Originally Posted by
mamajack3
Beautiful!!! I am curious...did you take class to learnor are you self taught. I want to do this so bad but can't justify the cost. I would hate to spend that much and not be able to do it justice
Hi MamaJack, for the most part I am self taught. When I first strarted researching LA quilting I had a QS about an hour from where I lived that rented time on an HQ16 but in order to rent you had to take a class to learn how to load a quilt on a rack and basic operation of the machine (on/off switch, guiding the machine, letting you freehand and try following a panto with a laser light and doing groovy boards) So I took that which was my very first exposure to a LA. I realized immediately the only way to get good at it was to practice, practice, practice and having a rental over an hour away wasn't going to get me the kind of practice and time on the machine I wanted to get to the level of quilting I aspired to. Yes, it is very hard to justify the expense of a LA. For me, I would dearly love for it to be my full time job and maybe if I am lucky I will get enough business that I can do it full time or it will be my retirement business. I love doing it and it is a passion so that helps as well. I doodle and draw a lot and that often translates to longarming, at least for me. I got my LA in July 2010. In April of last year I did take a class with Karen McTavish to learn McTavishing and get certified to teach it myself. So other than the initial hands on I took on the HQ 16, that is the only class I have taken.