I took a leap of faith and bought an old EZQ quilting system with an old Consew professional machine. I've never quilted by machine before, except for one small block, which I removed the stitching from because it looked terrible. There is no stitch regulator, but there is a speed control that starts at a really slow crawl. The lady selling it was so kind, gave me a great price reduction and is letting me make payments. What have I done?

You got brave and won't regret doing this for yourself!

Congratulations on the first step of a new journey in quilting.

You took a leap into the FMQ world :D:D:D
Take deep breaths, relax and enjoy yourself :wink:

Congratulations, you will have fun!

Enjoy ,if the ladys close enough maybe can get a few lessons once get her home and settled in..

Good for you! Practice, practice, practice!!!

you need lessons and guidance. I don't believe it will be something you can just pick up and press the button and do.
Find a quilt convention that has classes or hire someone.
You probably have a system that will do the job you want done but is an older system and need instructions on that.
Check around your area. I would get some private tutoring.

You've caught the 'sickness'. You just couldn't help yourself. LOL :mrgreen: Have fun!

first thing you should do is relax.... put on a practice piece that you dont care anything about and just play....... and play and have fun with it..........thats the best way to learn in my opinion

Can you quilt with a consew?

It is a professional model quilter. Everything I've read about it, though I haven't read extensively, is that it is a workhorse and great machine. I sure hope so! The lady who sold it to me gave me the manual, which looks pretty helpful so far. The website has lots of info, but seems to be pointed at mostly new machines. There is a forum, too, so maybe I can pick other owners' brains.

Thanks so much for the encouragement and the great ideas. I had read to practice on an old comforter or mattress pad to get the feel of it down before progressing to a quilt - and even then to work on something I wouldn't mind giving to the dog! You all are just amazing and so kind with your time to answer questions left and right!

Sounds like your going to have fun!