 40 or fight on Google and I learned a little bit of history with it. 54 40 or fight was a campaign slogan for Polk in 1844 and it referred to the dispute over the Oregon Territory. There were many claims to this land and it was at the forefront of Polk's campaign. <br />
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I think it's interesting that a quilt block came out of it. Imagine if today the only way we could express our opinions were to create quilt blocks. Not that we don't but it is amazing that just a short time ago we weren't even allowed to vote. The equality and freedoms that have come about in the last century is truly amazing. There are so many opportunities that I take for granted that were not there even in my mother's generation. Think about it... I'm the head of a department of about 25 people. Many chemists both men and women and I have the opportunity to be a laboratory manager. Not due to my gender but because of my abilities. <br />
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It's amazing how much our culture has changed in the last 50 years. In fact, many times as I'm watching TV I think about how if we showed some of the commercials we have today and aired them 50 or even 30 years ago there would be such an outrage. I don't know if you've noticed but men are made out to be idiots compared to women in today's commercials and many sitcoms. As I watch these commercials I think about what it would look like if the roles or lines were reversed. Women would be campaigning with picket signs at the networks front steps and the products lines would probably go bankrupt. We women didn't appreciate the way we were treated back then but I think we've swung the pendulum too far the other way. Just for kicks you should listen to the old time radio network on satellite radio and listen to how women play the part of a ditz who can't make decisions without a man. It's eery how much it sounds like today's sitcoms but the man is the ditz who can't make a decision without a woman. I think women just wanted equality and respect but I think we need to remember the golden rule and treat others as we want to be treated. <br />
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One of the best lessons I ever received was from my boss, my current lab manager. I was meeting with him to discuss a personnel issue in my department. I had a chemist who was really not dealing with others appropriately but it was all subtle stuff that is difficult to address and I was expressing my extreme frustration. My boss just sat back and quietly asked me how my interactions and corrections with this chemist would change if the thought I kept in my head was that God loves this person just as much as He loves me and He died for this person just like He died for me. Wow! I wasn't looking at this person with love and respect. It was just with frustration. Don't get me wrong, the behaviors this person was exhibiting were still wrong and had to be addressed. But it had to be done with respect and love. It revolutionized the way I managed my department. <br />
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Wow! Amazing the turn my thoughts take with just one quilt block. MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-41813301658077658942011-10-05T03:00:00.000-07:002011-10-05T03:00:06.468-07:00#6 Card Tricks Quilt Block OrnamentHere is block #6 - Card tricks. I'm not very happy with this. I love the pattern but I didn't do a very good job with it. You can see that the bottom right hand side card is a little off. And of course I attached the hanger so that it's really obvious. I believe this ornament will either live near the back of the tree or high up so you can't look too closely. <br />
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Actually I think I'll tell people that I did that intentionally in order to make it look even more "handmade" or to follow the example set by the Amish. I meant to put a mistake in it. Yeah right! <br />
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Try this one out. It's actually really fun.<br />
<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-3567529427349652242011-10-03T06:34:00.002-07:002011-10-03T06:35:00.078-07:00#5 Virgina Reel Quilt Ornament<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Virginia Reel Ornament is another pattern much like the Log Cabin block where you can start in the center and build out. It's an easy one that requires very little thought. Just lots of sewing and trimming. This one took about an hour from start to binding. <br />
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Isn't it fun looking at this one.... I find my eyes following the swirl from the center out and then getting caught swirling back in. Trippy!MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-61980520444309919602011-10-01T12:40:00.001-07:002011-10-01T12:40:06.820-07:00#4 Log Cabin Quilt Ornament<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So for this week I wanted to work on some blocks that don't take much thought and I could just sew, cut, and watch movies. This log cabin block was just the ticket. All you have to do is start in the center and just start building. What could be easier!! The strips end up being about 1/2 inch wide so I wanted some fabrics with really small print and I'm pretty happy how this one turned out.<br />
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I have the ornaments hanging from a thread spool holder that I have hanging on my wall beside my sewing machine and they look awesome as a group.<br />
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As a side comment, it's October 1st and there are aisles of Christmas stuff already in the stores! It's not even Halloween! I can't do it yet. As I think about what will be happening in my house from now until Christmas I feel like I've just started a marathon we will be running. It's been decided that my stepson will be coming to live with us after he gets out of inpatient rehab for his brain injury. My husband and I own a business and it allows my husband to be home most of the time. So he will be available 24/7 to care for my stepson, Shawn. As he heals from his injury we know that we will struggle with him thinking he can do things he really can't yet. I can't imagine what this is like for him. He's 20 years old and was just starting to live independently and he really needed to be living independently because he was driving us and his mom's household nuts. <br />
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So we will all be tested over the next couple of months. This blog will be great therapy for me. <br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-82130060725504435452011-09-29T02:00:00.000-07:002011-10-01T12:40:22.300-07:00#3 Churn Dash Quilt Block Christmas Ornament<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Quilt block ornament #3 is finished. 45 to go. </div>
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This was a really easy one to do and it only took about 45 minutes. I broke this one down into 3 separate segments. and it worked out perfectly. This is another one that I will probably make a couple different variations on. It was again hung on the diagonal and stitched in the ditch. </div>
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I think I'll have to figure out how to make a pattern with the stitching order written in. Once you've done a couple of paper piecing projects it starts to make sense and it's fairly easy to tell how a project should go together. <br />
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These ornaments are turning out to be about 3.5 - 4 inches square. I suppose they could be made a little smaller but I kind of like this size. I'll bet they would look awesome made with batiks! Hmmm...MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-77339227053581284202011-09-27T02:00:00.000-07:002011-09-27T02:00:01.424-07:00Christmas Ornament Project GoalAs I've been looking over my blogs since I began this site it's apparent that I haven't been making anything that resembles a regular post. I think it's partly because I haven't viewed this blog as a project or that it's really about anything. Since I've been making the quilt block Christmas ornaments this has changed. That's a project I can get excited about. I've been finding myself preparing for a weeks worth of blogs on the weekends. <br />
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The other thing that is apparent to me is that this blog is giving me some much needed therapy. On August 26th my stepson was in a long boarding accident (long skateboard) and sustained a traumatic brain injury to the frontal lobe. He was in the ICU for a week and has since been in an inpatient rehab clinic. The doctors have told us that they expect him to have a full recovery but it's just going to take a long time. This experience has been a real eyeopener for me. I didn't realize how prevalent this trauma is and how long it takes for people to recover from these traumas. Writing and preparing this blog has provided another world for me in which I'm in control.<br />
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So I'm going to set a goal for the blog. I want a total of 48 Christmas ornaments. That will make a total of 12 ornaments for each of my kids: 2 daughters and 2 stepsons. I'll keep posting the ornaments and the progress of the project. <br />
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May the therapy continue!MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-74884106116466124542011-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:002011-10-01T12:40:38.889-07:00#2 Dutchman's Puzzle Christmas OrnamentThe next block I wanted to try is the Dutchman's Puzzle. I love all the little triangles and how they can make several different pinwheel patterns. I put some Christmas green into this one and I think I'll make a couple different variations. Here is the first one. <br />
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This was a little easier to do than the Ohio Star. The block was separated into basically 4 units of flying geese and then put back together. It just had a bunch of really little pieces so it took about an hour to do but it made for some good movie time.<br />
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I attached the hanger so that it will hang on the diagonal and I think for this one it works. I don't know why I attached the strings to the front of the quilt. I won't do that again.<br />
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This is a really fun project and I'm enjoying it immensely. It's very gratifying to have a completed little quilt in about an hour. <br />
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2 down 22 left to go. <br />
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<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-84120574345390339862011-09-21T09:00:00.000-07:002011-10-01T12:40:50.674-07:00#1 Ohio Star Christmas OrnamentSo the first ornament I'm going to work on is Ohio Star.<br />
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I know that there are a lot of pieces to it but I figure I might as well jump on in.<br />
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Fortunately I had a bunch of Christmas fabric scraps left over from the Christmas Quilt I had finished. I have no idea why I saved them. The majority of the pieces were too small to do much with. But it turns out they are the perfect size for miniature quilt blocks. Another trip to the store was saved by my obsession with saving fabric!<br />
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Instead of a 1/4 inch seam allowance I'm using 1/8 inch seam allowance. I figure that the little quilt won't get a lot of hard use and 1/8 inch should be adequate. I am keeping the outside seam allowance of the block at 1/4 inch so that I can use a traditional 1/4 inch binding. I have some red crochet thread that I used for hanging the block.<br />
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I attached it the thread under the binding in the back, I quilted it by stitching in the ditch. This was done with the feed dogs engaged so that the lines were nice and straight and even stitches.<br />
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It took me about 1 hour to complete the Ohio Star. This includes looking through the book, the aha moment, copying the pages, building the block, quilting it, and making and adding the binding. <br />
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I want to make about 24 ornaments so now that I know what to look for I did a quick google for images of traditional quilt blocks and printed out a bunch of them. I can't wait to have more machine time. <br />
<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-49704497970774420312011-09-20T13:18:00.000-07:002011-09-21T06:32:44.106-07:00Quilt Block Christmas OrnamentsLast Christmas I had decided to make Christmas ornaments and have a handmade Christmas tree for this year. I've been diligently working on crocheting snowflakes and have made about 20. So it's time to start working on the quilt blocks. <br />
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I've been really struggling to find traditional quilt block patterns small enough to be ornaments. There are quite a few ornament patterns but I haven't found any for traditional quilt blocks. I also don't want these to look cheesy. It's amazing the amount of time you can spend on the Internet looking for these things. And if you're like me, I'll start out googling "quilt block ornaments" and end up looking at kayaks.... It's almost like a Googling evolution. I'm sure there will be a government study on it....<br />
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Anyways. I'm bombing with finding patterns for quilt block ornaments. So I pulled a book off my shelf which has some traditional blocks in it to see if there was a way that I could develop my own patterns. I'm not a traditional quilter so I think I own only one book with traditional patterns. I thought that I could maybe I could cut down the size by doing some math. I'm staring at some of these pictures and it hits me that the picture of the block is close to the size that I want the ornament to be... And I could easily copy the page and use it as a paper pieced pattern. Woo Hoo!! Fortunately we have a copier at home (you can find them really cheap at used office supply companies or EBay) and I played with enlarging some of the pictures until I had just the size I wanted. <br />
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I really love that moment when something perceived as a problem is suddenly solved and an easy solution is found. <br />
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The first pattern I'll try is Ohio Star. Wish me luck!<br />
<br />MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-58349021828159539922011-01-10T08:00:00.001-07:002011-01-10T08:00:12.948-07:00Snow Flake QuiltIt seems that I'm on a snowflake theme this year. I started a quilt that I've been dreaming about making for the last couple of years. I finally summoned the courage to make it. It's a feathered star pattern and very intimidating. The majority of my quilts have been art quilts for walls. Most of these have been given away to various people. This one will be for me and my bed. I know... how weird... a quilt for a bed. <br />
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The reason this pattern is intimidating is because of all the little half square triangles, biased edges and inset seams. Several years ago I made a practice block and I did such a terrible job I knew that my skills needed some serious improvement before I attempted it. Over Thanksgiving weekend I decided it was time. I had recently discovered a secret weapon for accurate piecing and cutting. Spray Starch. Yep, that's all it is. Starch the heck out of the fabric while cutting and piecing. It did wonders. The other thing that made these blocks successful is increased patience and discipline. I didn't rush the piecing and if a seam wasn't perfect, I ripped it out and did it again. It's amazing how many seams had to be redone. Each time there was a seam that wasn't perfect I asked myself if I could live with looking at it on my bed. That usually did it. <br />
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I think I'm going to set the blocks so that I have a lot of white space for quilting. This is where the blocks are so far. It's just needing all the white fabric in between all the blocks and a decision on what designs to quilt in the white spaces. I'm also not sure if there needs to be some additional design elements added. Maybe some appliqued designs on the corners and center to enhance the quilting design and trapunto? Not sure. The quilt hasn't finished speaking to me yet. MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-41931118114725793842011-01-08T08:00:00.001-07:002011-01-08T08:00:02.362-07:00Homemade Christmas Ornaments - Crocheted SnowflakesI had a really difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit this year. This is the first year that both of my daughters weren't going to be home for Christmas. My oldest daughter, Melissa, is married to a Marine (Brantly) and they are stationed in San Diego. Brantly is being deployed in January so they decided to spend Christmas with his family before he ships out. So that meant no daughter, son-in-law, or granddaughter for Christmas. My youngest daughter is in Misawa Japan and this is the first year she has not been home for Christmas. So the Christmas spirit wasn't overflowing my heart this year.<br />
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My sweet husband bore the brunt of it. It's usually the girls that decorate the tree and since they weren't here it was left to me. Jeff and I went out and bought a Charlie Brown tree and had it up in the living room for about a week before we got around to decorating it. I spent that week trying to figure out how I'm going to cope with an empty nest around Christmas in the future. I obviously wasn't into decorating. When we did finally decorate the tree I was grumbling the whole time about what a stupid tradition it is to cut down a perfectly good tree and haul it into our house and put a bunch of expensive crap on it. I mean really.... have you ever thought how silly that is?!?!?! I decided that next year we're doing something different. I suggested to Jeff that we just have a really big poinsettia. I don't think he was too thrilled about that one. So that's when I decided that next years' tree will have home crafted ornaments. <br />
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So the search began. I want to have little quilt block ornaments, yo-yo garland, and crocheted snowflakes. I started with the snowflakes. I found the best site for crocheted snowflakes and started right away. You can find these patterns at <a href="http://snowcatcher.blogspot.com/">snowcatcher</a>. <br />
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These are all designed by a very talented lady who has the ability to look at a snowflake picture and turn it into a pattern. <br />
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I have 13 snowflakes blocked, starched, and glittered. They are so fun to make that now I'm hooked. She posts a new pattern every Monday. For the last two weeks I eagerly check her blog on Monday to see what new masterpiece she has come up with. These beauties look wonderful with batik fabric behind them. I'm not sure if I want them to hang free on the tree or attach them to fabric first. I'll have to play with it. and see.<br />
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I'm already looking forward to next Christmas. If you know of some great ornament patterns please share. I'll continue to post any that I find and make.<br />
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Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-48326824610117221272011-01-06T13:34:00.000-07:002011-01-06T13:34:26.844-07:00Finished Christmas QuiltThe Christmas Quilt finished beautifully! I'm very pleased with how it turned out and I hung it up as soon as I reasonably could for Christmas. This quilt is for my daughter, Courtney, who is currently stationed in Misawa Japan. It was fun to show her the quilt on Skype. She will get it permanently once she settles down a little and isn't moving around so much. <br />
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The pattern suggested using seed beads for the ornaments on the trees with stars. I used iron-on swarovski crystals instead. They come in several different sizes which made it that much easier for the different size trees. <br />
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You can see the crystals on the trees around Santa's house.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpiU-esyowJsanRHqPcHakWFryGvlRiNCPT5QIbiI9ih3IKFphkh9yqm60-HgfnP1_zWEoF94sEFgYlBCbGZi7W-mQzhCKmZTQf7OGZafw_TXD-OP0VGGJqiYQmb7ILiYacAltdC07QD7/s1600/IMG_3718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpiU-esyowJsanRHqPcHakWFryGvlRiNCPT5QIbiI9ih3IKFphkh9yqm60-HgfnP1_zWEoF94sEFgYlBCbGZi7W-mQzhCKmZTQf7OGZafw_TXD-OP0VGGJqiYQmb7ILiYacAltdC07QD7/s400/IMG_3718.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-90964573841877730802010-08-04T06:01:00.000-07:002010-08-04T06:01:43.823-07:00Christmas Quilt<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vSnjLmgiyR268mdkpZDVnOmeDufXlgtEgOq6_3-yxPOPCEN4iUVKvZbBQV6HgBYjnFuKSwM-7aR79QcWVBI4n9hwXBPj432kN4rasmR6E7wfPnNWIEKc0vP8NaDznSfEUbL7tvDirWxd/s1600/IMG_3055.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vSnjLmgiyR268mdkpZDVnOmeDufXlgtEgOq6_3-yxPOPCEN4iUVKvZbBQV6HgBYjnFuKSwM-7aR79QcWVBI4n9hwXBPj432kN4rasmR6E7wfPnNWIEKc0vP8NaDznSfEUbL7tvDirWxd/s400/IMG_3055.JPG" /></a><br />
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I put the Christmas quilt on the frame yesterday and I'm almost done! Starting to feel really good about the progress I'm making on getting all the UFO's done. I've been working on this one for 1 1/2 years now. I know.... that's a long time but there's a story with it.<br />
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I started it Christmas of 2008 when my daughter Courtney was home from the Air Force on leave. I had been really missing her. She had been gone to boot camp and tech school since July of 2008. I was trying to drink in every minute of her visit. Courtney and I are really close. She's quite artistic and was wonderful about drawing my visions for various quilts. During her visit we went to my favorite quilt shop and she picked out this pattern and kit. I had been wanting to do some red work for quite a while. So even before she left to go back to the Air Force I started working on it to help me work through missing her. It worked. Everytime I stitched on it I thought of her and all the travels we'd been on. There are literally tears, sweat, and blood on this one. I pricked my finger and bled a couple of times. The tears came right after she left at the end of her break. I'll be thrilled to hang it on my wall this year for Christmas. It'll be my reminder of her as I doubt she will get to come home this year. She is currently stationed in Misawa Japan. I plan to give it to her. I'm just not sure when yet.<br />
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That's one of the things I love about quilts, it's not just a bunch of fabric and thread holding it together. There's a story behind each one that makes them special. <br />
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The quilt will be done soon and I'll post the finished picture.</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img align="middle" alt="Posted by Picasa" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" style="-moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; background: 0% 50%; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></a></div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-21681297955743714892010-08-01T19:50:00.000-07:002010-08-01T19:50:23.506-07:004th of July Fireworks Angel<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZyiQlxacugL80HJMyp6dywXQkVnVpwqjxDg4-gzpQ65ndq60feiaeKCVkk5CFEVtokTLRDphVTJSJDe43HjcKY6TnMoUK6Pw66Mp5pol8Gvxv1_v7SKhr9Q7hEyjXgFyGandIxwRt4Cu/s1600/IMG_2570.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZyiQlxacugL80HJMyp6dywXQkVnVpwqjxDg4-gzpQ65ndq60feiaeKCVkk5CFEVtokTLRDphVTJSJDe43HjcKY6TnMoUK6Pw66Mp5pol8Gvxv1_v7SKhr9Q7hEyjXgFyGandIxwRt4Cu/s400/IMG_2570.JPG" /></a> </div><br />Every year we have a big 4th of July party. I just had to share this photo I captured. I always knew we had angels watching out for us... Here's the proof!<div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-40807689995025022542010-05-30T13:00:00.002-07:002010-05-30T13:02:23.908-07:00<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I've been bad... I know... </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It's been a long time since I've posted anything. But that's because it's been a long time since I've done any quilting. I haven't been feeling inspired or creative for months now and it's time to break the cycle. And I know why I feel this way. The truck quilt is scaring the crap out of me. This is the first time I've tried something like this and I'm afraid that it won't live up to the picture in my head. So I guess if I don't work on it I won't fail, right......? </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So what I'm doing to get myself motivated is finish up some of my other projects to boost my confidence. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My Oriental quilt is almost finished. I want to show this quilt in some local shows, so I'm going to try blocking a quilt for the first time. If you're not familiar with blocking, it's taking a wet or damp quilt and stretching and pinning it to the desired dimensions on a flat surface. This enables the quilt to be square and hang flat. I wasn't familiar with blocking so I watched a DVD of Karen McTavish blocking a quilt. I tried it with the help of my husband and it was a dismal failure! The quilt ended up not being square on the first try. Then we tried blocking it using my husbands suggestions on how to keep the quilt square. This caused the quilt to be stretched out larger than it's original dimensions. This caused the appliqued tree trunk to pull away from the quilt. I was devastated. We pulled the pins out and I put the quilt away for a the rest of the night and drank a glass of wine. The next day I tried again. This time, I measured out the final dimensions and marked those dimensions on the foam boards I was using. I started with the corners and pinned those, then the pinned the centers. From there, I pinned each opposite side. It worked perfectly!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's amazing how much easier it was to trim the quilt after blocking the quilt. It ended up sqaure and flat. Next comes the binding.....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-2323937264361257422010-05-27T12:50:00.000-07:002010-05-27T12:50:33.095-07:00Oriental Art Quilt<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Just after Thanksgiving, I completed the quilting on the oriental quilt I had been working on for about a year. Yes, a year! This is a quilt that I started in order to try out a discharge dye technique I saw on Simply Quilts. The technique makes an awesome 3D effect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZvBoS1jF20fl8UKljw5FKHQmne_aqrILYG94O7LRbNu4NYHusek9lyLyiKqEK4vWu7sU69cYa8DiHjbpY_7RYl0MYcbnVMTgj62yBjfzjOY7uNla9XqvPtmvmEZc8Nf2OeZysuHlwfrE/s1600-h/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZvBoS1jF20fl8UKljw5FKHQmne_aqrILYG94O7LRbNu4NYHusek9lyLyiKqEK4vWu7sU69cYa8DiHjbpY_7RYl0MYcbnVMTgj62yBjfzjOY7uNla9XqvPtmvmEZc8Nf2OeZysuHlwfrE/s320/IMG_0037.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I was really pleased with how the quilt turned out so I took it to work to show to some of my coworkers before it was trimmed and bound. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">There is one coworker in particular that really enjoys following my quilts. His name is Peter. About 2 years ago his daughter Tammy died. She had been very sick for a long time and his wifes full time job was taking care of their daughter. After their daughter died, Mihn (Peter's wife) was having a very difficult time as you can imagine. Her entire life for the past 20 some years was taking care of Tammy. Suddenly there was a gigantic hole in Mihn's life. One of Mihn's skills is sewing. So Peter found a group that gets together regularly and makes quilts as a way to work through their grieving process. Peter is in IT and likes computers so he bought a program to design quilts. He designs the quilts, chooses the fabrics and Mihn makes them. How cool is that! The quilts are usually charm fabrics with Tammy's favorite cartoon charaters. They want the quilts to be used and cuddled. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So I pinned the oriental quilt to my office wall and Peter came over to see it. As he examined it he talked about how this quilt is an art quilt, not a quilt like he and his wife make. He kept finding subtle things to look at, like the bands of pebbling that draw your eye over the quilt. He then said that while he appreciated the quilt and it was beautiful, it wasn't one he would want in his house. The quilt is dark. The tree looks like death or something dark. But there are small sprigs of life on the tree. He said that his life has been this quilt at various times. To him, this quilt says "Hope." The kicker is that just as we were finishing this conversation, another coworker from the IT department came in and asked what the quilt said. (The oriental words) Peter responded, "The question is, what does the quilt say to you?" She looked at the quilt and said, "Hope."</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wow! Understand that I had no intention of having this feeling in the quilt. This quilt was literally an experiment into the discharge dye technique and I intended it to be a happy quilt. I chose the oriental symbols to be some of my favorite things... Husband, God, Tree, Leaf, Dog, etc. The tree was a complete screw up on my part. I had originally designed the tree to be reaching up toward the sky. But I had drawn the limbs incorrectly on the fusible web. Instead of the limbs reaching up, they were drooping down. When I put the limbs on the design wall, it looked like a Halloween tree! I was pissed! So I put it away for several months. When I returned to it, I did some creative cutting and added some small limbs to make the tree look less depressing. At this point the quilt started talking to me. I originally was going to have a lot more flowers and leaves on the limbs, but when they were there, it just didn't look right. So I kept the flowers to a minimum and made sure the leaves stayed buds. <br />
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All of this to say that sometimes a quilt has a life of it's own and it ends up being so much better than you intended. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-72051256884235691012010-01-17T15:25:00.000-07:002010-01-17T15:25:14.225-07:00Truck Quilt UpdateAn update on the truck quilt. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to work on it very much. I'm more productive on the weekends and unfortunately, this weekend has been very unproductive. Saturday morning was spent cleaning the house and bathrooms. Saturday evening and Sunday were spent with the stomach flu. Ick. I'm starting to finally feel human again though. Here's the most recent photo.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I went into the studio to start working on the quilt and a lot of the pieces were on the ground. So I've moved the quilt to lay on the cutting table instead of the design wall. I don't know if I'll like that better or not.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">More later when I'm feeling better......<br />
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</div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-73325261180382312572010-01-09T09:03:00.001-07:002010-01-09T09:05:32.842-07:00Truck Quilt From a Photograph<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last summer, my friend Lindsay and I took a trip to the East Rosebud. Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, we came across an old homesteaders cabin surrounded by some guard cows. (They were really eyeing us ready to defend the cabin if necessary!) Near the cabin was this old truck. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAiqPWyEZhq2jSbJG0TwUp7PtS30iFn5y4kLuRWgUbxpJSacn9VbxeHp8qZTyG3jGo-TJLocOqUEcwIYSCdaDGm3KKM1hM-gU5CIX33lmgCC5b9H-Lv29E66PKrk2749lvO6DcNTIUMhr/s1600-h/DSC02799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAiqPWyEZhq2jSbJG0TwUp7PtS30iFn5y4kLuRWgUbxpJSacn9VbxeHp8qZTyG3jGo-TJLocOqUEcwIYSCdaDGm3KKM1hM-gU5CIX33lmgCC5b9H-Lv29E66PKrk2749lvO6DcNTIUMhr/s320/DSC02799.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This thing was sitting on it's rims, bullet holes all over it, and every piece of glass had long since been shot out. Perhaps that was the reason for the guard cows...... It looked like it had been painted at least 4 different times as the many layers of paint and rust were showing through. Lindsay took some awesome photos that day and I decided that it might be kind of fun to turn one of them in to a quilt.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I took one of the photos and printed out an 8.5 X 11 print of it on my home printer. I then took a sheet of transparency film and placed it on top of the photo and traced the shapes onto it with a fine tip black marker. This sheet was taken to Kinkos and they printed out a copy that was 3 feet wide. This became my pattern. I went a bought a bunch of Steam a Seam 2 and started adding fabrics. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It'll be fun to see this one come together. I've always wanted to do a quilt based on a photo but really didn't have the courage to jump in and do it. This is a different technical skill than I've ever used previously and I'm nervous about not chosing the correct fabric textures and values to get the effect I want. I don't want this quilt to look flat. I want to be able to stand in front of this quilt and say "Wow. That's is SO cool!" So I see this quilt as a chance to push myself artistically and technically. At the same time, I'm trying to be realistic. This is my first one in this style so I know that I'll make a lot of mistakes and learn a LOT on the way. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So as this progresses I'll keep you up to date.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Let's go quilt!<br />
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</div>MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-77153565495270575692010-01-03T10:17:00.003-07:002010-01-03T13:13:38.013-07:00APQS Ultimate I longarm quilting machineIn my last post I mentioned that I purchased a longarm at the beginning of 2009. I spent a TON of time researching longarms and I thought I would share what I learned in the process of purchasing it.<br />
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When I started sewing I learned on a very basic Bernina. It was very well built and wonderful to sew on. It belonged to my mother, so when I moved out of the house I borrowed her machine until my father took pity on the situation and he purchased a Bernette. I got the Bernette. Ugh! What a lesson learned. A Bernette is a good machine, don't get me wrong, but it's not anywhere near the quality of a Bernina. The lesson learned was that the higher quality machines are expensive because they're worth it. A good quality machine makes sewing enjoyable. Instead of fighting with the machine, the machine should work with you.<br />
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The same logic applies to longarms. If you are constantly fighting with your machine then you will not use it. It won't be enjoyable. So I decided to purchase the best quality machine I could that was within my budget.<br />
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So let's talk budget. If you've never looked at the prices of these machines, sit down first. You can purchase a really nice vehicle for the price of these babies! Most companies provide financing for a brand new machine if that's your cup of tea. It wasn't for me. I hate going into debt and I hate monthly payments. Whenever I've financed something and paid for it monthly, I find myself resenting that item until it's paid off. Yes, there is even some resentment toward my house that comes right at the beginning of every month. But I've chosen to deal with it. I did NOT want to resent my longarm. So I made the decision to not finance the machine. That meant I needed to buy used or a lesser quality machine. <br />
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So once the budget decision was made, it was time to decide which brand to go with. I live in Montana. Not exactly a hub of commerce. However, there are some really nice quilting shops in my city of Billings that have longarms. I decided to take a longarm quilting class from my favorite shop, <a href="http://fiberworks-heine.com/">Fiberworks</a>. <br />
This class was great because I got to have my hands on a Gammill Optimum for a full day under the direction of Laura Heine, an incredible quilt artist. She does some absolutely beautiful work. She's never had a stitch regulated machine. During the class she said that she just learned to regulate her own stitches. I found that with all the time I put in under the domestic machine, I was able to regulate mine too. This is important because stitch regulated machines cost more than non-stitch regulated. I did find it difficult to control the Optimum. It has a big machine head and is heavy. This was also good because the Optimum is more expensive than the other Gammill models. I loved the table and the way it worked and overall, I was impressed with the Gammill. <br />
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The other option for me was APQS. Unfortunately, APQS machines are not popular in Billings. Most people in our quilt guild have Gammills. So I was unable to try out any APQS. But my research into the machines was impressive. I had decided to add APQS to my list of acceptable machines. I had my list narrowed down to Gammill and APQS. Service reputation was a big part of why they were on my list. I'm fairly mechanical and know that things go wrong with machines. Just a part of life. The ability to get someone on the phone to help you trouble shoot and fix a problem is just as important as the price of the machine. Both companies are excellent in this category. <br />
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So now it was time to start watching for a machine. I googled "used longarm quilting machines" and put them in my favorites folder. One of the best was a forum at <a href="http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/index.php">APQS</a>. They advertise all sorts of brands. Mostly APQS and Gammill. Then, right before Christmas, there it was. A newer Ultimate I with the adjustable handles I wanted. 12 foot table and overhead power cord. And, drumroll please....... only $4000!!! Well within my budget. PERFECT!!! Of course I hemmed and hawwed. I was sitting on the couch with my husband and showed him the ad. Understand that I checked the used machines websites EVERY DAY for 6 months getting up the nerve to spend the money. He just said, "Call her and buy it already!" So I did! The owner was a really sweet lady in Florida. Yes, Florida. I don't think it could have been further away from Montana. We made a deal and paid her the money. The machine head was shipped by UPS and the table was shipped through a trucking company. Within a month I had all the pieces. Unfortunately, UPS dropped the head and bent the aluminum cross bars the head sits on while on the table. APQS sent me new pieces and I had the table all put together by myself the day the table came. I added track lighting to the overhead power bar and I couldn't be more thrilled.<br />
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In a nutshell: <br />
<ul><li>Buy the best quality you can within your set budget. </li>
<li>Do your research. You are the one that is going to use the machine and therefore it needs to fit your skill and comfort level for features. </li>
<li>Don't be afraid of used machines. Professional machines are built to last. You will find that the majority of people selling longarms are really nice ladies just like you. </li>
<li>The machines can be shipped relatively inexpensively (mine was about $200). Things can go wrong during shipping, so insure the items and make sure the brand you purchase has excellent service help.</li>
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I hope this inspires you to consider a longarm quilting machine. I'm glad I took the jump into the longarm world!MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3580353370046267255.post-29902893741198542432010-01-02T23:34:00.000-07:002010-01-03T00:17:38.539-07:001/2/2010<br /><br />It's the new year and it's the time for reflection. For both the highs and lows. I remember this time last year taking a look at the calendar and telling friends and co-workers that 2009 was going to be a perfect year. Pretty bold statement, I know. A little like throwing a challenge to fate asking to be proven wrong. I prefer to look at it as stating how I was going to handle this upcoming year.<br /><br /><br /><br />2009 was going to be perfect at work because the holidays were really set up perfectly to have a maximum number of 3 day weekends. Think about it.... 4th of July, Christmas, New Years..... Perfect! But it wasn't destined to be perfect just because of that. I had been promoted in 2008 and had just started to feel comfortable in my new role. I was, and still am, the Inorganic Department Manager at the environmental testing laboratory I work for. My new direct supervisor, the Laboratory Manager, is a dream to work for. I'm truly blessed to have him as a mentor. He gives me the freedom to put my ideas into action. He liberally praises my successes and coaches me through my failures without beating me up. They are all opportunities for improvement. I had a lot of ideas and changes to put into action.<br /><br /><br /><br />In my personal life, 2009 was set up to be perfect with the addition of my first grandchild. My oldest daughter was due in May. Her husband is a Marine and was deployed to Afghanistan, so she came home to have her baby here. I got to be in the delivery room when Kadence was born. Perfect! My son-in-law made it back in September whole and healthy. Perfect!<br /><br /><br /><br />My youngest stepson was set to graduate high school in May. So he was off to college in the fall. He is the last one out of the house. Jeff and I were empty Nester's. A little sad, but perfect! The whole house was ours to do with as we pleased.<br /><br /><br /><br />In January of 2009, I had purchased a used longarm quilting machine. I had been researching and watching for one for about 6 months. I finally found one for a price I could swallow. It's an APQS Ultimate I. After quilting under a domestic sewing machine for all these years, it's a dream to have. My quilting life was starting off perfect! I even had several quilts ready to load. The first one was an art quilt that my youngest daughter, Courtney helped me finish designing over Christmas break. I was amazed how quickly I was able to finish the quilting. I called it "The Colors of my Dreams"<br /><br /><br /><br />So.... here it is the beginning of a new year. As I reflect over the past year, there were a lot of 'perfect' moments. For each perfect moment there were also some disappointing moments if I had chosen to focus on them. I believe that for the most part, most of life can either be disappointing or perfect. It's all in where you place your focus.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here's to another Perfect Year!MTQuilterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399687816355656494noreply@blogger.com0