Wednesday, May 22, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Playing With My New Toy!

For a while now, I had been thinking about getting a longarm. While at MQX, I test drove several, finally purchasing a Handi Quilter Avante. 

Last Wednesday, my new toy was finally delivered and set up. It had been sitting in the shop for two weeks while I was traveling for work, eagerly waiting for me to return and play. 

I began by putting some old fabric that I never plan to use on the frame to get the hang of it. On Saturday, after I was somewhat confident, I took that off the frame and put my first quilt on. I had to go back and see when I made this quilt top. I blogged about it back in June 2009 and at that point, I stated that I had made it 3-4 years prior. I made this quilt during my first paper pieced class while I was still in college, probably in the 2005 timeframe. The workmanship is far from perfect. I figured why not make my first paper pieced quilt my first (okay, third - I did some simple stippling on a longarm that I rented twice) longarmed quilt. 


As I've been working on this quilt, I have come to really like this block and this quilt, despite the fact that it's not really my style anymore and the workmanship isn't up to my current standards. Who knows, maybe someday I'll make a more modern version of this quilt. 

Here's a picture of the quilt top from several years ago. 

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

8 comments:

  1. So great Jen! Tell work that travel is out so you can have fun with your longarm :)

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  2. How exciting for you! Congrats on your new long arm!

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  3. Congrats on your new toy! I got my longarm fairly recently and I LOVE it. I never did enjoy FMQ on a domestic machine though, just not my cup of tea.
    I noticed something that might help, but you might know it already--when you load your quilt, make sure it goes under the dead bar--the one below the take-up roller. It will hold the quilt flatter against the surface of the machine and you will get better stitches. The dead bar is a great feature in a frame, it makes it so you don't have to adjust the take-up roller.
    That looks like a great block. So versatile! I need to fit in some more paper piecing one of these days.

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  4. Congratulations Jen! I envy you. This is going to be lot of fun playing with FMQ.

    Can't wait to see your FMQ adventures!

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  5. Hehe, I just bought an Avante as well! I can't wait to see your work, I never knew long arming could be so FUN! :)

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  6. Congrats, Jen! I cannot wait to see what you come up with on your new machine!

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  7. It's still a beautiful quilt and perfect for testing out your new toy;-) I can't wait to see what you do once you really get going!!!

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