Off the Long Arm

 I've been so busy actually quilting things for folks that I haven't had time to share with you how it's going. The short answer is, "It's going great!" I'm still building my long arm quilting business and getting the word out to folks that I'm doing long arm quilting now, but I'm happy with how it's going so far. I'm not swamped with quilts to do for customers, but I am getting a few each week. So it's manageable!

The first quilt I have to share was made by Sherrie L. She is a part-time local resident.

Sherrie chose this fun modern style pattern. It is one of the designs that comes with my Bernina Q24 Q-matic program. I call this one "bubbles" because it's real name is just some letters and numbers.

Another quilt from Sherrie L.

For this one Sherrie chose a floral pattern. It's not quite a poinsettia, but it's close enough.

This quilt was brought to me to quilt by Vicki B. It was made by a relative who has since passed away.

I picked an allover floral design to coordinate with the embroidery blocks. This quilt was huge! And Vicki doesn't sew so I finished the binding for her too. The quilt was a challenge to long arm because the workmanship was not the best. None of the sides were straight. Some of the blocks were larger than others. Puckers were just pieced right in to the seams. Yet, it still turned out really nice!

This last one was made by Duchess R. I've quilted several things for Duchess. She likes geometric quilting designs and bold thread colors.

She picked this lime green thread and a design called Cottontop. It's one of the designs that came with my machine.

Learning my new Q24

 I recently purchased a BERNINA Q24 long arm with Q-matic (computer program) for my shop. My favorite local long arm quilter recently moved away. I knew I would need to find another way to get my shop samples quilted and so would all of her other customers. So I decided to go into the long arm quilting business myself.

The machine arrived about two weeks ago. I've been watching the video class I purchased from BERNINA as well as reading through the workbooks I received trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can. I know all about the machine itself. Loading quilts onto a frame is a little different than basting them but the video class about loading a quilt was very good. It only took a couple times and I'm comfortable with loading a quilt on the frames. 

The Q-matic computer program is a bit more daunting. I have used a couple of computerized quilting programs in the past - all of them were not user friendly. I'm happy to say that the Q-matic is pretty user friendly. I only needed to quilt two practice pieces before feeling comfortable enough to try a "real" project. I have a bunch of digital quilt tops I've collected over the years from various fabric companies. I'm starting with those to practice on. I'll bind them and sell them during the month of November when my shop sells finished items (old shop samples) to support local charities. 

Below is a short video I did of my first practice piece.

If the embedded video doesn't work for you, you can watch it on YouTube: Q-matic Practice Video

Below is the first digital sample I quilted.

Here is a close up shot so you can see the quilting design better.

Is the quilting perfect? No. Do I care? No. I'm learning. For this one I intentionally ran out of bobbin thread so that I would have to learn what to do when that happens. Spoiler: the Q-matic makes this super easy! I had to resize the design, flip it over, and shift it around. All of this is pretty easy to do with Q-matic once you learn how. So now I'm just trying to practice these steps so that I can do them without having to refer back to a video or the workbook. 

When I started my second project I decided that I would not allow myself to watch or read for help. I want to try to figure it all out by myself. So far, so good!

Right now I am only using the designs that came with my computer system. Once I get better with it I'll probably need to purchase a few more designs. There were several that my previous long arm quilter used that I would really like to own too. But for now, I've got plenty to play with.

Exciting Delivery

 I purchased new toy recently for my shop.

I currently have a HandiQuilter Sweet 16 at my shop that belongs to a customer. She brought the machine in so I could help her to get it working and then give her lessons on it. I've got it working and she has started lessons. I quilted a small project on it to make sure everything was working properly and realized how much I missed quilting some things myself. I also have a HandiQuilter Sweet 16 at home but I rarely have time to quilt something at home. So I decided to buy the shop a Bernina Q20 sit-down machine. That is what is in the boxes.

I will need help to get her set up at the shop and I need to clear a space for her too. As soon as I get her all set up I will tell you more about her.

Ruffle Duffle

 I found an adorable duffle bag pattern! It's a free tutorial from Bernina. Click the link to go to the tutorial:

  Ruffle Duffle Tutorial

The finished size of this duffle is 14.5" by 8" by 8" tall. I have kitted this project in case you want to make one too. The kit includes the laminate, the cotton webbing and a black zipper.

Ruffle Duffle Kit

You can click the link above to go directly to the item in my online shop. Or you can go to AlamosaQuiltCompany.com and click Shop>Kits and this one is probably the first one that will show up since I just added it to my online shop.