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New George Owner


LynnieD

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George arrived late yesterday afternoon and, bless her heart, Raquel was there to help un-krate and install him. Her Dad came too and the three of us worked together getting him all assembled and in his new digs.

I'm already smitten! I love the sound of the motor purring as I stitch.

The tension adjuster and I are becoming simpatico. And I am already enjoying the needle up/needle down and speed control settings. This is truly wonderful.

This morning I was reading the manual as I stitched more on the first quilt sandwich begun last night.

Last night, Raquel covered changing needles, keeping the screw tight (we switched it to the front of the machine) and how to service and care for the machine. She also talked about thread and showed me tension adjusting. In fact, she even copied her manual to bring since she thought mine was only on cd and wanted me to have "paper in hand" instead of computer screen for set up. But her copy wasn't needed since George shipped with a paper copy too.

APQS - I'm already smitten (oops, repeating myself). I'm at work and wishing I was home getting more acquainted with my new buddy. Thanks for the wonderful manual and offer to be there when I discover a new unexpected feature, ha! Thanks for hiring Raquel as your rep. She is competent and inspired a lot of confidence in me as she went over the various parts of the machine, etc.

Happy to have a group of other George folks to gush to--but then you know the feeling. ;)

Lynn

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Lynn

Congrats on your new buddy, you will have so much fun with him. I have a George, since March of 07 and he is the main feature in my front room. I am lucky enough that I do not have to quilt for others to pay for him, but can do some for others whenever I feel I have the time.

It is amazing what you can do with this machine. Have fun.

Judy

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Thanks Guys, you all make me really feel welcome.

Dawn, I sat and read your article on tension the other day and really enjoyed your take on how to describe it. Then, this morning, while studying the manual, I saw your article in it. I'm glad it's there... it's valueable for everyone using any sewing machine. I was sitting, reading & stitching on my sandwich from last night and wondering why the tension was getting worse... and then I saw two thread guides were unthreaded. Once I re-routed the thread through them, the tension was way too tight. Ha! Then I loosened it (top) and almost achieved a perfect looking line of stitching before the clock struck 6--my witching hour. I had to leave to feed my dogs and get ready for work. But tonight, I'll enjoy reading more manual and stitching more on another quilt sandwich or two. WOO HOO!

Lynnie

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Hi All,

I don't post much but I do read the 'George' messages. I also have George and would like to post pictures of quilts made by George but have not been able to figure it out. I'm sure other George owners have the same problem. Can anyone help!

Emily

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Lynn,

As a wannabe with no Big Girl :) machine, I would love to hear why you went with George instead of a frame. A couple of other questions that come to mind are what size quilts do you usually do, and how do you baste your layers together? I love hearing about getting started with APQS. I think a George would be heavenly, but I hate the whole basting thing and so am leaning towards a frame someday.

It's so nice to hear that the machine is great--Congratulations!! ;) Laura

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Hi Lynnie,

You have Mark, Dawn and Raquel for the expert technical advice, but if you ever have any "other" questions, I'd be glad to help. I'm always delighted when a new George owner appears on the scene, especially one as enthusiastic as you!

Welcome!:D

Claudia Myers aka "George's Mother"

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Hi Lynnie:

And greetings from a fellow George lover. I read your post and I'm dying to hear about changing the screw that holds the needle so that it's on the front of the machine. That would make needle changes SO much easier. Can you (or anyone) tell me how that is done?

For Emily:

I would love to post photos of my George's quilts on the forum and have tried many times but I just haven't figured out how to make it happen. It is much easier to post on other sites. Too bad.

And for Laura:

I can tell you why I decided on George instead of a stand-up longarm...I had two main reasons... space and skill set. I have a pretty large studio space and could probably have squeezed in a longarm with 12 foot table but George takes up so much less floor space. Also, after quilting a couple quilts on a friend's longarm, I realized that I would have to spend a LOT of time re-learning how to move the machine instead of the fabric if I ever wanted to get the detail I can get with a push-through machine. I'm not keen on basting either. I pin baste or thread baste the smaller quilts and have my longarm pal baste the larger ones on her machine.

Welcome. Lynn. Happy quilting! Nancy in Tucson

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Emily, For posting pictures: I posted my first one just this week. Since I started the topic there was a button at the bottom of the page marked attachment, click on that, it gives you a browse button, find your picture and click open. Then don't use the preview post, that removes the picture. Just click on enter post button (or whatever it is called). Good luck. You may need to make the picture smaller. There is a website, Resize that is free and works well for me.

Lynnie, welcome to George land!! You will have a great time.

Laura, I chose George for some of the same reasons Nancy did. I had/have a frame system with a Juki and haven't used it much because of the small throat space and the need to mess around to get all the layers together on the leaders. I like George for his table, that I don't need to relearn the movements that I use and space in the room. His table is also great as an additional table space/counter for use as a cutting area, you can store fabrics in the 3 drawer plastic units on wheels under his back leaf overhang. I'm shorter, so I don't have to reach up with my shoulders to work a frame system.

I baste my quilts with pins on my living room floor. One thing that has helped me with that is making a leader piece that I can sew the top on with the center in the center and the back on the other edge with the center in the center. Then I can tape the leader and backing down on the floor, fold the top back and spread the batting over the back. Then spread the top over the batting and begin pinning. Works great when you are the only one doing it. I mostly make bed-sized quilts.

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I am excited that Lynn bought a George as she is a very talented quilter. Her current quilt "Grape Harvest" won best of show at Road to California, Best of the Valley and MQS to name a few.

Claudia....thank you for posting. I told Lynn that I hoped some day she would be able to have contact with you as you are the master at quilting on the George.

Raquel Birch

APQS sales representative California

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Wowzer, Lynn!!!!!

I didn't connect the name with the fabulous quilt. I just got to see it at MQS and it is truly one amazing piece of work and greatly deserving of the Bests of Shows that it has already won.

I look forward to seeing what you are going to do next!

Claudia M.

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Nancy,

If you look at the needle bar, you should see a hole in it directly opposite where the screw is located. you can simply remove the screw from the back, and thread it into the hole on the "front". Begin slowly so that you get it seated correctly to avoid stripping the threads.

Once it's in, you'll be able to change the needle without completely removing the screw. Let me know if you have questions!

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What a great idea for basting. Thanks for sharing.

Originally posted by Neher-in-law5

I baste my quilts with pins on my living room floor. One thing that has helped me with that is making a leader piece that I can sew the top on with the center in the center and the back on the other edge with the center in the center. Then I can tape the leader and backing down on the floor, fold the top back and spread the batting over the back. Then spread the top over the batting and begin pinning. Works great when you are the only one doing it. I mostly make bed-sized quilts.

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Lynn, I just googled for your quilt and it is amazing! Congratulations on your success! Please let us know how your relationship with George progresses. ;)

Originally posted by clovismom

I am excited that Lynn bought a George as she is a very talented quilter. Her current quilt "Grape Harvest" won best of show at Road to California, Best of the Valley and MQS to name a few.

Raquel Birch

APQS sales representative California

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Originally posted by Neher-in-law5

So do we get to see a picture of Lynn's Grape Harvest, or others?

Bless your heart (yes, I'm Southern and can say that), I use webshots and if you'd like to look, please do.

http://community.webshots.com/user/lynnie915

There are 4 of us in on Grape Harvest: Gina Perks (quilted it), Marilyn J. Smith and I pieced the top (Marilyn is responsible for the wonderful portraits) and Jessie Marinas is the artist. I begged him to let me use his art work when I saw the mural he painted in Manteca, "The Harvest Continues" and I would have named our quilt the same but I wasn't aware he'd named his mural differently. My mistake. Future collaborations with Jessie will continue with his original titles.

Thanks for asking.

Lynnie

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Lynnie, Yes you can say "bless your heart" as much as you want. My dad (not a Southerner, unless you count South Dakota and southern MN as southern!) used to say that to us but he always said it just fast enough it sounded like one word. I was over 10 years old before I realized that it was 3 separate words. Good memories, Thanks.

Thanks for the pictures. The quilt is definitely one to be proud of. Beautiful work, a much different choice of work than I do, but can appreciate all that you four put into it.

Laura, when I make my basting leader I have sewn two 9 inch strips together along the 9 inch edge (selveges on, if choose) That seam is a permanent center mark. If the selvege has a bit of white showing in the seam it works great to find quickly. Then I fold the full 90 inch strip in uneven "halves", with the back side about 2 inches shorter than the front (top) side.

I then baste with machine (or use pins if preferred) the backing to the shorter edge and baste the top to the longer edge. Then it keeps everything in line no matter how you move things. If you sew the fold seam down a couple of inches you can put a curtain rod or pole of some kind through it like a sleeve to take pictures, or let it hang to see how you want to work with it next. I leave the leader sleeve basted on until I am ready to bind it, then remove and trim.

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Hi Lynnie! I was at MQS this year, and I was able to get up close and admire Grape Harvest! It really is spectacular. I was studying the applique and appreciated how you were able to capture the labor-intensity on the harvest worker's faces. I could imagine their struggle, their hard labor in the heat as they were lifting and carrying the heavy boxes of grapes. I could feel the heat they were enduring. You nailed it, girl!! And, Gina's artistic variety of quilting designs in the landscape, background fields and especially how she carefully chose to add the creases, the lines in the faces of the laboring workers. She did a fabulous job on that quilt. Really nice work.

PS: on my last day at MQS, without any plans, I happened to bump into Gina Perkes and was telling her how much I loved her Tuscany quilt (I think I took about 1000 photos of it...LOL!:P)) Tuscany won 1st at MQS in the innovative custom category) and while I was gushing about Tuscany, she noticed that I lived in North Pole, Alaska and she said "Hey! I'm moving to North Pole in 2 weeks!" I about fell over and fainted. Anyway, needless to say, I will be helping Gina and her family while they visit here this summer. Her husband has a 5 month construction job so the entire family is coming up for the summer to get the alaska experience. Where I live, we have a longarm guild. Gina offered to teach a quilting class to me & my longarm friends. It will be fun. I can't believe the luck; the kismet. Who woulda thunk it??? :P :P

Have fun with your George. :)

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Originally posted by quiltmonkey

I happened to bump into Gina Perkes and was telling her how much I loved her Tuscany quilt (I think I took about 1000 photos of it...LOL!:P)) Tuscany won 1st at MQS in the innovative custom category) and while I was gushing about Tuscany, she noticed that I lived in North Pole, Alaska and she said "Hey! I'm moving to North Pole in 2 weeks!" I about fell over and fainted. Anyway, needless to say, I will be helping Gina and her family while they visit here this summer. Her husband has a 5 month construction job so the entire family is coming up for the summer to get the alaska experience. Where I live, we have a longarm guild. Gina offered to teach a quilting class to me & my longarm friends. It will be fun. I can't believe the luck; the kismet. Who woulda thunk it??? :P :P

That's definitely kismet! WOW! I didn't know she was moving. I bet I ought to gt in touch with her and figure out the quilt shipping stuff before she gets out of continental US. ha! Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for the kudos on Grape Harvest. I can only take credit for the landscape but Marilyn Smith is the people creator. She did do an amazing job with them. I'll pass along your comments. She loves kudos too. Jessie really did a masterful job of his painting. All of the people in the quilt are of him except the man on the far right side who is the owner of the vineyard. The lady behind the first man in that gorgeous jacket is still a picture of Jessie but he made his portrait at that age a little more effeminate. I thought that was interesting and figured you'd enjoy knowing it.

Lynnie

Have fun with your George. :)

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