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Look what I got to quilt! It's a pink themed Halloween quilt, to display at our local hospital during the month of October. Pink because it's breast cancer awareness month. The Jackson Hole Quilt Guild rotates a quilt display every month at our local hospital. The nurses and patients really appreciate it. We've had a hard time in years past trying to find a pink quilt for the October display. So we had the bright idea to make a quilt just for that. Different people made the applique blocks, others sewed them together with sashing and border. I quilted it, and just handed it off to another member to attach the binding. A terrific collaboration. Last May I took a few classes from Judi Madsen in Salt Lake City. I just LOVE her work. So, you will see that she inspired this quilting. The bat bra block is the one that really got me started with the quilt designs. The lady who made it drew a spider in a web on the cleavage, so clever and so easy to quilt that design! Judi had just posted an applique quilt that she'd finished that had bugs in it. She gave the bugs motion by quilting a swirly design under them. I thought the ghosts need that swirly design too. Remember, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?! I used a wool batting, glide thread with magna glide bobbins. Love those magna glide bobbins! Angela Huffman is a great source for them and her delivery is super fast. Thanks for looking!

Just off my quilt frame this week, "Surf Song" bargello. From the book Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts by Eileen Wright. Needed a king size quilt for my bed and instead of adding borders to make a king sized "Surf Song" I kept building the bargello to the edges. I quilted it with IQ and the panto Ripples by Lorien Quilting. I will make coordinating batik pillowcases and of course still need to bind the beast!! Robin in MT

Usually I am my own worst critic but I finished a quilt for a customer last week that I am really happy with. It is a king size Grandmother's Flower Garden, all hand pieced. Every flower is made up of seven different fabrics, and every fabric was only used once in the quilt. There are a few repeats in the green background but not in the flowers. She worked on it on and off for five years, and she must have collected every basic fabric out there for the last 20 years. It was so much fun quilting the flowers and looking at all the different fabrics, recognizing many of them. She asked me to "make the flowers look like flowers", and I think I did

My quilting has been hit or miss lately. Rather than try to make a quilt, I found this vintage table cloth and went to town. I miss spending time with my Millie! I do have to say that I love having quilts on the table. Now I need to find a Christmas poinsettia table cloth! I had no plan for this one other than, I needed to quilt some feathers, I knew it need checkerboard cross hatching and I just needed to do some crazy quilting!!! Just makes me want to do more! I put it on the frame and just got started. Used a little thread in the process. One layer of hobbs 80/20 batting, glide thread on top magna glide in the bobbin. Hand guided with a little ruler work.

I had the privilege of quilting this beautiful applique Iris quilt for my neighbour/friend. It has a wonderful story behind it. She made the quilt top back in 1988 for her daughter and as young daughters go, didn't like it once Mom had almost finished the top. So, my friend put it in storage along with the rest of the fabric and backing. Now this summer, her mother is moving from her home to a new condo and my friend felt her mother needed a new quilt for her new home so she dug this out of storage and her mother loved it. She was ready to bring me the quilt and then realized the borders had never been put on so she needed to quickly do that as well and so fortunate that she had kept all the extra fabrics! I had SO much fun quilting this for them. AND another exciting note is that my friend is now eagerly awaiting her very own APQS Millie!! We are going to have so much fun sharing ideas and learning together!

Made this little quilt for baby shower gift for a coworker. I’m new to ruler work and am pleased with the result. Just needs binding

I finally put one of my own quilts on my Millie. I had been putting it off because I wanted to do custom and knowing that I wanted it just perfect for myself kept me from just jumping in. Doesn't matter that I can do custom on customer quilts. For some reason....that's different. I think I am pretty happy with what I have done.

Rita and Roland visiting Dennis and me in 2009.

So... with me taking some time off during the holidays, I had a "stay-cation" and I a few days ago, I finished another beauty. It's a pattern designed by Judy Niemeyer called Paradise in Bloom. This one is pieced by one of my most favorite customers. She is amazing. She's 80 years old, she lives in Castle Rock Colorado and she sends me all of her (absolutely impeccably pieced) quilts to finish for her. It truly is my honor and joy to be part of this project. She is in the hospital right now, so I am keeping her in my thoughts and prayers. Love and prayers to my special friend, Sonja ....

I just put this one in the mail to my in-laws yesterday. It’s a Moda Bake Shop quilt pattern using a Jelly Roll, which gave me a little trouble and I ended up doing some creative piecing to get it finished. I used Superior Monopoly to ditch it, beside the ditch, as the seams are all pressed open, then completed the rest with a Glide 40wt. Lenni worked really well with the Monopoly, thank the quilting gods! ;-). It’s about 60” square after washing. And I need to give credit to Tracey Russell from Whirls n Swirls Quilting who came out with the background full video the day I put it on the frame!

Here are a couple of pics of a recently quilted customer quilt. She did machine applique quilt monopoly thread. I thought it was a super cute quilt. It has one layer of Hobb's wool batting and was quilted with the Metro Pro Thread.

My niece, Sydney, visited for a week from Minnesota, because she wanted to see us and wanted to learn to quilt. She'll be 14 next month. She saved her money and bought a sewing machine. The only sewing she's really done was in the class the place she bought her sewing machine offered for new machine owners. I've taught adults, but not kids. I told her to look through a book of blocks and choose the ones she liked. I vetoed all but the one in the pictures. I decided to make 18" inch blocks, so she only needed to make 6 blocks. It ended up looking too long and skinny, so we decided to make 3 more blocks. Sydney did most of the cutting and sewing. I did all the pinning. I had her practice drawing what she wanted to quilt, and then quilt it on some sheets I cut down, using my Millie. She decided to quilt feathers and swirls in the sashing, and I suggested meandering in the blocks. She did one block, and didn't like it at all, so we ripped it out. She ended up doing feathers in all the blocks. She did all the quilting. She had never even seen a longarm until she saw mine. I'm amazed at how well she did. She said she had no idea what making a quilt involved. With all the work she did in one week, she didn't get burned out. She wants to come back, and thinks she can go home and make a quilt using the churn dash block. Deb.

Just a little peek of my Grandson's quilt and Neighbor's daughters quilt. I found my grandsons quilt pattern in the Fons and Porter Love of Quilting August 2013 Magazine, but changed the fabric up quite a bit to suit my grandson. The other quilt is a quilt pattern called Walk About designed by Ann Lauer and sold by Grizzly Gulch Gallery. Easy to make. I made the girls quilt out of Strawberry Shortcake fabric and Nemo fabric. I have no place to hang a quilt for good pictures, so please forgive me for the poor quality.

Here's a picture of the quilt, for anyone who would like to see it.

My customer loves to applique using reproduction fabrics. The first quilt is called Flowers for Carol. She won a blue ribbon in the Bedford quilt show for small applique wall hangings. The second quilt was just finished. She likes warm and natural batting. I used Bottom line on the top and the bottom in the crosshatching. Flowers for Carol by Libby G, on Flickr Flowers for Carol (2) by Libby G, on Flickr applique by Libby G, on Flickr

Hi. It's been awhile since I've been on here. It's been a hard year. First four months dealing with asthma and bronchitis. Then I injured my knee and shoulder on my way to Portland in June for one granddaughter's graduation from high school and another's birth of my second great granddaughter. I missed them both. I took my seat belt off, turned around, rested my knee on the seat and reached into the back seat of the pickup to get something. Felt immediate pain in my left knee like I had knelt on a jagged rock and in my right shoulder. We drove straight through (over 700 miles) to get to Portland and this happened a little over midway. Within 24 hours I couldn't walk at all nor use my arm. I was seen in ER and the decision was made to make a beeline for home. OMG was that ever the hardest thing. Thank goodness for good pharmaceuticals. I called both my private Dr and my ortho dr for appts on the drive home. Had to play the game...x-rays, MRI's, injections and finally surgery at the end of August. I shredded the meniscus on one side and tore the one on the other side in my left knee plus a couple of other things. No rotator cuff tear, but being on crutches all this time has taken it's toll on allowing it to heal. I'm still on crutches and it sucks big time. I'm planning to try another trip this week. DH has an Aikido seminar in Seattle so I'm tagging along and getting off in Portland for a couple of days. Now, what I intended to do here was show you a picture of a statue I love. My daughter had to go to SD last week so I asked her to take a picture of it for me. It's called "Dignity". It's a 50 foot tall statue of an Indian Maiden holding a Star Quilt (they called it a blanket, but we all know better) built in Chamberlain, SD on a hillside overlooking the Missouri river. It's the most beautiful thing.

Every month a group of us meet to quilt at a quilting shop with an attached restaurant. Since it's a day of shopping, sewing and eating, I find it difficult to work on any project that requires me to pay attention. So I've found it's a great time to make a scrappy quilt. I love on point settings and a floating look. So this is my latest project. Sew fine on top and Bottom Line in the bobbin, and Hobbs 80/20. Since I love to quilt feathers and made a large border, I feathered it. I used the pantograph waterworld in the center so it wouldn't compete with the feathers. scrappy nine patch (2) by Libby G, on Flickr scrappy nine patch (3) by Libby G, on Flickr scrappy nine patch by Libby G, on Flickr

Really enjoying work on a new quilt. This one is for my oldest grand-daughter for Christmas; I hope it will become a keepsake for her. The piecing is done to an Eleanor Burns "Quilt in a Day" (right!) pattern, with a color change from rose to lavender. But I'm very much enjoying doing the quilting. I took a couple of classes from Bethanne Nemesh at QuiltWeek in Paducah, and I'm using her "Nemeshing" fill pattern for the center of the quilt. I'll post more pictures when it's all done.

As Customer Service Director, I appreciate your candid feedback! If you have not received the kind of service you expect, please let me know so that we can remedy the situation as quickly as possible. We do take pride in our customer service, and if we have fallen down on the job we want to make it right. Unfortunately, if we aren't alerted to a problem, then we can't fix it. If you have not had an issue resolved to your satisfaction, please let me know. I understand the desire to have more customer service technicians around the world to help customers who are not willing or able to do the repairs themselves. We'd like that too! In fact, if you haven't looked at our "retailer" listings lately, be sure to do so--we have spent the past two years training nearly 50 of our dealers to become certified technicians who can do service work both in their stores or studios as well as "in the field". You can search for retailers who are certified technicians based on zip code or even by the certified tech designation. We have three more training sessions set up through next June that will bring that number up to well over 75 trained service people across the US, Canada, and Europe. Once our dealers have been trained, we will work to add more technicians who are "outside" of the APQS dealer family but are interested in receiving the training. That will make it easier for customers to find a regional service center for help with their machines if needed. While we'd love to have a technician on every corner just like Starbucks, as a small, family-owned company that is a bit out of our reach at the moment. The good news is that these machines are built to industrial standards and are designed for years of heavy use before the machine parts start showing wear and tear and need more than simply oiling and checking motor brushes. That's how we are able to offer a lifetime warranty on the machines. If they were prone to problems or frequent breakdowns, we'd go broke with warranty repairs. We realize that despite that reliability, some quilters just feel better if they have the machine "looked over" on a regular basis, which is a service that our certified techs can still provide. But it is also something that machine owners can also do themselves through a "mini spa kit" (see below). Many longarmers are convinced that their machines need a yearly "servicing" just like their home sewing machine. That may the case with other brands, but APQS machines do NOT need a yearly servicing. If a quilter keeps the machine clean, oils the machine properly, and checks the motor brushes annually, (all of which are described in detail in the machine manual found on the CD or USB that came with the machine and on our "Support" section of the APQS website) then even a machine used every single day for a business will not need typically need "servicing" until the 7th or 8th year of ownership. It's at that point of full-time use that the 'wear and tear' parts on the machine start affecting the stitch quality and will need repair or replacement. However, it IS still a machine, after all, and once in a while a machine may need attention before that point in time. We designed the machine so that any repairs are not only simple to do, but also user-friendly and more cost-effective than having to pay for a technician to make a house call or experience 'down time' by sending the machine back to the factory. But both of those options are available, along with certified technicians in the field, to help when needed. Regarding our "Spa in the Box", it is currently not listed on our online store, but that IS available for purchase for customers who call in to order it and doit themselves. The Mini Spa kit includes instructions on how to 'check' the machine over, along with basic wear and tear parts for replacement if needed. The Deluxe Spa kit assumes the machine is due for that 7-8 year "check up" and that parts will be replaced for sure, rather than just 'evaluated'. We haven't listed it on the store at this time due to the variety of APQS models available--we want to be sure we send the correct repair parts to match the model. However, Lisa brings up a good point--we could list it on the store and simply request that the customer call us directly to place the order. If you're interested in either of the Spa Kits, you can call our Parts Team at 800-426-7233 or email us at parts@apqs.com for more info. And if you're struggling with your machine and need help, please let me know!

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today it is ugly and rainy with a Northeaster. SO I'm working on my SIL,'s Halloween quilt using the blocks in Jessica;s set. Love how it is working out. Thought you would enjoy! Using Superior's Rainbows thread and no problem with it today. It must be the Rain!!! 20170930_160401 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr 20170930_154450 by Dell Dunman, on Flickr

Hi All, It has been so long since I've been on the forum. I don't get much computer time these days. I keep my daughter's twins who are now 16 months old!!!! No idea where that time went. For all my old friends that followed Landon's story, he is doing great! It has now been 1 year since he had his open heart surgery and he is thriving. He is such a little charmer. He will probably still need more surgery but for now we are so thankful for how well he is doing. Scarlett is doing wonderfully too. They both have brought so much joy to our family. Most days I'm crazy busy chasing them around. We finally moved into our new home 11 months ago and my studio is set up. I haven't gotten a ton of quilting time in but hoping in the new year I will be able to get at it again. We just built a baby cave for the babies and they can play while I sew and quilt. I've had it up just over a month and oh it is a little bit of heaven for them and for me! Once the craziness that surrounds the Christmas season I'll have time to focus on my quilting again. I hope all of you are doing well. Just wanted to say hi.

A new customer brought me this quilt, a pattern from Missouri Star Quilt, called Slice-a-Block. She made it for her daughter to hang in her new office. Since it had a lot of colors and a random design, I decided to just pantograph it. So Fine on top and Bottom Line in the bobbin. 80/20 Hobbs. Slice a Block by Libby G, on Flickr Since she had leftover fabric, she decided to make a wall hanging. Because it wasn't as big I decided to try a modern, for me, custom design. After quilting this, I decided to buy the little circle templates that DeLoa Jones and Jamie Wallen sell. It sure makes it easier to make those pebbles. Slice a Block (2) by Libby G, on Flickr

It's been a long time since I've been on this forum - or had anything to post. My wife and I have been in our RV for most of this year, and I've not been able to play much with Lucius. But we're back home now, and I'm finally fulfilling my hidden desires. She pieced this chevron quilt to try out using a layer cake of gradation fabrics. When she had finished, she handed it to me and said, "Here you go. Play with this and see what you can do. It's just for practice!" So I decided to try a different pattern in each band and to use contrasting colors. I'm tying it together by using curved patterns in the teal and straight-line patterns in the white. And then, for interest, I have added circles of different sizes and I'm practicing other patterns in the circles. Is this too much fun, or what?