Thursday

Still no quilting getting done over here. Spent the entire day on the computer writing directions for a couple of quilts I designed for my newsletter. Designing is fun, making the quilt is fun, writing directions is a very large PITA! Anyway -- got the worst part done so now I can relax and get back to quilting this weekend.
Tomorrow I get to go up and hug on grandkids til they get sick of grandma kisses!

A little more on the Handiquilter story: I bought one of the first ones out because I thought it was about time someone thought of us regular quilters out here. (I had no idea that for a few thousand more I could have bought a bottom of the line longarm because I jumped in with both feet and didn't research the subject at all! In fact, I had no idea what a top of the line longarm would cost until I saw one at the first International Quilt Show in Chicago a few years ago! - one of those slap the forehead, "DUH" moments!)

The HQ has mostly been a source of annoyance for me, but I have figured out a few things and having the handles on the front with a speed control without having to mess with the foot pedal should be a great improvement. You're, of course, very limited with what you can do if you try to do special block type quilting and forget trying to do SID quilting (well, maybe after I practice a few years!) The Brother machine I have has a 9" throat space -- but realistically, there's only about 6" that's usable! It's great for free-hand, stipple, meandering and I guess for pantographs, although I've never tried to do pantographs -- seems like more work than it's worth to set them up on the table. The "table" is just an old, office conference table (very heavy in the first place, plus DH has wooden braces attached to it to make sure everything is level and supported). One of the big problems also is bobbins -- way too small -- need to be changed often!
So, my plan is to really try to improve my freehand quilting and learn to do feathers and such really well. I don't ever plan to do other people's quilts for them, but I'd like to be able to do my own really well! That's the plan anyway! I want to whittle down my ufo's so I can relax in the evenings doing hand-quilting, which is my first love and I never seem to have time to do it - there's always some project that has to be done now!
Anyway -- I think eventually I'll be buying a good longarm -- in a few years! I'll spend the years before then learning more -- that's what quilting is for me anyway -- a constant learning experience and I love it!