How long to learn on your longarm?
 

I am new to the board although I have been lurking for about a year. I have had a longarm for about 6 months and have done several practice quilts as well as about 14 quilts ranging from baby quilts to queen size. I still cannot feel confident about free motion. Design boards and pantographs are good now. I have been practicing feathers lately.
What has been your experience?

i am still learning my long arm also i watch alot of you tube videos and it has helped me with my free motions

I will attempt my first post with the new format, I dislike change, at least not for the better. Anyway, I have had a longarm for about 14 months and am still learning. I haven't done as many quilts as you have. I definitely would not feel confident to do any free motion. I use pantos and have decided I will never be a gifted quilter just an adequate quilter, good enough for my family. I have lowered my expectations of myself and am OK with what I have done so far. I don't plan to quilt for anyone other than family so that takes a lot of the pressure off.

Not every one is an art quilter-no shame in that.I am not an artistic quilter.I can stipple and swirl like crazy-looks great on most quilts.I can panto for a classier look.Pantos can look awesome too.

I am also comfortable with pantographs. I feel that they give me good results. I can do a few all over designs, but prefer the pantographs. I have had my machine for 5 months so I guess we are about in the same time frame. I am quilting for others, but will only do pantos at this time.

I have had a longarm for several years and just now getting where I can do designs. I find meandering or stippling the easiest. Haven't done a panto so may need to do one and see what I think.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have also tried rulers and finally used spray baste on them and wow, that really works better. I have been told about all the practice needed. I guess everyone goes at their own pace.

My fabulous Mentor, who is arguably the queen of longarming in her area (She's also a dealer), says that she never does freehand other than stippling. Ever. For any reason. She only does pantographs, stencils, or stippling & SID. She's been doing this for years, has a waitlist as long as my arm, and everybody's thrilled. I've already started working on freehand stuff from the front of the machine, because I really enjoy it. Don't beat yourself up if it's not something you're comfortable with - you can be successful without ever being comfortable with it. I promise you - it'll be fine. Don't sweat this :)

It depends on how much time you spend "practicing", what your natural abilities are (you can practice drawing your designs on paper or acrylic), and what you actually try to do. There are many different techniques to learn.

I think with anything you need to be relaxed and not worry. Someone on another thread a while back suggested a glass of wine before starting. Hope you feel comfortable soon.

I often just put on scrap pieces that I find at thrift shops, and leftover batting and just do a practice piece. After I'm done with them if they arent good enought to make something(like a purse or a pillow) I cut them up into 12 inch blocks for cleaning around the house. They are good for dusting and mopping with an old swiffer sweeper, you know the manual kind, no tank. When I first started doing this I would date the piece with marker so I could see my progess. Watch videos on youtube, theres tons of advice on there. Good luck and have fun, its just like when you first rode a bike, you had to keep at it before you could get good at it, but once you learn, you just jump right back on like you never left.

It's funny how we all approach longarming differently. I've had mine for about 21 months now, and I have not done any pantos. That just doesn't appeal to me. I think they look fine, but I'm not interested in following the lines. I do everything freehand - feathers, swirls, leaves, etc. - and recently started doing some ruler work. And yet I am feeling just as you, that I am in a rut and need to improve my skills. I'd like to have more designs in my repertoire, and I'd like to do more controlled designs. I decided that for the next year I will be concentrating more on the longarm. I know that the main rule is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. I just bought several books on longarming techniques, and I'm going to go through and see what I can use from them. Then I'm thinking about taking some classes, either at quilt shows or online. I don't longarm for others, just for myself and comfort quilts for the guilds, so the problem will be getting enough tops made to practice on. (Yeah, I know you can use a quilt sandwich made from cheater cloth or solid fabric or just about anything, and I will do so, but there's still something different about practicing on pieced tops.)

I've had my LA for about 4 mos. and I do alot of stippling. I use stencils when doing feathers. My freehanding looks good on my practice pieces but when doing it on a real top, I guess my nerves gets the best of me because my spacing is off. So I'll stick with the stencils. I haven't tried pantos or groovy board yet. But I'm going to give it a shot on my next practice piece. I have the Baptist fan groovy board and some free pantos.

Great comments! Thanks. I agree that it is hard to find enough tops that are not cheater cloth and such. I have done baby quilts pieced by friends for our local health clinics, but otherwise I have to piece my own. I want to be at it all day if there were enough time! I have watched classes online and then of coarse want to buy something to do what I just watched someone doing. I have been asked to longarm for others, but am not nearly confident enough to do that.

Hi, just reading all the posts about LA. I've had mine now for about 1 1/2 yrs. I like it/hate it/love it. I started out with a Qbot on mine because it was a store demo machine. It's a Tin Lizzy. I started out making sandwiches then marking on the sandwich what, how, size/pattern I used, I had a horrible time for months, First the Qbot was something to get use to also, so I wasn't having much fun. No one close to ask for help. I just kept going little by little until I could program in the designs from Qbot and also add designs to Qbot. I also bought 4DQD Creator software, that was another $500. but I had been going great it and realized I needed it for changing design sizing
for EE, blocks and so on. It was the best thing I ever did. I buy designs from Apricot Moon.com that she makes Qbot ready I just download them and their ready to load on Qbot. Her design are $10.00 from what I've bought from Peggy also there are many elsewhere that are 50.00/100's of dollars, which I have too but got them at 90% off sale. Having the 4DQD Creator makes it easy to change your designs to the type your machine can use or patterns you buy from companies that are't compatible. I taught my sister in law to work my LA and she caught on faster that I did because I had no one showing me what to do or how things worked. That's all it takes.
After all that practice I finally caught on but do only my own too. It was to be a business too. No way would I want to mess up someones work of art. Even now I know I can do it on all mine but if the tension messes up you have to remove those stitches and start where it messed up. Not easy!! If had it to do over again, I would have shopped around more, took classes, get to know which machines & how they work. My Tin Lizzy LS is wonderful and does beautiful work. I have never done FM with my TL machine, My daughter did & it was beautiful & on my machine.
jigs1354

Patience, my dear! I ha a Tin Lizzie about 10 months and got to know how to handle it very well--then I sold it and bought a APQS and got that one maonth ago today. It was almost like starting over--because every machine is different and even having the handles be different is a different feel. I have done about 6 quilts now and am feelign pretty good about the feel of it. But it definintely takes practice. I watched lots of You-Tubes on feathers and then I practiced alot on old nespapers and then on material and now I can do them well. I always doodle designs on old newspapers to practice new (or my regular) designs. I use a black permanent marker and hold it up vertically so it mimics teh quilting machine and I practice. I do this before every quilt I do. I simply practice teh design a little bit on the newspaper to get the feel of the design and to get the size of te design I want. I only do freehand and custom work. I feel Pantos are hard and I have yet to take the time to practice doing those. Good luck

I guess that I go along in life with the idea that you never stop learning. There are always new techniques, new tools, new gotta haves...that's what makes life interesting. I love my long-arm. But at first I was terrified of it. It probably took me a couple of months to even get up the courage to actually use it. I've taken classes from the best of the best and all of them tell you to simply just go for it...you can do it.
I've had my long-arm for 7 years and I hope that I never stop learning. It is so much fun!

Whiteboard and markers-draw, draw, draw.

even quilters who have been doing it for 10-20 years are still learning- every quilt is a new experience- with it's own (personality) and we always learn something with the process- if it was just (old hat) it would be factory work- and no fun any more- relax- practice- try new things- it is supposed to be enjoyable- so do what you enjoy- and work to get as good as you can at what you like- then learn something new and keep practicing it is always good to learn new techniques- new designs- new ways to do things-...be adventurous- don't spend all your time doing other people's designs- try new things ---it is nothing to fear---what's the worst thing that can happen? you quilt a quilt you are not totally happy with---not the end of the world- just incentive to do something different= learn from it and move on- don't take it so seriously- it's supposed to be fun

Where do you find "free" pantos?

Try some books by Sally Terry, one is Hooked on Feathers, and another one just came out (I have it) but I can't remember the name. She also has a site www.sallyterry.com.

My tips are breath, and be aware that you are probably gripping the handles really tight. LOL that's a hard one to get over when first starting because of nerves. :)

I have been LA for 10+yrs...have seen it blossom over time. It has been, in my experience, a constantly learning thing. Someone/thing always comes up with a better way/tool to do something and there we are-practicing it.......Pantos have really developed into wonderful all over designs....my theory is why work at it when you can "copy" what someone else designed and have it look great. But, I do love to "play" on others too. Just take your time, perfect each process as best as you can, don't feel bad if something eludes you today, because maybe tomorrow you brain and hand will work together and it will come out fine.......

Same here. I find it easier to freehand because I never learned how to do a panto ;-) I need to learn how to set one up.

My neice bought a long arm about 3 years ago. After the first few weeks she thought she had made a big mistake spending that much money and she thought she would never be able to do it. Her Mother and I encouraged her and told her to practise, practise, practise. She did, and you should see her work now. She has even quilted a quilt for Meg Hawky the owner, designer of Crabapple Hill designs. Her waiting list is about 3 months, but her work is beautiful. Oh and she works 40 hours a week, she is the head nurse at a hospital. She says if she can do it anyone can. She started out with simple designs, once she had mastered them, she picked something a little harder, ect. She does not back stitch either, she takes all the threads to the back of the quilt, after she has quilted it, and ties them off just like a hand quilter does. Just hang in there, and practise and you will be as good as you want to be, whether you just quilt for yourself or want to make money at it.

Practice makes perfect!! If you are brave enough to try feathers, you are brave enough. DO like I have done,
and get all sorts of quilting design books, one of my favs is by Sue Patten, she is so talented, you dont have to make yours exactly like hers, but it does help inspiration, when I first started I loved my pantos too, but now, I'm a bit
more creative, and free motion my own patterns, so dont give up, keep on keepin on!
katz