Longarming

Kathyl, what will really help you is to buy a big dry erase board and just draw. Draw draw draw.... I don't know the science behind it, but next time you step up to the big machine, it will make a big difference. :-)

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

The science is that you're training your brain and eyes. You're teaching yourself to do that pattern at a constant speed (assuming you move the pen at a constant speed! LOL), to do it without lifting the pen from the board, and to look ahead of where you're drawing, so you can get yourself out of jams. Then, when you step up to the machine, "all" you have to worry about is physically moving it, because the brain and eye stuff has already been learned.

I like to draw in notebooks, which I keep next to the machine. Believe it or not, the *bad* drawings are the ones I refer to the most, because I make lots of notes in the margins about what went wrong or things to try next time.

Ok, that will be my next purchase. Oh and a paint brush for cleaning out the bobbin case....I forgot to bring that along yesterday. She has dry erase boards near her machine and part of our intro class was to sit and draw. I was clumsy doing that too. And trying to decide what to draw (badly) was also a problem.

Well, it wouldn't be to scale, but I often will take a fast pic of a quilt square and then use either just a piece of plexi glass or a transparencie with a dry erase and sketch out different designs. You can also do that on top of a quilt on the frame, but you risk getting dry erase on the top which really isn't a good thing. Putting painters tape around the edges will help, but it's still a risk. And since you are renting time vs. unlimited machine access, I'd go with a photo and sketch to see what you think.

Jan RCTQ Coffee Diva

Wow! I'm envious! I wish we had such a possibility -- I think "driving" one of those things would be such fun! :)

This shop has recently moved into a larger facility. She now has two long arms....one that is rented and another for her quilting business. If things get sufficiently busy, she hopes to add a third machine for rental. One of my friends has done several quilts already. She's possessed!!!