Learning curve

[gailpeters]

I have had my machine up and running since the first of the year. How long can I expect to have to practice before I would be good enough to do someone else's quilt. I know I am my own worst critic but I can't seem to get my stitching to look smooth. How long did you have to practice. How many of your own quilts. I guess I would be happy if I could do good enough to satisfy myself and do my own quilts. But so far I don't think it is coming together. What did you all practice on? I have tried some of the pantografs and they were really bad. I seem to do better on the front of the machine. I do okay with the stuff that was done with the hartly fence. Slowing down for the panto's sure does not work for me. I am open to any suggestions. I have a Millie but have not given her a name yet.

[QuiltFaerie]

Hi Gail,

I am a Gail also. I've had my Millie (no real name other than the BEAST) since September 2006. Due to a full time job, I haven't had much time to play or practice.

So far, I have done two actual quilts done with pantographs with limited practice. The first quilt top was my own, a scrap quilt that I pieced for charity. The second one was a top that I picked up from my local quilt guild that needed quilting , also for charity. I am very fortunate in that they always have tops that need quilting (very large guild). They donated over 210 quilts last year to a women's shelter.

I plan on picking up another couple of tops at the next meeting coming up shortly. For me, it is a good way to practice and do some good also.

Gail

[gardenslug]

Gail, I am one of those slow learners and only quilt for myself, family and charity quilts for homeless, etc. Found that doing pantographs that do not have large swirls helped some. Find pantos with small swirls, they are much easier when you are just learning. My curves from the front were much better than from the back, also. Also, pantos that have stopping points built in (gives you a chance to rest). Another thing I do is say swish - swish when I do a curve - don't know why, but it does help.

Hang in there, I'm getting better and I am the family klutz. So just know you will improve.

Marilyn

[Bonnie]

Originally posted by gailpeters

I guess I would be happy if I could do good enough to satisfy myself and do my own quilts.

Well, I would say that statement says alot....you aren't happy so therefore you need to practice some more till you are.

Gail, we each learn at a different rate....its so unfair to tell you that it's going to be 60 days and you should be able to be the a wize-bang quilter.... It's impossible to put a time frame on this question, I would just continue doing what you are doing and see what happens.

If you have a guild that you can get donation quilts to practice on that would be great....if you have tops of your own...also great.

Don't put this much pressure on yourself. This isn't suppose to be stressful...and with this statement you are putting needless stress onto yourself. Take it daily...and see what and where , post pictures and ask questions. Everyone here will be more than happy to help you....and if you ask for a critque trust me you will get an honest answer.

Now breathe...you are sucking all the air out of your house...you so take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your new venture.

[sewingupastorm]

I guess the best answer is that the learning curve is going to vary with each person.

My story........................I have always been creative. Love to draw. I took to freemotion quitling on my domestic machine with a passion. Then I took to the longarm with the same passion. I did 12 charity quilts, one of my own and dove right into customer quilts. You can see how much my work has improved by looking at my webshots.............the first ones in the 2006 folder are pretty bad and the new ones are really nice and I am most proud of them.

Practice is sooooo improtant as well. I have the 87th quilt loaded on the machine now. If you do a quilt once in awhile you will not improve very fast you have to keep doing it and keep pushing yourself and raising the bar.

That is my story. Best of luck in developing you expertise on your machine.

[SandraC]

When you work on pantos, try this...don't look right at where the laser is pointing...look ahead to where you are going. It's kind of like driving a car, you don't look at the front of the hood, you look ahead on the road to where you are going. This was a valuable tip given to me when I got my machine and I noticed an immediate improvement!

BTW, it just dawned on me that I've had my Liberty for 3 years this week! How time has flown. I remember that I got it on March break that year and by the end of April I was taking customers.

Hang in there, Gail, you'll be having fun before you know it!!!

[Ferret]

Do you have a local quilt shop you get on well with? Or a quilt group you trust? If so I would take some of your samples along and let them see what you are doing. I am a perfectionist and I still haven't reached the point where I would let my quilting out if it wasn't for all the people who tell me they like it. I know I can only see the faults so I have to rely on others to tell me things are OK.

Ferret

[sylkamode]

Gail,

When I received my Millennium from APQS, I have made some sample quilts out of my own tops. After a couple of quilts, I advanced to making quilts for customers, and I have been doing this ever since... that is from september 2006, when the machine came to my shop.

Before that I have made a lot of quilts on my regular sewing machine, quilted them freehand, with walking foot and with special stitches, so I have make many, many doodles and projects before I received my long arm machine. You can say I have practiced a lot before then.

Since the understanding and motion of freehand quilting is the same on a sewing machine and long arm machine - ok, ladies, with the sewing machine you move the sandwich, with the long arm machine you move the machine - I had the motion in my fingers, and since I am almost always using the stich regulator of my Millennium, all works fine for me,

But all is different for quilters, so keep trying, keep practicing, it will work out fine.

Sylvia Kaptein

Sylka-Mode

The Netherlands, Europe

www.sylkamode.com

[countrystitcher]

Gail, we are our own worse critics! I'm sure your work is beautiful -- every single stitich does not have to be perfect. I used to send my quilts out to be quilted and did I ever turn it over and go over all the stitches - no - I looked at the quilt, loved it the way it was and was on to another quilt. Unless you are doing a quilt to be judged most people just want it quilted so they can use it or give it away. Unless something just jumps right out at you that it's wrong - leave it and go on. Life is too short to be that regulated!!!

The best stitiches to you....Sharon.

[janeta]

I have had my millie since (October 2005) and struggled with pantos too. What I discovered is that it was much easier to do free motion quilting for me so I did that for awhile. I then went to a workshop put on by Deloa Jones in Mansfield, Ohio and she as well as the other teachers, including Jamie Wallen, said they doodle on paper for practice. This really helps and I can now do pantos without any problems. I am also finally getting feathers down as well. Haven't quilted for others yet but plan to try soon. Janet:D

[ramona-quilter]

Gail,

Lots of good advice and tons of experience in this thread. We have all been where you are. Hang in there. And don't be so hard on yourself.

Bonnie is right, we all learn at different paces. You'll get it. Be patient. And if you feel like you are just not getting it fast enough, take at look at one of my first pieces....

I really needed to work on my stitch length :P It looked like it was quilted with a fork.

When I got discouraged and I did have some dark days, I would drag this quilt out and look at it. I have gotten better, though. Hang in there and Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice. And RELAX, this is supposed to be FUN.

[pfrost]

Gail, it's not something that can be rushed. We all learn at different rates & we all have different expectations of what we hope to produce. I've had my machine since Oct. 2005 & am just now beginning to feel that the quality & consistency of my work is good enough to offer to others. But that doesn't include the fine heirloom custom work--only the basics: pantos, meandering, SID--nothing too fancy yet! Just take your time & bond with your machine. Enjoy the learning curve!:cool:

Pat

AZ:cool:

Mille

[Quiltsinmotion]

Gail , sew many quilts sew little time . Sweet Dreams [name for my milli] arrived in June of 2006 the learning curve controlled my life for a few months . Then I just got brave and offered friends a very good deal say 20 to 60 $ to let me quilt there quilts . Only agreement was they could only pick thread color I was allowed to do what ever I wanted with no complaints from them I did some freehand , pantos , borders designs just had fun . If they hated it they had to tell me the truth we would figure out what to do . I made them promise to be truthful to me , instead of lying to me then talking bad behind my back . It worked out great , so great that in Jan. 2007 I double my prices .

I am now having the time of my life . Busy enough to support my habit LOL

Good luck you will be fine

Some day I will be a freehand girl on large quilts I feel her lurking inside just waiting to jump LOL

[jeanros]

HI Gail,

I was wondering the same thing when I got my Mille. I asked an longarm quilter how long will it take before I am good enough to be in control of my machine? She relpied, after doing about 10 quilts, so I used muslin, used sheets and charity quilts. I work too so I did'nt have a lot of time to quilt.

You will learn some thing new everyday, so be patient, practic, practic, practic as much as you can and have fun doing it. Happy Quilting.

Jean

[Kathleen]

I keep a white board around and doodle on it while I just sit. I also have the books by Darlene Epps that are most helpful. I was told that our muscles have a memory, and after practicing on the white board and then going to the machine I have come to believe that my muscles do remember the motion! I try to get on the machine for about an hour a day just to play, so that in addition to the white board will give plenty of practice. I am also very critical of my own work, but like the others have said, no one will get a magnifier out and go over each and every thread. I have done quite a few quilts for family and now I am volunteering for QOV and after I got over the fear of the first quilt that wasn't my own families, it went really well! Sort of an ephinany of "why was I so afraid?" It gets easier (ok, less fearful!) every time as well. Keep your chin up! ~Kathy~

[Kathleen]

I forgot to tell you that I named my Millie in honor of my grandma who was a quilter (hand piecing and later on a treadle machine). When "she" is frustrating me with a tension issue or what ever (probably operator error!) I call my machine by her full name...Ethel Lee!! LOL

[Patch]

Ya know, as I looked at sewingupastorm's 2006 quilts on her webshots page (gorgeous quilting, SUAS!), I realized that the only people who look very closely at quilting stitches are experts and show judges. To me, as long as the overall effect is the look of a quilt, I don't care of the quilter zigged somewhere where she/he should have zagged or even if the stitches go outside the lines somewhere. In fact, if they're all absolutely perfect they scare me. I think a quilt is better if it's not perfect, otherwise it's not a quilt, it's a comforter. My two cents, who doens't deserve to put my hat in this ring, since I don't have a LA. YET.

I think I agree with those who say you're being too hard on yourself, and I say so because I do the same thing to myself, LOL! Give yourself a break, Gail, and try a charity quilt. I bet it will build your self-confindence like nobody's busines. Good luck!

[yvonnerenae]

Gail

When I first started I read a book which referred to "body quilting". I don't have the book at my fingertips and of course don't remember the author (hope I'm not offending anyone on the forum) but it was entirely about learning to long arm. It helped me a lot and I still use the "body quilting" method. Does anyone know the correct title and author?

[dancingstitcher]

Think of it like doing a puzzle. When you first open the box and spill all the pieces on the table you think that all the greens are the same all the blues are too much alike. Then you start looking over the pieces and searching for those greens and another pile of blues and pretty soon you realize that there are about ten shades of green and some have some white and others have some dark so you break those pieces down. Pretty soon you have two pieces together, then the numbers increase, and you get to where you can find what you are looking for.

Quilting is just like that. These big boxes arrive and you spill them out all over the floor. Getting the machine together is like finding the first two puzzle pieces that fit together. For some people they assemble the puzzle by finding all the edges first while others look for a motif and put that together first. We all learn to quilt through different means, different paths, some put the pieces together quickly while others stare for hours to get a little done. Some of us go to teachers for help.

Now your eyes are wide open to what you see and it looks like a large challenge. Eventually some of these pieces are going to fit together.

I got my machine and began stitching on donation quilts in November and December. New Years day I drove to Utah to take three days of classes with Myrna. We worked a lot on the dry erase board learning stitching patterns because your eye/hand coordination is so important. Then you muscle control is the next thing to grasp like throwing a ball from one hand to another because in doing stitching the two hands have to work together for most free hand and pantograph work. For fine work and using tools the hands are doing different things, micro drive handles and straight edge or curves tools. All this has to be learned, including where your eyes should go. Believe it or not, the hands will follow the eyes!

Like puzzles, one piece at a time, think of your stitching not as an entire pantograph but as the left side of one leaf. Look to the point and move your hands up to it and pause, then look to the next point, move your hands and pause. You might find that your hips want in on the action!

It's amazing how far I have come in four months. I entered two quilts into the AZ Quilters' Show, did Hartley Fence concentrict circles on one because I could control that motion. Did some micro stitching because I find that easier than the regular sized work. On the second quilt I did couching of Razzle Dazzle thread, back and forth from side to side, between all my raw edge applique and added little bubble type circles to accent the print in the background fabric. I'm so excited to see two of my creations hanging in a show. That's a lot of giggle power.

On Monday I can get back on the machine and try some new things. Don't know if I will ever get my whole puzzle together, but it is fun working on it and seeing what I can accomplish.

Hope this long winded letter helps you and perhaps several other folks because we all go through this. Good luck.

Vicki

[catsigler]

And Vicki's Sea Dog took 3rd place in its category at our state show!!! Not a small feat for most beginners, although Vicki is a bit of an overachiever, so not as surprising for her. I see many more awards in her future. Vicki works at it rather than waiting for it to happen. That's the key. We have a poster that illustrates the concept. The poster shows three monkeys in various poses; the caption says, There are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. There is no doubt which one Vicki is. Not sure yet whether I'm the second or the third kind.

[moogiequilter]

I like this thread. I just got my machine, but I've been doing long arm quilting for 5 years, either renting time or using a friends. I SUCK at pantos. I can't follow the line, I make jaggy curves, and some places, when I pause, I actually move to the left or right.

So I don't do pantos.

I have developed 5 all over free motion patterns, that I can do in two different levels of density. I'm really good at those because I do them from the front of the machine where I can see what I'm doing. I thought I couldn't go into business until I could do it ALL. Including cross-hatching.

I had some really good advice from a Long arm group in NC, as long as I specify what I do and don't do, blossom with what I can do. I do customer quilts and charity quilts using my free motion designs and those quilts look really good.

I use my own quilts, to keep practicing on the more custom work like feathers and echo quilting. I may never do that for a living, but there are a lot of folks out there who do just want nice 'utility' quilting.

Don't feel like you have to do it all, do what you like and get really good at that.

[quiltmonkey]

Cathey,

In your scenario, I'm usually the monkey who wondered what happened...LOL!