Thread: long arm quilting

Originally Posted by dojo36

i bought one also, have had it for about 10 days now. it's a pain in the hind side. i can sure see why it would take at least a year to get comfortable with it. my first practice quilt i threw in the trash, the 2nd one went to my friend's dog and the 3rd one didn't look half bad and the 4th one is on the frame now. my threads keep breaking, i keep adjusting the tension first one way then another trying to get it to look good. i forget to put the pressure foot down - that doesn't look good for sure, lol.
birds nests! so far i've just been meandering. the machine fell off its rollers and broke the encoder that controls the lizzie stitch that goes frontwards and backwards, new part has been ordered, it will still manual stitch both directions. i was attaching my side bungee cords upside down and just finally realized that today, no wonder i couldn't meander all the way to the side of the top, kept bumping the bungee cords. so i've just had more problems than the average bear, lol. i need HELP for sure.
donna

Wow - 4 quilts in 10 days! Even if you're not happy with them, you have to admit that's some output.

I bought a 26" Innova with 12' frame. So far the only problems have been with the unskilled operator.

well yes "unskilled operator" on this end too is probably creating a lot of the problems.

I bought a used HQ16 in March. I loaded 2 practice pieces and then decided to just go for the real thing. I got a huge amount of tops from my guild and just did it.

I tried a panto once and HATED it. I do not like being at the back of the machine. I bet I have done 50 quilts and am good with an all over design. I just did a custom type doing something in each block.

I have an excellent beginners DVD that I have outgrown and would sell. Send me a private message. This is for any long arm machine.

I LOVE my HQ.

Thank you so much for all your advice and support. I bought a Tin Lizzie Queen Quilter. I have practiced about an hour a day and am better, but feel a lot more confident knowing this could take a year or more to get good. I bought a couple of yards of good quilting fabric to practice on. No problem setting it up - just followed the video that came with it. My main problem is just getting a feel for the movement. I will look for classes in the area.
Thank you AnnaF for the drawing idea. I will try that, too.

Another great learning option is to buy some cheater cloth and practice doing SID, different designs in the blocks, sashing designs, filler stitches etc.

I went through 2 full bolts of muslin the first year, just practicing new techniques. Get the zippers - that way you can just put the practice piece on before you do something new to a quilt. I still have a practice piece ready to go. If batting scraps are short for you, you can sandwich old practice pieces between new ones.

When you are done with them, they make great beds for pets, so they won't be wasted.

Thank you, Shelley. I will look into the zippers.

Originally Posted by AnnaF

Another great learning option is to buy some cheater cloth and practice doing SID, different designs in the blocks, sashing designs, filler stitches etc.

That is a great idea for those of us who want to FMQ on our regular machines too!! Thanks for the idea :thumbup:

what are the zippers? i don't know what u mean, pls explain

one of the best practices is to write the abc's and names

I like to make circles when changing the bobbin to check tension.

Congradutations and good luck!