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gkazee

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  1. Like
    gkazee reacted to Cattygrandma in New owner of Lenni   
    I'm a new Lenni owner.  my machine will be here tomorrow, whup whup.  I'm so excited.  I just started quilting this last winter.( Bored with crocheting.) 
    And discovered I love it. but I couldn't quilt larger quilts on my sewing machine so I started investigating longarms. Hand quilting is out of the question.
    I really liked the Innova but there were lots of reasons it wasn't right for me. The main reason is there is NO life time warranty on their machines.  That's
    what sold me on APQS...  But not only that the Lenni has every thing on it that the Innova has for half the price.  I've played with both...  Didn't feel any
    differents.  I still have a lot to learn, but really excited to learn, and can't wait to get started.  
     
  2. Like
    gkazee reacted to jimerickson in Difference in features between Millie and Freddie   
    Amy:  I have an Ult 2 which of course came without electronic channel locks.  I found the "manual" channel lock to be user unfriendly.  As a result, I built myself a set of electronic channel locks.  I use them all the time.  In fact I was thinking about the channel locks the other day while quilting, and thought "what would I do without my channel locks".  At least at one time, some of the other long arm manufacturers offer the electronic channel locks as an option.  I think the option cost between $800 and $1000, so the extra $1100 APQS wants for the Millie over the Freddie is appropriate.  I personally would buy the Millie just for the channel locks.  Jim
  3. Like
    gkazee reacted to fbaldwin in Happy Morhers Day Everyone   
    Just want to wish you all a wonderful Mothers Day to all of you on this forum and to the staff at APQS.
  4. Like
    gkazee reacted to dancing bear in Show Competition   
    "Separate professional quilters" ... I've often thought that quilt shows should employ the golf standard .... Have a Masters category ... Those wonderful Master quilters would then have their own category or show
  5. Like
    gkazee reacted to quilterkp in The new Millie   
    I had the pleasure of quilting on one of the new Millie's today at Sheridan Kay's quilting studio.   Very nice machine!   They made an improvement to the channel locks and they hold tighter than they used to.   
  6. Like
    gkazee reacted to Suegeo in Has anyone made a Frank Lloyd Wright quilt?   
    Here is a photo of a quilt I designed on graph paper with a Frank Lloyd Wright theme for a relative.  I love his houses and designs.

  7. Like
    gkazee reacted to Marie0722 in FORUMS OR FACEBOOK CURIOUS   
    Welcome, Maribeth. As for the computer system, I just went through the same process. First you need to know what exactly you want to do with it. Reading the old forum threads is a good place to start but I found I had more questions than answers afterwards. The next step is to watch the basic videos on YouTube. Write down all the questions you have... and trust me, you will have quite a few
    The majority of people seems to prefer IQ over QuiltPath but I could never really get an answer as to why. I finally ended up contacting Angela Huffman of Quilted Joy because she was the only person I could find who seemed to be really good with both systems. And she was... she answered all my questions in detail, and I have ordered IQ through her. It hasn't arrived yet, so that's all I can tell you right now. Angela assured me I would be able to install it myself, and if I needed help I could just call her, and she'd walk me through. We will see how that goes... I am so excited.
  8. Upvote
    gkazee reacted to ValerieJ in FORUMS OR FACEBOOK CURIOUS   
    Excellent question. I prefer this forum.
    I spend lots of time on FB, more than I should partly because you have to swim through so much stuff. As a couple have said, it is difficult to find what you want with a search. And with all but the last few comments hidden behind the "view previous comments" link you get all the repeated, duplicated answers and so much "hit and run rudeness." I almost always click however many times I must to get to the first comments, because so much information can be hidden there, and then it is easier for me to quickly scroll through/past the repeats.
    So my preference for this forum has several reasons, including that it seems a more relaxing "quieter" place, not so haphazard, more actual knowledge and thoughtful answers, more consideration for others in general. On the other hand, FB is fun for it's multitude of pictures and inspiration.
    BTW, I am not known to most people here because I rarely post, though I am here to read the discussions often. I have a 1997 APQS Ultimate II that I aquired from it's original owner 5 years ago -- it has no bells and whistles. It has a light, handles with on/off button on front and back, and a rheostat for speeds 1-10, no interchangeable foot, no computer, no needle up/down, but I love her and she has helped me finish several quilts I might never have done without her. I can vouch for APQS's commitment to their owners, even those who did not buy from them, and the staff's dedication to customer service and the happiness of APQS longarm owners and users. When I am able to upgrade, it will definitely be an APQS. And in 3 years, 86 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 9 seconds I will be retired so I can quilt more than occasionally. Woo hoo!! Then I'll be posting here much more!
  9. Upvote
    gkazee reacted to loraquilts in Loyal customers. ???   
    Just a quick update.  I talked to one of my customers at the sewing club this morning and asked her why she was taking her quilts to another quilter instead of me (not in those words of course).  I just wanted to hear from her what I could do to improve my business, my relationship with customers, etc.  I could tell she was a little uncomfortable at first, but I assured her that I was not trying to coax her into coming back to me, just curious about the change.  She said that she uses the other woman for all over panto work, and would be using me exclusively for custom work - something the other woman doesn't offer.  She showed me an invoice from the other woman and her pricing was very similar to my new pricing, however, one thing she includes in her pricing is trimming the quilt and attaching the binding strips to the back of the quilt.  
    gkazee, I really like your idea of making a sample quilt with the pantos that I would do for 1 1/2 cents a square inch.  Linda, your suggestion of having a sale month is a great one too.   I'll make up the sample quilt and promote my sale for the month of November and the first two weeks of December.  We'll see what happens.  
    Thank you all for being candid with me.  I had checked around and found that my previous prices were about a cent below the average in my area.  I had been told by many that I wasn't charging enough, so I raised my prices a little after I got the computerized system.  Now I see your points about customers not caring that the stitching is perfect and just wanting to get the quilts finished quickly and as cheap as possible.  Also, I recognize now that showcasing all of my custom work probably scared some people off.  I think you are right - they see the detail and amount of effort in the quilting on those quilts and think $$$$$ cha-ching! and don't want to pay for that.  
    Next year, I'm going to try to show off two quilts a month (probably lap size) - one with custom quilting and one with an all over panto.  Hopefully, that will convey the message that I can do both.  
    Thanks again.  I really appreciate your honest feedback and input!!!!!  Thank you. 
     
  10. Upvote
    gkazee got a reaction from quilterkp in Surge Protectors   
    I have an Uninterrupted Power Source for my Millie. It protects from power surges and in case of power outages will run your machine long enough to shut down safely. The size recommended by APQS was a little over $300 from Amazon. 
  11. Upvote
    gkazee reacted to CarolAnne in Diamond Star log cabin/Chrysalis star pattern   
    I was living in Annapolis, Maryland, when Maria Mccormick-Snyder offered a precision piecing workshop all day at her home. Needless to say, the workshop changed my piecing skills.  I saw her quilt Chrysalis...it was completed except for the backing. It was of a glimmering silk construction that was a real beauty and the pattern design was ahead of its time.  This was likely 1978, from my memory.  I was organizing my quilting books today and thought about that great experience.  I was about 27 years of age and I'm in my 60s now.  I have taught this technique to many friends over the years.  I don't know when she passed away....she may have been almost 30 years older than me. Maria changed the American quilting world with her designs that were "outside the box".  
  12. Upvote
    gkazee reacted to queenie123 in pillows   
    Over 50 pieces in the anchors ,micro stippling around anchors trying to make them pop,only thing I did not make are the three small pillows ,.....oh this was just also just a test run adding pics since I have been away from here in awhile .....................still no regrets on my purchase of my used milli,first longarm ever!!!

  13. Upvote
    gkazee got a reaction from quilterkp in Double Batting & Natural vs. Bleached Batting   
    I forgot to answer the part of your question about the color of the batting.  For quilts that are primarily white I used the white Hobbs 80/20 on my own quilts.  It seems as though the white is dull after washing if I use the natural. 
  14. Upvote
    gkazee got a reaction from Kwiltr in Double Batting & Natural vs. Bleached Batting   
    I forgot to answer the part of your question about the color of the batting.  For quilts that are primarily white I used the white Hobbs 80/20 on my own quilts.  It seems as though the white is dull after washing if I use the natural. 
  15. Upvote
    gkazee got a reaction from quilterkp in Double Batting & Natural vs. Bleached Batting   
    I have not yet tried to use a double batting on my longarm but I think the difference between a domestic walking foot and the longarm hopping foot would make for a better outcome on the longarm.  There is no "give" in the needle bar of the domestic walking foot when you lower the presser foot so it would push the double layers of batting.  With the longarm the foot hops and if it still pushed the layers you can change the height of the needle bar......or at least you can on the Millie's. Perhaps someone who has quilted with double battings will chime it on this issue. 
  16. Upvote
    gkazee reacted to jimerickson in Which threads do you have a love/hate relationship with?   
    I use YLI Longarm Professional on the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin almost exclusively.  Occasionally I'll use Sigma or Glide (I find them inter changeable).  I wind all my own bobbins.  Have two winders, one for Bottom Line, and the second for whenever I use tex 40 in the bobbin (not too often)  I also use Fantastico when I want a variegated thread.  I've never used King Tut, and probably never will.  I don't like cotton thread because of all the lint.   Using only a handful of threads allows me to limit my thread inventory to relatively few cones (maybe 100), and even some colors of them, I don't use often.  If you're going to make any money quilting, you can't spend all your time adjusting the tension and frogging out bad stitches just to get some exotic thread to work, so I don't use many different combos.
     
    I just finished a project on Zelda where I changed from a disk tension system to a rotary system.  I've spent most of an entire quilt, working out all the adjustments.  It is amazing how many things come into play to get everything just right.  It is also amazing to me how many parts must be "tweaked" to get them to fit and function exactly as they are supposed to.  As a result, it comes as no surprise to me that different folks/machines handle the same thread differently.  Something as simple as the angle of 3 hole tensioner will affect stitch quality.  It is quite likely that very few people even with the same model machine, have their machines adjusted exactly the same way, or have all the exact same parts.  Jim
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