How are you doing with your Ufo’s this week? We will just keep our updates/pictures to the first week of the month so that we aren’t going on and on and on about them, but I will say we are still making progress!
We thought we would take a little time and talk about the shop today. Some of you may be new to us or maybe you have a shop like ours in your area! We are not your typical quilt shop. We do not carry fabric or notions or batting. What we do have are 3 quilting machines. Two are considered mid-arm length and one is a true long arm. We teach long arm quilting on our machines and rent time on them so that you can quilt your own projects.
There is a class that we require you take to learn how to use our machines before you are eligible to rent time on them, but that benefits both of us. You get a chance to see what all happens on a long arm and learn if that is something that you will enjoy. We get to show you the ropes so that you can be successful and not damage the machines. It’s a win-win!
We also do long arm machine quilting for others as well as quilts on commission (such as t-shirt quilts). If you are cleaning out grandma’s house and find unfinished projects we can help get those completed as well as some repair work on quilts you may have in your home. T-shirt quilts are very popular both for kids heading off to college and as memorials to loved ones lost. Our machines are not computer guided so we (or you!) are doing the quilting.
It really is a fairly simple business – and we welcome questions and people stopping in to talk and learn. We certainly aren’t perfect quilters, and we are constantly learning new things ourselves, but we try our best.
If you have been wanting to learn how to use a long-arm or quilt your own quilt, stop in and see us! If we aren’t local to you, check your area to see if there is a shop that offers similar services. You might be surprised!
If you are new to the scene for long arm quilting I would tell you this. It isn’t for everyone. That sounds mean doesn’t it? I don’t mean it that way. If you get a chance to take a class using a long arm (and I don’t mean the 5 minutes you spend at a quilt show driving a floor model), take that opportunity. You will learn a lot about quilting. No, your machine quilting won’t be perfect the first time using the machine and it’s a different process from hand quilting and quilting on your domestic sewing machine. However, it’s not really about perfection. That comes with time and practice. It’s about the process. Is it a process you enjoy? Is it something that you can see yourself getting creative and relaxing into? It is something that you feel comfortable doing? Those are the things you should think about. It won’t be perfect the first time and that’s okay! If it ends up being something that you do not enjoy, that is also okay! There are lots of times that we think we should like something, but when we actually try we may find out that we don’t. Taking a class is a much smaller investment than buying a machine and we recommend that whoeheartedly!
That being said, I feel like everyone should try it. You never know what you will enjoy (or be good at) until you take that step. So why not?
If you have any questions about our shop or what we do here, please feel free to send us a message or leave us a comment and we will be happy to answer! If you are local to us and just want someone to talk to about quilting stop in and say hi!
Quilting By-You 