thanks very much. :-)
one of the hoops that came with my machine is designed especially for quilting. it's more sturdy and the quilt sandwich is held in place with magnets. it can still be a bit of a battle when i'm using the warm & natural batting, but with a super-low loft (such as Quilters Dream's lowest loft) it hoops without much of a struggle. in fact, when i use the QD, i can use all my hoops without much extra trouble.
the machine includes several quilting patterns but most of them are very small. i've been downloading like crazy from this site:
http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/product...mbs=Emblibrary;Quilts&ShowTop=true
they have kaboodles of nice quilting designs - usually in three sizes - for all the embroidery formats. their prices are not half bad. (if i pay for a design you KNOW it must be a good price. i'm so cheap my skates won't roll! :lol: )
i'm a bit of an oddball when it comes to making things for charity. i have hard time giving away something to a stranger that i wouldn't want to use in my own home. (not that i haven't had
many turn out that way. but i send those to the kitty shelter. sick cats don't care whether or not fabrics coordinate or points join perfectly, or if they're puckered up like a toothless drunk. they just want something warm they can curl up on or throw up on. or both. :lol: :lol: :lol: )
also, i pick the quilts i make because i like them, or because i want to try something new, or test a new design. most of the time they don't "fit" anywhere around here. selling them is more work than making them. giving them away is easy-peezy.
and - let's face it - i'm a showoff. i always hope that whoever gets it goes "Wowzer!". and if they don't ... i'll never know the difference. :wink: :lol: :lol: