[Couching foot for APQS]

When I was at MQX last week, one of the APQS reps said she saw Dawn Cavanaugh demonstrate how to use the Millie to do couching.  Dawn, if you see this message, could you explain how you do this and what foot you used?

 

Thanks

[Is Longarming Still a Viable Biz Option]

I am a bit late in responding to this question so I hope you are still looking at messages.

 

I have a longarm business and have had my longarm for 12 years.  Over the last year or so, I see more and more of my customers buying machines to do their own quilts.  I still have enough business to pay my bills but could be busier.

 

Personally I would be cautious in looking at your area right now.  Join several quilt guilds and see how many of the quilts shown at show n tell and at quilt shows are done by the piecer and how many are done by quilters.  Try to talk to some of the longarmers in your area to see how busy they are.  The girls that do the fancy custom quilts for hundreds of dollars have long waiting lists.  I can't afford to do those quilts and make most of my money doing some light custom and edge to edges. 

Three years ago I purchased the Intelliquilter robotic system and have been extremely happy with it and my customers appreciate getting those designs without an additional charge.

If you can, see if there is a rental longarm system in your area before purchasing it so you can make sure you like it.

Best wishes,

Charlene

 

 

[Snappers, Grips or Zippers?]

I, like Lisa, first used zippers.  I now use red snappers attached to a piece of muslin that has 1/2 zipper on the other end of the muslin.  This way if I need to quickly change out a quilt, I can just unzip.  I use the red snappers on the backing top and bottom.

[We moved our store and thus my studio!]

Thank you for all the photos.  It looks like a real organized, functional space.  Really liked your ironing surface

[Funny]

I found that if I unlocked the roller for the day, the quilt still looked like it had tension on it.  When the cat jumped on it, it sagged down and the cat got scared.  That was an easy fix to keep the cat off of the quilt.

[Serger question]

Hi Linda,

I just a bought a new serger last month, a Viking Huskylock 936. I'm not familiar with that brand that you mentioned, but I use the serger for garment work, making pillowcases, etc.

If you get a serger that has the chain stitch, you can attach your quilts to the leaders from what I understand and it is supposed to be quite easy to remove them.

Char