Lap quilt top finished

The name of this pattern is "My son wants a quilt." Peculiar name if you ask me. I decided to call mine "Twelve days of Christmas" since I used Christmas colors and there are 12 different blocks. This was difficult and I didn't do a good job. I hope all the puffs "quilt out".

Finished

Machine is fixed

The Gammill dealers came by last night and fixed the timing on my machine. They gave me some helpful hints on trouble shooting and I watched him adjust the timing. I hope I can do it myself, when it happens again. The sewing machine is really a wonderful invention. I did about 6 rows on my pantograph tonight and it is really looking good. I am hoping to finish it tomorrow and then load my fish quilt.

Longarm quilters? Advice Needed

I've had a time tonight with my quilting machine. The thread kept breaking. After doing all the things to try to fix it, I finally realized that as I was changing the needle (one of the things to do when the thread breaks) I put it in wrong. I fixed that and thought well, maybe, it is going to work. Nope. After only about 6 inches of quilting, it started skipping stitches. The book suggests adjusting the timing. Hummm....not something I want to start on my own without at least some advice. Anyone?? I did write my dealer and even sent her a picture of what the stitching looked like. Maybe she will respond in a day or two.

I met a celebrity!

At the AQS show in Nashville, I got to meet Eleanor Burns!! I told my fishing fanatic husband this was like him meeting Bill Dance! I added to my Eleanor Burns book collection by purchasing another from her booth today and she autographed it for me. She was great; exactly like she is on her shows, website, and portrayed in her books.

New Project

I started a new project today. It will be a lap quilt. I chose the identical colors my friend is using in the same quilt. I don't think she will mind. They are Christmas colors but not particularly Christmas prints. The 12 blocks are identical, except you change where you put each color, so they all look different.

First pantograph done!

I completed my first machine quilted pantograph design tonight! I am very happy with the results. I still have a few hours work to hand stitch the binding, but then it will be totally finished.

Learning....

I am attempting to do a pantograph pattern on this quilt. I've completed three rows. Seems to be going good.

Finished "schooling fish"

This was a pretty difficult quilt to make with all the little triangle squares. I finally finished the top today. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Not sure who will be the recipient. I now have three tops ready to quilt. Guess I need to take the plunge and learn how to operate the machine and get going.

Today's Project

I put together a table runner as a gift for a big UT fan. Since it was pretty small, I didn't put it on my new machine to quilt. Just did it on the little one.

First quilt on machine

Experience is the best teacher. I attempted to machine quilt my copy cat quilt and boy did I mess up. I watched the DVD on how to load the quilt once. The DVD player is downstairs, the machine upstairs. So, I took the instruction manual and attempted it feeling unsure most of the time. There were many things I did wrong and didn't know it. I moved the DVD player up and attached it to my little TV in the quilt studio and watched "loading the quilt" this evening. I feel so much better, I now know why I had puckers in the quilting! I did several things wrong. I had decided it would go anonymously to some charity. Now, when I look at it. It isn't THAT bad. Anyway, I think my next one will go much better. My plan now is to watch the whole DVD at least three times before I do ANYTHING on the machine, and have it on so I can refer to it while I am loading, quilting, or doing anything that is covered in the DVD.