Long-arm Quilting

I found that it would be cheaper
to start quilting my quilts myself.
Of course it makes them more special
but let's be real,
the motivating factor is mostly financial.

My local quilt shop has a long-arm
machine that you can rent for $15/hr.
You are required to take their class
-their 5 hour class-
to learn how to use it
and off you go!

So here's the Welcome Home quilt
loaded onto their machine:

It's a Gammill longarm machine
(quite a steal at $16,000!!!)
and it only took me
two hours
to get it set up!

See that space to the left of the machine?
Between the machine and
the quilt hanging on the wall?


Yeah, that space was not really
big enough for me and my
7 mos pregnant condition.

I'm sure they loved me.
I broke just about every rule.
I used a sheet as backing material.
I didn't pre-wash anything.
I didn't iron anything.
I didn't use quilt-store fabric.
I didn't practice my quilting pattern
before going for it on the actual quilt.
And it wasn't because I didn't have
my practice quilt-sandwich.
Yes, I'm sure they were thrilled
but I think it all turned out fantastic!


Finished quilt:


With the instructor Steve:


He was such a dry guy!
He was so helpful the day of
and talked through things with me
but he would not crack a smile!
Every now and then he'd walk
into the quilting room and question
where I was in the process
and what I would do next.
At one point he walked in,
sort of picked a fleck of fuzz
off the quilt and muttered,
"good, good"
and left!
My jaw just about dropped,
I think that's about the highest
praise I could get coming from him!

Not sure when I'll go back.
My next quilt is the
Paintbox Quilt-Along Quilt
and I am not even attempting
to get it done before Baby Four arrives.
But it was fun!

So if you're interested,
look for a class at a local quilt shop
in your area!