I just bought a long arm and would like some support. How long does it take to get the hang of this? What sort of pattern is easiest to learn with? Any other advise would be wonderful.

Congrats! I don't own one but have used one. You will get the hang of it quickly.

I like the meander.

I just bought one too, and I had the same question. In researching books that might help me learn how to learn to use the longarm, I came across the following quote in Machine Quilting Solutions by Christine Maraccini:

"The general rule is that it takes one full year to become comfortable and proficient on a longarm."

Daunting, isn't it? Actually that estimate makes me feel better about practicing. I'm not expected to get up to speed in the first day, week, or month. I have a whole year!

I've been practicing all kinds of different quilting patterns on a D9P that I made just for practicing. When it's done it will have a little bit of everything, so it will look pretty strange. I'm also going through this site and trying out the fillers that look interesting: http://www.daystyledesigns.com/365project.htm

I am drooling over quilts that Shelley and Ronda K Beyer have posted recently. I don't expect to reach that level even after the first year. Maybe not even after 100 years.

What kind of machine did you get, and how are you practicing now?

Welcome to longarm quilting. It took me about 3 yrs to feel really good about my ability to turn out consistant high quality work. You will find that doing pantographs will make you the most money. You should practice practice and practice some more. Just load up some muslin and work on pantos and free hand designs..over and over until you're happy with your work. Drawing is something else that helps tremendously. Learning how to do feathers is something that takes a lot of drawing and practice. I've spent hours practicing to on paper to get a design down pat then go to the machine and practice some more. You should join the Machine Quilters Professional yahoo group. There is a wealth of experienced longarm quilters available to help you with questions.
If there is a longarm quilter in your area that offers classes take the time to take some classes..there is nothing better than a private hands on class. I love to teach longarm quilting.
If you can try to go to some to the national longarm quilting shows...MQX is the one I've been to a number of times and taken classes. I don't know where you live but there are shows all over the country now and it's really worth the money to go. You'll come away inspired by the best of the best.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask me.
Anna

What kind of machines do you lucky ones have.......I'm dreaming

I don't have one, but would love one.

Well, if you were a bit closer to Missouri, I would love to come help you! I have the HandiQuilter 16 machine and love it. As far as finding books and the like to help, good luck ain't much out there. Linda Taylor does have a good book out.

I belong to another forum that is geared to machine quilting and it BY FAR has been my best source for help and information.

http://www.mqresource.com Two types of memberships, free membership and Premier Membership. The premier membership gives you a discount to online classes and access to several videos. Free membership gives you access to all the forums and there are some really good free videos available. I strongly recommend you at least join the free membership and check the site daily. Everyone there is more than willing to help and they are a great bunch of people.

crashnquilt, I joined MQResource a few days back but I hadn't really looked around there until I saw your post. The site is a little hard to navigate for the first time, but Oh!My!Gosh!!! The pictures of completed quilting are incredible. Thanks for recommending it.

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

one more thing - ya gotta have a master's degree to thread the darn thing. but i'm determined to show this thing who's boss. mine is a tin lizzie 18, what did yall buy and what kind of troubles are you having?
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.

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!

You can put zippers (mine are 144" long) on your longarm. Then you sew or pin or staple your backs onto zippers, then zip the backs onto the zippered leaders.

I sew all backs onto the zippers, then zip them onto the machine. When I'm done quilting, I can unzip and inspect. If I need to fix something, I can just zip it right back on.

It also allows me to take off quilts before they are done, and know that when I put them back on they will be right where they were before. I'm not the only one using the machine, so I can't just put a quilt on and show up three days later and expect my partner to be happy with me! This way I (and she) can take the unfinished quilt off the machine so someone else can use it.

You're gonna love your machine. I have the TL 18 LS. Once I got the bugs worked it, it's been fun. You'll get the rhythm just keep practicing.
A good way to practice freehand motifs is to buy a dry erase board and draw until you feel like you'd be able to do it on the machine. I like using this method because I'm able to erase and start all over until I'm satisfied.

Now that's a neat idea. Couldn't you do that with the leaders for hand frames too? Where do you get such long zippers?

Ebay - I have one set sewn on the machine leaders, then half a dozen or so extras for backs. I try to prepare several quilts when someone else is on the machine.

Here's the link to 120". They combine shipping, and he also has postings for longer zippers.

http://cgi.ebay.com/120-Quilting-Zip...item3c92f893bb

You can google Longarm Zippers for videos on installing and using zippers.

Thanks for the link. I'm gonna have to study on this some. I think it would work wonderful for loading on a hand frame too!!

Do you have to use the whole length of the zipper?

there's a lot of good ideas here. I have an HQ16 that I haven't had much time to use yet.
I purchased inexpensive white flat sheets, sandwich them with batting and practice. When I'm finished I serge the edges and use for mattress pad.
I haven't used the zippers yet, but I do want to.
I have the HQ set-up and I have a Brother PQ 1500S and a New Joy frame that I want to sell. PM me if you know anyone that is interested.
Good luck ladies and have fun

Dont know if this thread is still alive. I bought a new to me Janome1600 on Grace frame. Well, shortly after, the lady I bought it from had a family crisis ,so not available to give me any training. Then I have had a year of Chemo. I bought this system knowing NOTHING but very eager to learn. I did a few practice "dog beds" Lol. But I dont have a clue how to load frame or how to get started. I am taking advantage of online classes, but still very intimidated how to start. Dont even know if the setup is "set up" correctly! Would love to find someone in Oklahoma who I could pay for a couple of days of training...

visit the HandiQuilter web site- they are offering classes on line-
also the Machine Quilters Society/forum= will have alot of good support/tips/help. enjoy- don't expect too much at first- allow your creative juices to flow :)

Go to Longarm University. Cindy Roth has classes on loading your quilt, doing pantographs, etc.
Some are free, and some things you can get on PDF. Others have a fee, but she send you DVD's so that you can watch on line and later with the DVD.

I agree with dunster's reply. I have the same machine and same problem. LOL

I have a Tin Lizzie 18! How long have you had yours!? I have had mine long enough to have made some serious progress, but somehow I just haven't! I have done about 25 quilts. Nothing spectacular. Just quilted!

I tried to use the Tin Lizzie site, but I guess there is no one on there! I asked a few questions~no answers.

I would like to know how to clean it myself. (not just the thread in the bobbin area) There are several things that have been upgraded since I got mine. and I have no Idea why there are all those stupid little holes when a little wire hook would have done just as well. I am too old and short to have to try to thread thru all of those!

When my Lizzie is sewing good she is wonderful! Good Luck! I think you have to do baby stuff for a while and not expect perfection the first few quilts. Give your self a break! I did little baby panels and just learned to do circles to start!
Well, I forgot the point of my epistle! You will have fun soon!

I got my Gammill this past summer - at a garage sale! I broke my arm this past February and it was still broken when I got my machine. I have taken a "beginner" class and done about 10 quilts since getting my machine. I had surgery in December to fix my arm and have done most of my quilts since then. I am lucky enough to have a group that makes charity quilts that keeps me in practice quilts. I have done pantographs and a couple of meandering designs. I still have the "herky jerkies" and am not as smooth as I would like to be. I have been told to practice, practice, practice.

I have a 60x90 quilt on there right now that I am unsure how to quilt. The blocks are big and I have taken a piece of chalk and drawn on a large meandering design - think it might be too big, but don't want anything too close. I love a pantograph that I have, but it is definitely overwhelming - it has two places that will start and stop on the beginning end and then one place that starts and goes completely across - 14" wide panto - very intimidating! I love it but am afraid to do it on a quilt where the stitching will be so visable.

I didn't have any experience quilting my own quilts before this beast came along. I want to feel more comfortable doing quilts on it. I want to be able to do it without even thinking twice - I feel like such a failure when I look at it sometimes - it scares the heck out of me! I keep telling myself "I can do this"! Now to make myself believe it!

I am making friends with a lady at the local quilt shop who wants to feel more comfortable using her machine and we have agreed to get together at each other's homes to help each other - I can hardly wait!

Thanks for letting me rant ... I will be more positive next time, I promise! I guess it is just important to know that we can do this ... it might take some time to get better and everyone has a different learning curve ... but we will get there!

Practice...practice...practice....if you have an opportunity to go to the Machine Quilter's Expo the first weekend of May, there are lots of seminars you can take. One of the best tips EVER I learned in one of the seminars was on how to do feathers. Buy a Latino dance CD. Yup....it keeps you from tensing up! When you are practicing your feathers, you automatically want to *bump* to the music and it truly does help.....try it!

Have you ladies thought about using a marker and drawing on your machine? I know, the horror of it all! When I was showing Hubs how to thread one of my machines, I took a marker and drew little arrows ---> <--- showing exactly where the thread goes next. Then he doesn't have to get the book out each time. By the time he didn't need them anymore, they had all but worn off the machine.....

Darn, I think maybe the free membership is gone from MQResources. I wanted to look around and see what it is all about and all I see is a $20 fee - not bad, but if I'm not going to use it!

I just got an A-1 22" on a 12' table. I drew and drew and drew until I got my machine. Then I threw some rags together and played and watched YouTube - don't forget this valuable resource. Many great quilters have videos on there. I ditched my zippers and got red snappers - nifty little buggers. I especially like the side snappers - more even than just clamping with clamps. If you just remember it is just a huge sewing machine, oil and clean it like a regular machine and don't be intimidated by it's size. I have my first semi -serious piece on the machine now and am doing a Sharon Schamber pantograph all over - everything else was just a bit of this and that. If you know her work you know it has lots of curves and I am enjoying it. My tension is off right now -on my plug uglies it was perfect - of course - I may throw another practise piece on before I get serious. My dh needs throws for when he's wood working so I am obliging him. I do feel myself getting smoother. One of my best practise ideas was to just do large and small circles all over. I started out doing squared corners and it was frustrating - once I got over that hump my designs looked much better. My drawn feathers are really beautiful - hope they translate on cloth soon!!! lol

Everyone has their own skills and will learn at their own rate. Some quicker than others. It really depends on your drawing skills and your mental memory. When I was learning, I always worked on practice pieces(which some of them turned out pretty cute). I would practice writing names in cursive, doing clouds, swirls, and whatever else I could think of. It's just practice. When we got our machine, they told us it usually takes about 100 hours on the machine for people to become comfortable and know what they are doing. There is alot you have to know about them. It's alot of learning, but it is so worth it in the end. I'm a visual learner, so I watched lots of videos. Some were bought and some were on youtube. I like the pajama quilter. She is lots of fun to watch and she is very helpful. You can also practice on a dry erase board. Drawing it out will help build up your mental memory. :) I wish you the best of luck, and there are lots of people here willing to help you if you need it. :)

First, what brand do you have. Look at the website of the mfg to see if they offer any classes or tutorials. Do you have a manual or is there one on the website. Important information there about cleaning, maintenance, needle type etc. Go on line and seek out suppliers for thread, patterns, books, dvd. There are many books available-I have found some at the local JoAnn Fab in the quilt book section....Don't try to do too fancy a thing at the beginning....make sure your tension is good.....In 10+ yrs I have never adjusted my bobbin thread tension, only the top.........watch your speed as opposed to the speed of your machine....you must be in sync with it or your stitches will skip or be toe catchers........get a few easy pantos, but get ones that don't have straight lines, curves are easier and easier to camoflauge(sp) if they are not perfect....and they will not be perfect...just use the panto as a guide as to where to go..not a road you must stay on.........if you need to you can pm me, I don't mind giving you some hints....if I can help, I will be happy to....when I started we were few and far between and kind of learned the "hard way", now there are many sources of help and ideas.......just be patient with yourself and you will "dance well"......

thats too funny, cause I have a masters degree and I still have trouble threading mine! Ha. Mine is also a Tin Lizzie 18LS