Trying new things...

Here it is January 3rd and I've already tried something new - to me.  I rented time on a long arm quilting machine today at Whatever's Quilted.  I used the HQ Avante 18" and I had so much fun!

HQ Avante 18"

 I pulled out a quilt top I made 5 or 6 years ago to practice on.  The fabrics in this quilt are from Walmart and aren't a great quality but I wanted to practice the machine quilting on something I didn't care if I messed up or not.  I do really like the pattern though and I'm really pleased with how it's turning out so far.

Stargazing Quilt

It took me almost an hour just to load the top on the frame.  But with practice I figure I can cut that in half.  Then I quilted for a little more than 2 hours.  Another 45 minutes and I probably could have finished it, but my back was hurting too much by then to continue.  I decided to do custom quilting in each block because I wanted to try a number of different techniques.  (The blue ruler on the quilt is for stitching in the ditch.)

HQ Avante 18"

 The whole purpose of this exercise was to see if I'd feel comfortable quilting Twisted Rope using one of these machines.  She has a larger HQ Fusion 24" that I can use for that behemoth.  (It's 113" square.)

Twisted Rope

 I felt so comfortable quilting on that machine that I've already made 2 appointments for next week to start on this one - each for 3 hours.  I've no idea how long it will take me, but I figure I can handle 3 hours at a time.  Although my back right now would beg to disagree.

Until later...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" 

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)