"Practicing" longarm quilting - without thread?
 

So I'm going to back to the vendor where I bought my Janome Artistic for some intensive lessons (and repair as a tension thing broke off the machine). I can't get there until next Thursday. Some friends who are experienced longarm quilters suggested unthreading the machine and practicing following lines on paper or stencils that I've traced on to fabric. I feel silly doing it, but they said it helps to get the "muscle memory" down. I'm actually having fun with it. If I ever get my machine in working order, I think I'm going to love longarming!:thumbup:

That method sounds like a good thing to do. I think having a Janome Artistic would be wonderful.
Have a great time.

chris

Yay! I've heard of practicing by drawing on paper, whiteboards, and kids' Magnadoddle toys, but I've never heard of tracing over it with the machine unthreaded. It sounds like a good idea.

Good luck with your machine. I, too, quilt with a Janome Artistic, the 18 inch model. When I get the opportunity I think I want to upgrade to a bigger throat. Last week I got to attend the Machine Quilting Today show in Wisconsin and tried lots of different machines. I've only been at it for a year but I've discovered that I love longarming!

Have fun!

Ok, after a couple of weeks of being intimidated by "the beast", I loaded a piece today and have been practicing away. The practice piece is an extra wide cheater cloth that just has feather-like shapes for tracing. It won't be a quilt as the weight is just a little heavier than interfacing, but the stitching looks good (tension wise) and she is purring like a kitten. I'm so excited!