I've had my longarm about a year now and my New Year's resolution is to challenge myself more and attempt new things with it. I'm in a rut, and I want to get out.
I find feathers incredibly easy, but maybe that's because I'm not fussy about how they turn out. My feathers may not look like anyone else's feathers, but they still make a nice statement on the quilt. I have not even tried a pantograph yet, because I don't think I want to work from the back of the frame. On the other hand I think I should try doing them, because if I decide to longarm as a business they would be a necessary part of that endeavor. I was afraid to try straight lines or SID (using a ruler) for the longest time, because I thought it would be hard. But guess what, I tried it and it was not that hard after all.
I think all of us wind up doing different things with our longarm machines, just as we wind up doing different things with our quilting. The main thing is, don't get stuck in a rut, unless you are really happy in that rut. If you are, no one says you have to get out of it. But if you want to be successful with new patterns or techniques, you will have to practice to get good at them, and you need to give yourself permission to be less than perfect while you're practicing. Now let's see if I can follow my own advice...