Know Thy Machine {Blog Hop}

Shruti from 13 Woodhouse Road is hosting a Blog Hop called Know thy Machine, where a few of us bloggers can share what machines we have, what we like, what we don't like.  It is a great way to check out what can be had out there...especially if you are shopping for a new one or even upgrading!

She asked us to answer the following questions...make sure you read through carefully...she has a question on her blog and if you answer correctly, you are entered into a giveaway!!!!

1. What machine(s) do you have? Brand and Model.


Babylock Emore:  Embroidery Only Machine

Babylock Symphony: Domestic Sewing Machine

Handiquilter Avante:  18 inch Longarm Quilting Machine
 

2. When and where did you buy it? What were the reasons for selecting this(these) particular model(s). What was its approximate cost. 


Babylock Emore:  I bought this in machine in 2008.  I wanted a machine to do my sons' school polo shirts. I didn't want a combo deal.  I bought this machine when it was being phased out for $400.00 at my LQS.  I made up for the money I spent on the machine on the amount I saved by buying plain polo shirts instead of the uniform store shirts.

Babylock Symphony:  I bought this machine last year in May 2011, also from my LQS.  I fell in love with it for many reasons (I listed all of them in my Just a Dream post back then!)  

Handiquilter Avante Long Arm Machine:  I love this girl.  I bought her last year at the Houston Quilt Festival this time of year.  She was a class machine, was used for classes at the show, so she was marked down from normal retail .  I received a new frame that was shipped within a week or two after the show.  By December, I had her all set up.  You can also go to this post HERE to see how I came to make a decision after shopping last year!  My advice?  If you are truly in the market for one, go give them a spin at a show and seriously consider buying a demo or class machine!



3. What do you like about your machine? Have you named it? Have you made a cover for it? 

I use the brand names for the first two machines.  I also have not made any covers for either smaller machines.  It just isn't on the "urgent" list!

As for my longarm?  She is named Ole Betsy.  She was named by my boys and Mr. Boss.   Because she hangs out in the garage with creepy crawlies, I have her covered with some old drapes I have no use for.  Free fabric that keeps dust off. Someday, I'd love to make her a rockin' cover!

4. Does your machine give you any problems? Could you tell us a few? 

Emore:  I have a love/hate relationship with her.  I find her to be finicky and I dread when I mess up.  However, I have found that is the case with many of my friends that embroider on any machine.  The one thing I can say is that I am still very happy that I didn't buy a combo unit.  I get a lot done on the other machines while she is stitching away!  I will never regret that choice.

Symphony: I love her.  She never makes me unhappy.  I only make mistakes when I miss her bobbin low warning.  I love how smooth she is.  I love so many of her features.  I have no complaints.  At all. She was approximately $1800 retail.

Ole Betsy:  I am VERY happy with her!  I am still learning, but I seriously CANNOT complain.  I had some buyer remorse when I thought I should have gotten the larger throat (24"), but while using mine, I realize that I have short arms, and I would be really stretching to get to the back of the 24" machine!  It was meant to be...so definitely keep in mind how long your arms are!!!!!





5. What do you sew on it mainly? Quilts, Clothes, Bags etc. How much time do you spend sewing on it? What are the features of the machine that help you improve your work? 

Emore: Anything and all.  I try to make ANYTHING work...sometimes it gets the best of me and I have to learn to say "no, I can't embroider on that"

Symphony:  Quilts, clothes, bags....you name it.

Avante:  Quilts.  




6. What advice would you give others when deciding about which machine to buy?

I find that so many women are buying their machines online.  I say definitely do so, but find somewhere to test drive them.  I think you must give them all a drive run before you make your final decision.  My first inclination was to buy a Babylock or a Gamill longarm machine, but was really disappointed with the Babylock and intimidated by the Gamill, and came home with the Handiquilter.  You never know!!

7. Will you share with us a special memory associated with your machine? 

Ole Betsy.  The purchase of Ole Betsy....I will never, ever forget it.  I honestly intended to go to the quilt show and shop around so I could bring back all the information and my thoughts.  I never dreamed that my husband would pile up all the boys in the car and come home with a machine.  She qualifies for my next 20 birthday and Christmas presents...but, oh well!!!

8. If you had unlimited resources in the world, which machine would you choose to buy and why? 

  

I have two things on my list.  I would like to add the computer program to my long arm.  Wow...it would be nice!!

Also,  someday, I would love to have the bigger Babylock that has many thread selections and can embroider on anything (hats).  I am currently limited to tiny, 4x4, and 5x7.  I also have a mulitpostional frame...but I avoid it at all costs.  Too big!  However, if I did that, I would have to get more serious about doing embroidery...and that is a whole 'nother story!

Thanks for stopping by!!

And especially thank you to Shruti for having me!
I appreciate it!!!!

 

 

Dots and Checks: The End!

The top?  

Started and finished it in 2 days last year.

A simple "Snowball" pattern.

Then I finished the back in one afternoon about a month later.

And promptly folded them both up and put them away....

I think I wasn't sure about the unknown velour-like fabric I had chosen from my stash.  Or I think I just didn't know how I was going to quilt it.

Either way, I completely forgot about it!

But I think it was fate that I found it again recently.   Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a complete quilt to take a spin on Ole Betsy.   It made my Thanksgiving day a bit brighter while the boys and Mr. Boss cheered on their Dallas Cowboys.  (pssst...I am so tired of sports in our house.  I wake up every morning to the ESPN sound)

I started with FMQ and it just wasn't looking well.  I tore out all the stitches.  Two hours worth.  I just checked on my Turkey in the roaster every once in while!

I finally found a maple leaf pantograph and took it for a spin.

Not perfect...but it will do, I guess.

I didn't watch any vidoes (even though I have TWO from Handi Quilter) on how to do it with the laser.

So I had a few oopsies where I trailed off the border.

Of course, this weekend, I watched the videos and realized that I should have tried to use the pattern for my border.  It would have looked better than my free hand leaves.

And can you please squint....those stitches along the binding need to be pulled out. They were the stitches that were holding my quilt to the leaders.  They are supposed to be hidden by my binding.

I REALLY need to work on that skill getting it closer to the edge of my fabric!!!

Otherwise, I am pretty happy with it overall.

Lessons learned?

Watch as many Handi Quilter videos as possible.  I am so thankful they gave me 7 free DVD videos with my purchase.  

Many things are much clearer now after watching them while ironing and sewing costumes!!!

Am I a good girl for showing you my failures? 

Or have you lost even the small amount of respect you had for me as a quilter?

 

Fast Forward Button

"Life would be better if girls had mute buttons, boys had edit buttons, bad times had fast forward buttons and good times had pause buttons."
 ~Unknown

Now, I am not saying that I believe in the mute button, but today?  

I sure wish I had a fast forward button!

I had all my woes typed out, but realized the short of it?  80% of our household has some sort of sickness.  Button, included, with a nasty double ear infection. 

I have to give him props for going all out for his first true illness.   Not one ear...but both!!!  And on my birthday too! 
Happy Birthday to me!

Despite all the AWESOME CHANTING last week (I really could "hear" everyone cheering me on!), I didn't do as well as I would have liked.  But it is better than nothing, right?  I won't link up with WIP Wednesday because I really don't want to rewind to Wednesday, but I will share what I accomplished the past week!

Fall Throw Pillows

There was so much love for the fabric last Wednesday, that I was compelled to get them together.  They are simple, no frills.  But I love them.

The other pillows covers are the ones I made last years for the two chairs in my family room.  

It is all scrap fabric from my ottoman covers and my kitchen window treatments.  

The embroidery took me one whole day to do both.  The amount of color changes was exhausting, to say the least!  I haven't done a pattern/design with that many since.

Cuppa Joe blocks

I finished them!!!  

I really enjoyed making them! I busted into my fat quarter collection and found random fun fabrics.  I decided to stick with six fabrics and used all three cup styles.  I opted for Moda "Wildrose" by Brannock & Patek for the background fabric for all of them.  I am not sure how well I did them since I was trying to do them with a sick baby.  I also realized that I need to spend more time with my newish domestic machine.  I hadn't really machine appliqued in a while since I have been using my embroidery machine for that!  I opted for a blanket stitch.  Hopefully, they are up to par to the rest of the contributions!!

They have been sent off for the swap and now I can't wait to see what I get back.  Not sure what I will do with mine!

Ole Betsy

It's official.  All of the comments and emails made me realize that I should never have even posted the name.  As soon as it was in writing, it was all over.  The name is growing on me.  Even Button knows who I am talking about!  He likes to watch her go!

Sharon, the Handi Quilter representative, came out and gave me basic instructions yesterday.  We loaded a 36in x 36in muslin sandwich to practice on!  She was even very understanding that Button was sick and was clinging to me.  There was an elaborate checklist she had to follow...all bases were covered.

We used the thread that was given to me as my "start up" quilt.  I think I will practice at least one more time on muslin or scrap, but with a colored thread so I can see how I am doing a bit better.  I really do need to practice though!  Above is just some fun free-hand.  My looping, leaves, and flowers are not looking to shabby, but what is up with my inability to do meandering well?  Any thoughts?  I think I over-think it!

Here's to hoping my fast forward button decides to land on a day that I can think clearly, stop sniffling myself, and feel good enough to sew.  Just typing this post is a great feat!

Ole Betsy

That is the name Mr. Boss came up with for my New Girl.

BEFORE 9AM CST TODAY

The scary thing about it? 
My oldest is home sick today and I asked him in passing if he had a name for the machine.

His first response.

Old Betsy.

Something tells me that they are in cahoots.  Butter swears that he did not know his dad had said the same name.

I am not amused.....This name goes to the BOTTOM of the list. 

_____________________________

The nicest lady named Sharon came with her daughter to put my new girl up on her frame.  She said when I spoke with her Friday, that she allows 5 hours to set it up.  

Luckily, there was a lot of room for her to work with in the garage.

11 AM CST TODAY

Unfortunately, or fortunately?  

I live in the Houston area....which in November...can still be warm.

  How does 79 degrees sound to you, right about now?

I had to open the garage doors and run a fan.  

They were much more comfortable after that!!

And it was completely set up by 12:35 pm.

Just in time for lunch!

It fits quite well.  

She even was kind enough to make sure the fridge could be open.

And there is plenty of room for me to stand behind.

I think Mr. Boss will disagree. 

I am actually posting this earlier than planned because he is waiting to see the final results and is on pins and needles at THIS very moment.

Luckily, Sharon mentioned that I can get casters from Handi Quilter to add.  I think that will make him much happier if it can be pushed all the way against the wall out of the way.   There is plenty of room in that space for me to pull it out at an angle if I wanted to!  

There is much to be desired about the atmosphere, but that will come in time, right?

Sharon handed me the "Getting Started" DVD on the way out.

No worries, though!  They don't leave you hanging high and dry.  She will be back Thursday morning to give me a three-hour instructional class.

How cool is that?!?!?   

But, still not as cool as Mr. Boss buying....

*cough*  Ole Betsy......

My New Girl

Handi Quilter   HQ Avante

She's Here!!!!  

In a box!

I promised YESTERDAY that I would tell you the who, what, where, why and hows today!

Disclaimer:  I am currently not being paid to review any products or services by any of the quilting machine companies.  These opinions are based on the my personal shopping journey.  But if they would like to sponsor me, do you think I will complain??)

My number one purpose was to shop Long Arm quilting machines at the quilt show.  Even though I really did not expect Mr. Boss to purchase one this weekend, I knew if I did not get my hands on a few, I would never really know which one I should even set my sights on!

I have been dreaming of a Long Arm for about 10 years now.  I have avoided many quilts and turned down requests from friends and customers based on the fact that doing a quilt any larger than 70x70 inches make me go crazy!  I actually start going crazy once a quilt exceeds 48x48 inches!!

I have actually never touched a machine until this weekend.  

Can you believe it? 

I have watched countless episodes on quilt TV shows.  Countless Youtube videos. And of course, have seen a gazillion finished products.

Okay...back on point.  The Houston Quilt Festival!

A little birdie (maybe my very own local quilt shop?) told me that the long arm companies bring many machines to demonstrate and some conduct classes all week.  They would prefer to have someone take them off site, then haul them all back home.  And they are used..they can't sell them for full retail to a customer.  So, DEALS, ladies....DEALS on DEMOS!!

We bee lined to the booths.  We hit Gammill, BabyLock, A-1, HandiQultand kind of swept by the others. 

First off, why did I rule out the others?  They were not on my top list after my extensive online research the past few years.  Did I mention that I used to send links of machines to Mr. Boss on occasion.  Marketing to your hubby is pretty key, especially if he is in the business of marketing, right?

Second reason for passing them by.  Basic construction.  You can literally SEE the difference in frames and machines.  Steel versus aluminum.  Bulkiness versus too simplistic.

Now to my final top picks. (Note: I was looking at 18inch throats only) 

I will give you the SIMPLIFIED breakdown.  There is so much more, but I don't want to bore!

_______________________________________

Gammill....Vision

PROS: 

• gorgeous.

• sturdy.

• smooth.

• Dazzle you with the fancy lighting.

• The oldest company in town.

• price reduced from their usually VERY high retail prices

CONS: 

• background is commercial machines.

• A lot of constant maintenance (i.e. more oiling than any other machine)

• questionable servicing/support

• no deals on demo models

• No deals on shipping

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Baby Lock Crown Jewel

PROS

• I am a proud owner of 3 machines (Symphony Domestic Machine, Emore Embroidery, and Evolve Serger)

• A little birdie told it is manufactured by HandiQuilter (kind of like Kenmore appliances being made by Whirlpool)

• Offer shortened frames...as small as 5-8 feet so for small spaces, can be an option

• Service.  My quilt shop would be my go-to guys.  Perfect support!

• Offered a "decent" deal on the demo.  

CONS

• I just didn't like it.

• It just "felt" strange to me.

• The movement was not smooth.  Maybe it was the set-up.  Maybe it was the environment.  I just felt that if you are at a show, the machine should be running at it's best...and it wasn't.

• The price was 3,000 more than the Gammill?  It was a bit perplexing.

• Only ONE demo was available.  So they were very pushy on us making a quick decision.

 

Note:  I REALLY wanted to like this one, I swear.  I just didn't, which saddens me a bit!

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A-1 Quilting Machines

Pros

• Beautiful

• Smooth

• Actual owners were demonstrating and helping

Cons

I didn't spend much time because it was too expensive

------------------------------------------------

HANDI QUILTER HQ18 AVANTE

PROS

• Company was founded by a quilter.  A woman that wanted to make a LA for women just like me...at home, making my own quilts and a small home business.

• The NICEST salespeople ever.  Informative.  

•  Smooth

•  Sturdy construction

• Smooth (did I say that again?)

• USER FRIENDLY

• Maintenance.  Just the bobbin case every other bobbin change.

• 7 Instruction DVD videos with purchase.

•  Didn't mess around. Gave the quote right away and didn't pressure us to buy. 

• Every FMQ I did turned out exactly how I wanted it.  Effortlessly.  I was making leaves, hearts, flowers, and even attempting the difficult feather patterns!!

• Did I mention that the President of the company gave out his cell to arrange for pick up?  Then he helped box the machines up.  That kind of service is just my style! 

 

CONS

The only concern is that they were bought by an investment company.   But what sewing machine company HASN'T been lately? It just wasn't a deal breaker.

<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Upgrades?  

Yes....to all.  EVERY SINGLE MACHINE could be upgraded with computers and it didn't sound like too much work (except possibly Gammill). 

I hope this helps if you are looking, searching.  I must reiterate, I have not been paid or received any special deals from any of the companies.  This was just MY experience.  I would not be surprised if someone else had a completely different experience!

Wow!

I will never forget this quilt show!!!  Ever.

Here's why......

Mr. Boss decided that we would take the whole family.  He felt that this was really important to me and that the boys should share in it.

There is some serious news...so hang in there all the way to the end of the story, okay?

As we first walked in...a quilt car. 

NOTE:  Please excuse blurry/non-focused/horrible photos.  It was VERY busy and I didn't want to annoy any of the more serious ladies that were there!!!!

My 14 year old son found these two special areas.  Apparently, I am old because all quilters need scooters....in his mind...

 And that he needed to know where the first aid station was because he felt that he was in dire need of help.

But the boys discovered that quilts aren't all flowers and butterflies....

And Bean LOVED the animal quilts.

Bunny was fascinated with this one...it made you get dizzy and the optical illusion was mind blowing!

There might have been a few yawns since we were there during  naptime...

But there were certainly some occasional giggles.....

Taken with Camera phone by the oldest.....he posted this on Facebook.....

Where else, but a quilt show would there be a "Ladies Only" sign at the Mens' restroom door!

I can't even tell you how many booths there were.  Too many that my brain was in overload.

And the boys had a lot of fun test driving long arm quilting machines.  I think they made the salespeople nervous, but they used them like pros...and it kept them busy!

And the quilts entered into the show?  Amazing.

You weren't allowed to take pictures of some of them.  But I took just a few of the ones I could.

Wearable Quilt Art Winner.

My mom would love this.  She loves all things "oriental" especially since she was born in Okinawa, Japan (on a military base..)

Oh...shopping you say?

I just couldn't decide.  But Mr. Boss wanted me to get this kit:

It didn't take much to twist my arm...we saw the finished project.

I think it will take me 10 years to finish it!

So many gadgets....

I only picked up the quilting paper, powder pounce, proportional scale, and tape measure.  They are tools to help with pantograph quilting.  They came with these.

Huge spools of quilting thread.  

Why do I need that you say?

Oh, I didn't tell you why my husband is the

BEST HUSBAND EVER?

Because I am picking up one of the demos of these...

Today!! 

My frame will be here by the end of next week!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!

I am a proud owner of a new Handi Quilter  longarm machine!!!

HQ 18 inch Avante with Studio Frame

I will tell you who, what, where, and why I chose this brand tomorrow.  

I have to go pick my new girl up!

Oh....and recover from the shock...No more gifts for the next 20 years of birthdays and Christmases!