Gator Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Linda, what a great story!!!! Thanks you for a look into the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smorris Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Thank you Satu, APQS like to look after all our customers not just the ones who buy first hand - you are a great customer and its a pleasure to be able to help.. Linda - your nuts - thanks sue in australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 So, who wants to be my local rep & come give me that free beginner\'s class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hi Darlene, You are doing stitch-n-ditch on one of your first quilts...a custom method and difficult even for the "ole" timers...so don\'t give yourself a hard time...lift your chin up and say I can and am doing this! Also, whoever gets this quilt will only see that someone spent their own personal time making the quilt and he/she will not see the flaws that you are seeing. I remember last year when I asked about how to do stitch-n-ditch on my first quilt...I had more responses - many like "Don\'t go there....being new" that I got a little freaked out. Only one person (thanks Dawn C!) gave me encouraging words and really good directions on how to handle stitch-n-ditch techniques! It takes time...and yes, I have realized that most longarmers are perfectionist. Our own worst critics are ourselves! If I can find that post...I\'ll send it to you as an attachment via email. You are also using the mono poly thread which isn\'t the easiest thread to work with... so you have two learning curves you are working with! Doing a custom quilt as your first big quilt is tough!! Don\'t worry - when you leave next Saturday - you\'ll have so many ideas going through your head, new techniques that you\'ve learned and confidence that your DH will have to bring you back down to earth! Bring the QOV quilt if you want and I\'ll help you with the SID technique. I won\'t do it for you but you will be able to be confident in your skill level when you leave... Have a good:P weekend!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeoldeforest Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Catherine - I want to come teach you a class in Hawaii!!! I\'ll be in California in two weeks but guess I won\'t make it to Hawaii! I\'m sure you can convince someone to teach you a class there;) Darlene - here is that post about the "warnings" and advice for newbies and SID - it was fun to go back and read it...and yes...I was very nervous too with one of my first quilts as you can tell from the chat... http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=6818&page=1#pid54582 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LA Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Hey Catherine, Bet you will have plenty of us waving ours hands in the air to come visit you!!! I love Kona, loved the kayaking across Caption Cooks bay in Kealakekua Bay. Lots of dolphins & turtles, not to mention a great work out! I have a friend that is moving to Kona :cool:& you can be sure that I will look you up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Looks like Linda is sailing south west toward the big island right now, as we speak! :cool: Bon voyage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 When Cheryl Uribe started this post, I had no idea that it would turn into the warm wonderful message thread that it has turned into! Isn\'t it amazing that we have people from all over the world, everywhere with so much help and support? We all are truly blessed to be part of this little community on the internet. I have to tell you that if it were not for the support, advice, knowledge that you all share here, I would not be where I am today with my confidence level. Thank you to all of you, everyone on this chat, for making this a great place to be. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Happy quilting! Shana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchinsally Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Cheryl, I bought the APQS machine specifically because there was a rep fairly close (just a little over an hour drive). Personally, I think all they wanted was the commission because follow up from them, unless they can get some more money out of me, is terrible. I get more and better customer service from the company I bought my $500 sewing machine from then I do from the rep I bought a $15,000 quilting machine. In fact, I\'ve had problems with tension and backings not loading square since day 1 (that was about 4 years ago) and got so frustrated with it recently that I finally broke down and e-mailed them to see what they would charge me to come to my studio. They responded back they would get back with me with an answer and that was about 2-3 weeks ago. I\'ve still not heard from them. I\'ve given up on them and would never recommend them if someone was looking for an APQS machine. So, lets just say my attitude about reps isn\'t the best. I wish they were as good as you appear to be. Sorry, I\'m just the bad customer apple in the bucket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmwife Darlene Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Sorry to have been a whiner. Thanks for the encouragements everyone! It truly helps. It\'s just been a rough week for me. I agree with Shana, that there is so much support & help here. I haven\'t even met any of you and yet you are all so sweet and helpful. You are an amazing group of people and I am blessed to know you. May all your quilting dreams come true!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Patten Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hay Catherine in Coffeeland.... Hawaii I know I am your closest rep!!! A longarmer from coffeeland... in Hawaii, just tell me when and I\'ll be there LOL I don\'t eat very much, love the beach, and can pack a bag in under 2 minutes LOL :cool: PICK ME !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nineva Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Hey there stitchinsally, I don\'t know where you are, but I am sorry this happened to you. What many people do not realize is that they are NOT required to buy from someone that lives near them. The dealers are not assigned specific territories so you can buy from anyone that you see giving great service, answering questions on the list, making themselves available at all times of crisis, laughing, crying, tension issues, machine stops, whatever it takes. I know for sure there were ten women at my house today taking a startup class that were completely blown out of the water by the information that Myrna gave them. 8 hours of instruction. It was wonderful to watch understanding dawn on their faces. I could not believe that two of them still had their machines in the box after a year or more. The warranty had expired and they hadn\'t used them????? And another one would only touch it for a few minutes at a time every 6 or 8 months. Two others set the machine up then looked at it in fear for months. How sad is that? I agree with Cheryl, if you have worked with someone that is communicative, interested, helpful and knowledgable, then give them your business. They deserve it. If you buy from someone that does not follow up with the service you should get for your MAJOR investment, you should be calling APQS directly. They cannot fix a problem they do not know about. I know Heidi appears to me to be very responsive to the needs of APQS machine owners. I love my Millie and I know APQS is the best machine for me. You go girl.;);) Nancy:D:D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Stitchinsally, if you didn\'t get the proper service from your sales rep, I hope that you contact APQS in the Des Moines main office so they can help patch up the situation. I am sure they will do what they can to help keep their customers happy. Just because one sales rep didn\'t follow through doesn\'t mean all of them are like this; and surely this one person is not representative of the entire company. Please call Heidi @ APQS and give her a chance. I think she\'s the head boss over all the sales reps so surely she will do something to help make you happy again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaCollins Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Originally posted by stitchinsally In fact, I\'ve had problems with tension and backings not loading square since day 1 Hello Stitching Sally, I am an APQS rep/tech in SE Missouri and will help you all I can. I looked through your previous posts and saw that I (along with several other APQS dealers) posted my name and contact info in 2/2007 with an offer to help ... but I never heard from you? My email is tina@apqs.com if you want to contact me. In the meantime, I suggest that you read through some of the help topics about setting your tension correctly- It depends on what kind of tension issues you are having for me to give an informed, specific solution. The leader squaring process outlined here (link to post copied below) will eliminate your frustration in getting your backings to load squarely: http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=10195 I truly believe that APQS has the absolute best dealers who share their knowledge and time very freely. There is also a ton of technical advice available in our help forums and from our customer service dept.... all you need to do is ask! Help is just a phone call or email away... I hope this information helps!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lsilver Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Even though I bought thru a rep in my state, when it came to setting up my CompuQuilter and working with some of the problems with a particular digitized pattern that even the designer (a Statler gal with wonderful complex designs) Tina Collins and Joann Ann Hoffman provided telephone support even though they didn\'t need to. Jo Ann provided me with some wonderful beginner hints. I can\'t say enough good things about the networking. I think the post-sale follow-up is very important, and although I wish my rep were closer, and had a CompuQuilter, I appreciate the generous nature of this community. We are so blessed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammoman Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 As a customer, I thought it was great to be able to order direct from the factory and cut out the middleman. I thought I was getting a better deal. Fact is …the factory gave me the same price as my rep would have given me with no phone service on the weekends and nights. When I had problems, it was my local rep who came to the rescue. She was there “within reason” and when I decided to get my CQ, I made it a point to let her have the commission. Tina is right. Hands down, APQS reps (and i would add) Factory service, blows away the competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I am going to a quilt show in Lancaster PA tomorrow. Hopefully there will be a "rep" from APQS there who will try to show me how to do freehand or SID without the machine wandering all over the place. I have tried using the extended base with a ruler and still cannot control the machine. That is why I only do Pantos. At least they come out looking good, if you don\'t look too close. I have some books and Cds, but I do practice on my own quilts. Most of them I give away or donate but that does get expensive after awhile. I still like hand quilting better than machine but don\'t have the time to do it. I have used my embroidery machine to do some quilt designs on a hand quilted DWR from the 30\'s. It was difficult pushing the quilt through the machine and hoping it would not pop the hoop, but it came out alright. I had machine pieced it and had my friend do the hand quilting but the squares needed something extra, that is why I did the designs on the Ellageo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Even though my closest rep is apparently in another country (hi, Sue!), I have frankly been delighted with the level of service & support I haver gotten, from Mark on the phone, to specific answers from all the techie people when I made those first panicky e-mails, to all of you on this site. You are all THE BEST!! So, to those of you who want to be my rep, come on over. I will meet you at the airport (daylight hours preferred) with a lei & a good cup of coffee. I have a nice guestroom & am near the beach. Shall we make it a contest -- who can get here first? To those who also want to learn more -- I am planning to go to California for the July Festival, & will have a few free days afterwards. I am thinking for going to Myrna\'s for a lesson. Anyone interested in making it a group thing, & what are your dates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I\'ll be in Long Beach Catherine. So get a group and follow me home. Or perhaps I can get a place and hold classes in Ca, before going home, let\'s do it. I was kinda hoping you could get a group at your place and I could come there, let\'s do that too! Myrna, Back to class Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 Myrna, I am willing to do any or all of the above. What kind of place would you need in California? Would someone\'s home do (ie., would you be bringing a machine to the show anyway?), or would we have to find a studio that already has an APQS machine? I am a native Californian, lived in the Long Beach for many years, belonged to a large guild, so I just might know someone. This does not preclude you from coming here of course. Aloha, C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Catherine, Someones home that may want to host that has a machine would be great. Or I can check out a couple of other options. Wow, that\'s not far off. We had better get going on it to make it happen. And again you are welcome to come to my studio in St. George if you like. Anyone that may be interested in either event send me an email and lets see what we can put together after the Long Beach Festival. I still think teaching at your place it a great plan too. I know there are quite a few longarmers over on the Islands. Lets gather them all up on one Island and have a few days of classes!!!!! what fun, I mean I\'ll work you hard. Even the rainy season is fine with me. Now that I think about it the last time we went over for a golf trip we had 20" of rain in 3 days. It was awesome, although DH did not think so. I can still smell the flowers, sigh Myrna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nineva Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Catherine sign me up for classes at your house!!! I so miss coming to Hawaii every two months. I would use this as an excuse. I am soooooo serious. Nancy Jo;);) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 Originally posted by nineva Catherine sign me up for classes at your house!!! I so miss coming to Hawaii every two months. I would use this as an excuse. I am soooooo serious. Nancy Jo;);) Hmmm... maybe we can write off this trip to Hawaii as a "business expense"....???????? :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seakitten Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 It would totally be a business expense! Let\'s try for it. The only drawback is that we would have trouble fitting a big group in my sewing room ("Area 51"), but we are creative, we can work with it. Meanwhile, I guess there is no APQS rep for Southern California, I will put out some feelers & see if we can get someone to host a lesson in July. Know anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted March 30, 2008 Report Share Posted March 30, 2008 I see so many comments and situations here in this thread that mirror us.. we thought it best to order from a "local", contacted them, was asked to leave a phone number and they\'d call back. got the call many days later than had been stated. Said Rep said she\'d have to be the one to help with set up if we had problems.. haven\'t heard anything since.. And thats ok.. Now I have a new rep to bug.. Poor POOR yeoldforest.. oh my, the pain in the bum is after you now.. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.