QuiltGuy Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Hi All, I have been lurking for months here and learning a lot from all of you (Thanks!). The twist...well I seem to be one of the only men here (other than Mark!). I am somewhat new to quilting. My wife (DW?) is an Artist (Retired a few days ago after teaching art for >20 years and was just named the state's Art Educator of the year...yup I am bragging just a bit I am incredibly proud of her! ) and we will be working together on quilts with her design input and me making the quilts (or at least trying) and offering them for sale through her usual outlets. I have had several telephone discussions with Mark and attended the Portland Road Show and ordered a new Millie with hydraulic lift and a 14' table as I had the room and saw no down side to having the bigger table! It should be ready soon (I am waiting for notice to make my final payment any day now). I can't say enough about how helpful everyone in the APQS family has been, it was a definite factor in my purchase decision. I learned about the MQX show in Portland from this Forum and have signed up for several classes over the days can be there and am really looking forward to that experience. Many of my questions have been answered from reading all the posts here but I have a few for all of you (and likely more as time goes on!). 1. When I first get the Machine and I am doing initial practice I have seen that you all recommend using inexpensive fabric for practice...do you use batting and a backing fabric layer too, or just a top piece to get used to using the machine? 2. If batting is appropriate for practice what would you recommend I use? 3. Since my Wife is a professional artist and has a business license I believe I can buy supplies at the wholesale/professional rate...where and how do I go about setting this up? Thank you all so much for your willingness to share your knowledge, it has been very helpful for me! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlnewell Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Welcome to the quilting world! Yes, you will need to use batting and a backing layer. Your machine should come with a very good video explaining how to load a quilt onto the machine and some beginning exercises to do. If you've never pieced a quilt top before, I suggest you find a book with basic piecing instruction. With long arm quilting, the flatter the quilt top, the easier, the better, and the prettier the quilting will be. There are also many you-tube videos that demo quilting techniques. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anniemueller Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Hi Dave- Welcome to quilting! And congrats on the purchase of your new Millie, it's a lot of fun. My preference is to practice on cheap solid fabric (any color or uncolored muslin is fine too) and batting. You'll want to experiment with tension settings, different threads and different battings. I recommend keeping a log book to start, to keep track of which settings and thread paths work best for different threads and batting. As far as buying wholesale, you'll want to set up a wholesale account with the vendor that you choose. Many of the vendors are happy to do it. They all have their own way of handling the accounts. Some on line, some by phone. My go to vendors are Superior Threads and Quilter's Dream Batting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhappy Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Dave~ Welcome! Good questions... 1. Yes use batting AND backing~You want to get the REAL feel of all of it! Also the tension is quite different when just doing a "Summer" quilt. 2. If you can get wholesale I would recomend you try different batts~ They all feel different..some beard, some dont..some like different threads also. 3. Many wholesalers out there~I like Paterson Arne~They don't make me buy "Costco" quanities. LOL Tho I do purchase many items from other wholesalers and retailers! You have a pleasurable and frustrating journey ahead of you and I wish the best!! It is in the long run very rewarding!! enjoy the process Patty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgardog Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 You're not the only man. Some of us just aren't that visible. My partner and I just started 2guyzquilting. We currently have a 2012 Freedom with Bliss, Quilt Glide and an Intelliquilter setup. It's a lot of fun. We started by purchasing old or damaged quilt tops at local auctions and then experimented. Superior Threads is hard to beat as that is what the factory uses to set the tensions. Mark is great to work with. We purchased ours from him. There is also a guy by the name of Jim Erickson who was real helpful when we bought our Quiltazoid setup. Welcome. Jim & John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggienoella Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Welcome to all the new guys!! My DH and I are just starting too. We're still practicing and love doing this together. We got some threads from Superior and they were easy to go wholesale with online. I did have our EIN#. I got a bolt of muslin at Joann's for 50% and cut it in half so I had two pieces for a top & a bottom, 5 yds long. I'm using up some batting I had too. We're finding this forum and youtube to be invaluable as we learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aleksich Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Welcome, you are a quilter. Quilting knows no sex, just artist. If you happened to have tops you would like to practice on and donate. Just go for it, the receiving person will love that it was hand made and keep them warm. I found that I liked experimenting with the blocks and learning new tech. this way. I would use batting and go to JoAnn's when they are having sales. When you get better, than buy the good stuff. I personally love wool here in the NW. MQX is coming up, save and buy there. Have fun and share when you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitepinesquilter Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Welcome to the APQS family. You and your wife are in for an exciting new career, by the sounds of it - enjoy yourselves practicing with cheap muslin or looser weave sheets and inexpensive batting. Practice circles, e's, l's, curves, try different threads to see how they work together (tension, etc.) All the while have FUN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fineseams Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 If your wife has a resale number, you could open accounts with the vendors of choice in her name, using that number. If she doesn't have a resale number and you want to buy wholesale, you'll have to get one. Vendors need that resale number so they can prove to the tax collector that they only sold without charging tax to people with permits. I had a resale number several years ago, and I simplified my reporting even more by requesting that the vendors charge sales tax at the time of sale. Then all I had to report was the amount I spent, and the tax paid, so the tax payable was zero. And I still got wholesale price for the things I purchased. Here in CA it is a very simple application, and for a moderate $$$ amount of materials purchased, you only have to file a report once a year. You will definitely need both backing and batting - one of the challenges is getting tension correct so that your stitches are beautiful on both sides of the quilt. Some folks go to Good Will or other thrift shops looking for old sheets or other inexpensive lengths of fabric - and you have definitely thrown away your very last old sheet - you'll be using them in the future. To a point, I agree that buying what is on sale at JoAnn's is a great place to start - those 40% off coupons are awesome. But once past your initial practicing, you might want to order a selection of good quality batts - crib size is good - in order to see how they quilt out. Quilter's Dream offers a package containing one each of all their batts at a good price. Since you will be doing quilting for your wife's designs, you really don't need to worry about customers bringing in batting - you guys get to choose what you think will enhance her work. I read on this forum some time ago that someone practices by quilting on one side of the quilt sandwich, and then turns it over and quilts on the other side. Use a thread that matches the backing on the first run. Use a contrasting thread when the back becomes the top so you can easily see what you have done. Good luck! I hope your business venture is a great success! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Dave we have many male quilters on this forum, we are all firstly quilters. Liam, Nigel, Matt, Jim, Grasshopper, Mr Margie spting to mind readily. Welcome to the world of quilting, your house is about to be invaded, by fabric, threads and gadgets ENJOY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sparrow Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Welcome Dave! As I'm sure you've already realized, this forum is a great resource. You can also swing on over to http://manquilters.ning.com where I run a group of over 300 Men who quilt. You will be welcomed with open arms. Make sure your wife gets a turn on the machine now before you have to kick her off to get your fix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Hi Dave and DW-- and welcome! Since you're somewhat close to Portland, you can visit EESchenck. It's a wholesale house with great prices on bolts of fabric, thread, packages and rolls of batting, etc. Really anything a quilt shop would want to purchase as far a notions and supplies. Figure most items are half the prices in the LQS. There is a minimum first visit amount and you can walk in and register or do so online. Fabric Depot sells in wholesale quantities (whole bolts, boxes of blades, boxes of needles, etc.) and their discount is about 40% off the LQS prices. Either one is great--no shipping charges and you get to touch the fabric! And of course, Superior Threads is wonderful! If you have an account set up with them by the time MQXWest rolls around in October, bring your account # to make wholesale purchases at their booth. Let the fun begin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Forgot to mention--we have a NW longarmers group that meets about 3 times a year. Next meeting at Seaside on July 27. You and your wife are very welcome to come and join us. Also, we'll have a dinner at MQX this year. More details as the time approaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibbyG Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Hi, Dave, welcome to the forum. We hope to see lots of your quilts on here. When you load your first practice piece, use a very light thread to quilt. Then roll back to the top and change to a dark thread. You get twice the practice out of one piece. If you even want a better use of your practice piece, you can layer another top over your original piece. I actually used old curtains and pieces of different scraps of batting in my practice pieces. After a short time, I realized that I didn't like to practice without a purpose, so I made charity quilts and practiced on them. Good luck with your machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltGuy Posted June 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Wow, Thanks to all for all the great information and the wonderful welcome! Thanks to Jim, John and Matt (I have been to your website many times Matt...super videos and great content ...just been a lurker, but that will change!), I am glad to hear I am not the only Guy around here (though I agree we are all quilters first!). I have done some sewing in the past but very little quilting. Been interested for a while but my focus has been on clothing related sewing up until a few months ago when I realized how much fun all you quilters seem to be having! My DW and I have been looking for things to do together that relate to her Art career (as we share several activities related to my hobbies) and this will be fun. Linda, Thanks for the Seaside invitation, unfortunately we are previously committed that weekend but would certainly be interested in future get togethers. The MQX dinner is a possibility I will watch for details! I am signed up for classes on Wednesday and Thursday. I am actually in a suburb of PDX only about 10-12 miles from downtown so PDX is easy for me and I will look into EESchenck... getting to touch the fabric is preferable! Bonnie, Thanks for the information! Since Oregon has no sales tax we may not have that requirement. My wife needed a business license and actively sells her artwork so I don't think anything else is needed here but I will absolutely check it out! Libby G, Thanks for the information...I have heard about the Linus project (when I met Beth at the Road Show she mentioned it) and am very interested in doing quilts for them so that may be a great way to practice. Really looking forward to embarking on this journey and appreciate all of your help (and I am certain I will have many more questions to ask as time goes by)! Now I just need to get our Millie here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gail O Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Welcome Dave,Jim & John. If you want to practice and not waste good cotton, buy some cheap flat sheets - low thread count. Tear off the finished edges, use one for a backer and one for the top. If you want to be really thrifty, when you get to the bottom, roll back to the top and lay another sheet on top and go again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage Keepsakes Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Welcome to the forum Dave and thanks for coming out of lurkdom! The more joining in here on the forum, the better. Looking forward to seeing the great collaborations you and your wife put together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Welcome to the forum Dave, it's a great place to learn, share and get support!!! Not to mention the greatest bunch of people on the web!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Last Stitch Posted June 30, 2013 Report Share Posted June 30, 2013 Hi Dave, You are not the only guy, Welcome. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted June 30, 2013 Report Share Posted June 30, 2013 Hey you "Guys", welcome to the whacky, wild, mind dazzling, green, well worn eyes, and a wirling mind to go with your inner being that wants to quilt.. As you know the forum here is wonderful.. hope you stay with us and enjoy giving info, tips and eye candy in return. We like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borderline Quilter Posted June 30, 2013 Report Share Posted June 30, 2013 Welcome to the forum Dave and Dear Wife....this is a great place to find help, inspiration and advice 24/7! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinneaMarie Posted June 30, 2013 Report Share Posted June 30, 2013 Welcome to all the boys out there! We need all the help, inspiration, yada, yada we can get. And we are not picky where it comes from!! Glad you joined us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltGuy Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Wow, what a great welcome...thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Welcome Dave!! Glad you have come out from being a "lurker". Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltGuy Posted July 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Welcome Dave!! Glad you have come out from being a "lurker". Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything!! Thanks Mark...and thanks for putting up with all my pre-purchase questions and the great road show presentation (Have you done that before? ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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