melissaca Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 I have experience quilting on my regular sewing machine and hand quilting. I wonder how long do you think it would take for me to catch on to long arm quilting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 This is not an easy question to answer. How much quilting have you done on your regular machine? Do you quilt using a walking foot, or are you used to free-motion quilting and are familiar with a lot of different motifs that you use all the time? The motion is a bit different -- most say the difference between moving a piece of paper under a pencil to actually moving the pencil over the paper -- but if you're used to drawing a lot of designs, it doesn't take that long to pick up. I wouldn't expect to be an expert immediately though. There are a lot of little things that you pick up along the way, especially from excellent sites like this one! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherylUribe Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I agree with everything that Linda said. (She is very smart!) Diane Gaudinski and Alex Anderson say 100 hours. One of my LA friends says a year to feel comfortable enough to do custom work. It took me about 3 months before I was comfortable enough to take customer quilts. It is all realative! You must practice! Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brenda arnett Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I got my longarn two years ago this month. I practiced for several months before I felf comfortable quilting for customers. I'm a retired school teacher so I'm not using my quilting business as primary income but rather as a hobby/tax deduction. But I have quilted several tops this year for customers. I prefer to do free-motion designs as well as designs from stencils that I can just chalk on, quilt and then iron off. I don't use pantos at all on customer quilts. I'm sure if I were doing this as a primary income home business I would have done customer quilts sooner but I don't want this to become "work". It's too much fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollyrw Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I was, and suppose I still am, a good short-arm machine quilter but large quilts were such a pain to stuff through the machine. I got my Millenium this past August and planned to practice with my own quilts for 6 months to a year. After 4 months now I feel I am ready to start doing a few customer quilts. I'm not ready to do heirloom work yet but I can meander as well as I did on my regular machine and my free-hand feathers and simple designs are pretty good. I'm still better on the regular machine than the long arm but I am improving with every quilt I do. I haven't officially opened for business yet but I will soon. Possibly before the end of the year. I'm still working out all the "business" side of things. Good luck, Holly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfjett Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 This spring/summer I took a 13 week longarm course on the Millenium at a local studio. I was in class each week for four hours and then returned to practice for four hours. While I consider myself (as does my instructor) proficient on freehand 'loop' and meandering designs, I would not accept quilts in other patterns without considerable practice. The key word is always practice. If you have had a machine available to you at will and have become comfortable with preparing, loading and quilting simple designs, you ought to be ready to tackle simple quilting jobs. Good luck and have fun! Deborah in New Jersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I bought my Liberty at the end of August after only catching the quilting bug a year and a half before. On my DSM I only did grid quilting, and stitch in the ditch on 60" sq quilts and smaller before buying a long arm. I was very nervous with my machine and was planning on not taking any customer quilts until January. But DH was telling everyone I had a long arm machine and within a few weeks of my machine being delivered the phone was ringing!!! I felt like someone just threw me in the deep end and if I was to survive I needed to swim and quick, LOL! I love pantos and am pretty good at most of them. I am also good at out lining applique and stitching in the ditch, meandering/ stippling. I am not good at freehand feathers or stencils yet but that is mostly because of not enough practice in those areas. Which is ok since custom/ and heirloom work is more expensive not alot of people inquire about it. Joann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaC Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 I had no choice but to jump in both feet first. I bought my millie in January and started customer quilts, my friends, in February and I haven't looked back since. I took out a business loan so I had no choice but to start right away however I also took classes at IMQA this past May, and that really helped alot. The big thing I think is confidence. If you are a fast learner, then there should be no problems. A side note to this though is I still remember the tears, anger, frustration, and dissapointment at the start. I kid you not when they say practice, they mean it. I overcame my abstacles, especially with tension. To me tension was my number one problem and once I had that licked the rest came easy. I will post some of my work now that I know how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbWetzel Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 I jumped in full speed. I felt comfortable doing a customer's quilts after practicing for just a couple of weeks. Of course the pattern was loops and stars. Nothing too fancy. I took both classes offered by Dawn Cavanaugh, but I would like to take the advanced class again. I am getting more and more comfortable with my Milli. I hope to get much more practice when I retire in one month. Barb Wetzel Ivy Corner Quilting. Altoona, Ia. 50009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoAnnHoffman Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 Pantographs are good for beginners. You need to acquire a feel for your machine. You tend to strongarm your machine with the hand you write with. You need to create a balance of push and pull. I did a lot of drawing of designs on paper at night. I would draw pages and pages of feathers and all over designs I liked. I was told if you can draw it, you can sew it. A good thing to do is to get charity quilts from your local quilt guild and quilt them for free. Our quilts are called Project Warmth Quilts. They are given to needy families, fire victims, childrens' home etc. And they don't have to be perfect. After about 30 of those you are ready to take on customer quilts, even if it is just pantos to start with. Good Luck, it's a lot of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Posted November 11, 2005 Report Share Posted November 11, 2005 Working from the front of the machine came easily to me. I have a graphic art background and drawing with the machine is just like drawing with a pencil. It is just a little heavier. I tried panto's in the beginning - but they didn't click for me. A year later I tried a panto and it was a piece of cake. Don't know why - but everyone is different. Don't be to hard on yourself in the beginning. We all learn to walk before we run! Moria Fyshwyk Custom Quilting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwltnlady Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Got my Liberty last week and have done 2 charity quilts already. Does anyone have any words of wisdom on how to "square" large tops? The one got out has piecing on all sides, no border, so it is somewhat caddywompus. (That is the best word to describe my problem, sorry!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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