Good morning, Everyone!! My name is Gay and I live in Missouri with DH, 2 dogs and 1 cat. We have two grown daughters and 2 beautiful granddaughters with another granddaughter due the end of March. I retired 1/1/03 and have been quilting ever since. I love quilting and I love learning new techniques. I have just started doing my own machine quilting on a gracie frame with a janome 1600p. Still learning on that though!! LOL
Gay

Welcome Gay, looking forward to your input here, how do you like your frame and machine?
kathy

Hi, Kathy and thanks for the welcome!! I bought the gracie II about a year ago thinking that I could use my "spare" singer machine on it. It just didn't have enough throat space and I didn't want to put my quantum on it and have to move it on and off to sew. The frame sat unused for several months and everytime I went to the basement I felt like it sticking it's tongue out at me!! LOL After Christmas I decided I just had to get a machine that would work on it so I researched and bought the janome 1600P. Now, the first quilt I did on it......well let's just say that one won'w be shown to ANYONE!! LOL After that, I took some muslin and batting and some fabric that was less than nice and just played until I felt like I had a better understanding and better control. I then quilted a full size quilt and now I have a baby quilt on it. I am LOVING it!! It is sew much fun!!! Now if I have something extra special that I want done and I'm afraid to do, I'll still use the LQS and let them do it. but long story short (er) I really do like it and I like the freedom of doing my own stuff.
Gay

Sew, do you just freehand stipple or can you follow a pattern? I'm real curious because I'm WAY out in the sticks and work 10-11 hrs 6 days per week so I don't have time to shop around and take classes but I sure am itching to get a frame like that but don't know about another machine right now. I was under the impression that they worked fine with regular machines. I have a Singer, not too many bells and whistles just some fancy stitches. Tell me more.. tell me more.
kathy

So far I have just done free motion in a loopy meandering design. I did do some freehand hearts and stars which turned out pretty good. I have not yet tried to follow a pattern with the stylus but did follow a pattern pinned to the practice piece. It was a turtle and didn't turn out too bad but I decided not to put that on the baby quilt.
It depends on your machine, Kathy, as to how much space you would have in the throat of your machine. My singer I was using was a smaller one and just did not have enough room at all but I was also not setting it quite right either which I discovered after buying the Janome 1600P. I did get a really good buy on my janome though (I think). :D
I did quite a bit of research online before buying my gracie II frame, Kathy and it just seemed like the one that fit my needs better. If I had plenty of money, I would buying a Bailey machine with a 13" throat space but.....well that just isn't going to happen!! LOL
You put in some long long hours.....not sure I would have the energy to quilt after a day like that. I also live in the country but only about 2 miles from town.
Gay

I'm 30 mins. from the nearest grocery store (it's small). 1 hr. from WalMart and 1hr15mins from the nearest quilt store so I do a lot of online shopping when possible. I think I'll check out the janome site, just for curiosity sake.
kathy

Hi Gay
Welcome! I too am from Missouri, the northwestern part. Where it is cold with snow still on the ground. A good time to stay in and quilt. I also have to daughters, 2 granddaughters and one grandson. What part of Missouri are you from? This is a great site to be a part of. With lots have helpful ideas. Happy Quilting

Kathy,I am 45 minutes from a walmart but am very blessed that I have a local quilt shop that has a very nice selection of fabrics.
Kathy D, I live in SE MO. It's pretty cold here right now but no snow at all. As you said, really good weather to stay in and quilt!! LOL
I also have a grandson however he died at the age of 2 mos 8 days on 10/13/99.
Do you live anywhere near Burlington Junction? I have a niece who recently moved there?
Gay

Yes, I only live about 15 miles from B.J. What a small world lol.

Yes, it is a small world for sure!! LOL My niece's DH is a new principal at a school in that area but not sure which school it is. Kristan is working in different schools with special needs children.
Gay

Hello Gay and Kathy D! Another Missourian checking in! I'm about an hour SE of St. Louis, which sounds to be somewhere in the middle of the two of you!

I'm part of another quilting board and really enjoy discussing the topic with others and getting their ideas on projects. I've been quilting since about 2003 also, but after I resigned from my job at the time. I don't have the fancy stuff. Mostly what I create is done by hand or on a regular Singer sewing machine! I have 3 daughters, two of which are still living at home. I also have one granddaughter and one grandson!

Current projects include a crazy quilt, crib sized, which should be done in about a week, a full-sized cathedral window quilt, bookmarked for my dad's retirement, and this weekend I'll be shopping with a friend to get materials for "Bound to the Prairie" quilt pattern.

See ya!
Sally

Hey you Missourians, can a NC gal welcome you, too? It's nice to meet a Gay, my paternal grandmother was a Gay and my sister has her name as a middle name. I think it's reather unusual, isn't it?

I envy you your Janome, I looked and looked at it, but then my Alaska grands won out. I bought a Singer Ingenuity for way less money and saved the rest toward my next trip to Alaska.

Welcome Gay and do share your experience.
Sharon :wink:

Hey mimisharon! You may join only if you share whether you are mountain, coastal or mainland North Carolinian! My family spent a large chunk of our summer last year in NC. I have an uncle, retired marine, who lives in Morehead City permanently now. My middle daughter spent 5 weeks with him learning about photography (his new vocation since retiring). We fell in love, again, with your great state that my husband actually has been job hunting out there! We can't decide if we love the mountains or the coast the most!

Ya'll are talking about machines that if I start looking, I'll want so bad I'll cry :( . I don't even want to do that to myself so I stick with the old fashion way of quilting :roll: .

Sally

Well, SallyJo, I went to Morehead City yesterday, and New Bern and Swansboro, and made a big circle of my drive. Can you guess where I am? I live 20 miles south of the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast....can't guess? OK OK, Jacksonville. VERY coastal. But I grew up in WV foot hills of WV.

Hillybilly Sharon with a southern twang sayin'

Y'all come, hear?

BWG! I'm jealous! My uncle was stationed at Cherrypoint throughout his military career. He loved it so much, he stayed. Some sad news, the fishing pier he fished at, worked at, photographed from for some 20-30 years was torn down last summer to build condos. Depressing. Sportsman's pier. I have a lot of fond memories of it too thanks to him!

I live in Wilmington NC about 20 miles from Wrightsville Beach and 30 from Carolina Beach. While the weather here is nice most all year round the huricanes are terrible. Once during H.Fran, we lived in a trailer then, so many pine trees fell that they blocked every door and window to our home. We couldn't get out for 2 days till someone came with a chainsaw to get us out. Then there was H. Floyd. We nickname him Flooding Floyd cuz of all the water he left behind. But, a big but, I wouldn't move from here if you gave me a trillion dollars. I love the coast.

When I first came here in 1970, everyone went to Sportsman Pier. The hurricanes did so much damage to the piers in 1996 up to this past year that not many are left. We loved to eat at several of the seafood restaurants in Morehead.

Good memories, when you come again you'll have to call me and we'll walk on the beach if I'm still able to walk.
Sharon

Nice to meet you sallyjo. I really love quilting , talking about it, and shopping for it. lol There is always so much to learn. I love the cathedral window quilts, and have one on my to do list, but not started yet. I just got home from the quilt shop not too far from me. It is so unique. I just love it, and always come home so excited. It is a little ways in the country. This ladies husband made it for her. It is made out of an old refurbished chicken coop. They have built on to it, and she has everything imaginable, and she is reasonably priced ( She calls it the Quilt Coop) Gay if you ever go visit your niece, you will have to go there as it is not real far from her town. Anyway I am excited about my new fabric and can't wait to get started. Again it is nice to meet another missourian sally jo . Like hearing about your projects! :D

Hello Gay and welcome to the best quilt site around. What part of MO do you live in. I was born and raised in Southeast Mo and moved to AZ in 1978.

Hope you enjoy all the chats and boy can you learn alot just by reading and asking questions.

Jane Sisk
Tucson, AZ