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!