A few weeks ago Marc and I took a course at a local quilt studio, Whirls n Swirls Quilting Studio run by the lovely Tracey, teaching us how to use their APQS long arm quilting machines. Yes, I managed to convince my man to join me in learning to quilt on a a long arm. He has tried a bit of piecing and quilting on my domestic machine but it really isn’t his thing yet still he was willing to try this type of quilting – I’m very lucky and I actually think he’s better at the mechanics of operating the long arm than I am. For our lesson we quilted on a quilt panel that they supplied and then donated to a local charity.
Today we went in to quilt a quilt I had pieced. I picked a long finished quilt top from the Wedding Dress Blue blog (I love Deanna’s patterns) called Calico Rose to quilt as my first long armed quilt. Why start with something small when you can start big?
Here it is folded in 4 and not yet quilted:
Here it is on the machine with Marc quilting away on it.
It took us four hours to quilt – a fraction of the time it would have taken me at home. It was also so much easier doing it on the long arm rather than fighting getting it through the the the throat of my home sewing machine. My shoulders, back and arms are loving the decision I made to do this at Tracey’s studio. It still needs to be trimmed and binding to be made for it. I’m wavering back and forth between solid black binding and scrappy colourful binding. I’ll decide while I get prepared for quilt retreat starting at the end of the week.
I was telling my husband just yesterday that he should start long-arm quilting when he retires. Lucky you to be doing that already. Beautiful quilt!
Four hours?! Imagine the progress we could all make if we just had a long arm in our homes! It looks like so much fun and its wonderful that your husband is on the same band wagon as you!!
What a fun project to do together.
What a wonderful idea to involve hubby in this, with expert help close by if needed.
What a wonderful idea to involve hubby in this, with expert help close by if needed.
That’s AWESOME!! Quilting on a longarm really is a time-saver. Regarding binding, another option would be to choose any one of the colors that you might like to bring forward and finish it off with a POP!! As an aside, I attend APQS Owner’s Group with Tracey’s partner in ruler production, Angela @ Thread Waggle Quilting, down in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Great team work. Love the secondary patterns in the quilt.
I think it’s great that your hubby joined you at the class and that he enjoyed quilting your top. And I agree, why start small when you can go big? 🙂 Congrats on your finish – your quilt is so pretty! Thanks for sharing it with us on Main Crush Monday!
How nice to have a partner in quilting!
Oh, wow!! That is SO COOL that your husband is quilting and this will be a husband-and-wife production! I wish my APQS dealer was local to me. Having the chance to learn as you quilt actual quilts in her studio, with expert assistance right there every step of the way, is a golden opportunity. I brought an APQS Millennium home a year and a half ago and there is a steep learning curve just for the basics when you’re on your own with only an owner’s manual, YouTube and Internet forums to guide you! My APQS dealer also does rentals in her studio but she is hours away from me. Anyway, LUCKY YOU and I hope this is just the first of many quilts you and Marc will be finishing together! I would love to see pictures of the quilting on this one once you got it off the frame.
So nice that you both share this hobby. My hubby shares my quilting hobby too. He opens his wallet and out flows the cash whenever I get near a quilt shop or need to order something online.
Beautiful quilt you made! No matter what binding choice you go with, it will be perfect.
Hi Yvonne! Wow, how super cool to do this as a couple!!! I am so darn impressed, and it looks like Marc is a natural. I just love your backing – just perfect for this quilt. And the pattern is so cute as well – I’m going to check that out. Maybe he’ll like using the longarm so much that you’ll have to invest in your own! ~smile~ Roseanne
Longarms are the best! No more quilt wrestling, and the fewer hours spent on domestic quilting means more time for piecing another quilt!!
I know another quilter and her husband who do the same thing. She makes the tops and he goes to a longarm machine which they can hire and quilts her tops beautifully. She says he is much better at it than her. He always adds something special on the quilt somewhere. It is always attached to a memory and when she finds it, she is always surprised that he remembered.
How fun that he is quilting with you! I love it! Thank you for linking up with To-Do Tuesday!