I’m actually piecing a quilt! I get so busy on the long arm that I rarely get the opportunity to piece a quilt, but the second I saw Bradie’s Summer Star Sampler, I knew I needed to make this quilt. I chose a line of fabric called Oriental Odyssey and got started cutting right away.

I’ll be honest, I was a little worried about making this quilt as the center block looks a bit more difficult than I am used to. I was pleased the first two blocks went together sew quickly.

Bradie’s tutorials are posted every Tuesday morning at 5am. http://quiltcetera.wordpress.com/. There are two versions available, advanced, and beginner, so everyone can play along! Join in on the fun!!

Here’s my first two blocks.

Summer Star Sampler

Summer Star Samplers

This Irish Chain came to me with an attitude. The seams didn’t line up well enough to use my ruler so I decided to wing it and do all the ruler work ‘freehand’ instead. Thanks you Sue Pattten for the confidence to run those ditches without a ruler. You were so right, the hopping foot wants to ride right along the seam.

So onto the frame this beast went and it immediately cried out for feathers. Now that all is said and done I have to say that I really don’t want to give it back to it’s owner. I love how it turned out!

Heirloom Feathers Quilting on Irish Chain Quilt

If you’ve ever wondered what a day in the life of a long arm quilter looks like… This video about sums it up!

I cracked under the pressure and ordered a set of APQS’s M&M Wheels. I installed them on my Millennium Falcon Thursday night and had a blast quilting the whole day yesterday. They are amazingly smooth. My Millie glides across the table like nobody’s business.

As the stitch regulator spins right along side your wheels, M&M wheels not only give you a smoother ride but they increase stitch quality dramatically and decrease the chances of thread breakage. I quilted a big queen yesterday with only one thread break. I would normally have at least a dozen breaks with the exact same thread before installing the new wheels!

The whole ‘stitch regulator working better with the new wheels thing’ is merely my observation. I don’t know if the wheels were designed with that in mind. But I can tell you from installing them and running them, the SR is making much better contact with the wheel.

You can purchase the wheels directly from APQS. An entire set of 8 wheels is $240, plus tax and shipping. Instructions for replacing your existing wheels are included. Ask for the Parts Department when you call. You can also send an email to our Parts Department indicating that you’d like to order a set:
APQS Parts Department, Amy Anderson

Simple and it may just work! This may be the fastest I have ever seen a quilt loaded. Do you know of a faster method? We’d love to hear about it!

Enjoy these pictures of a recent customer quilt. This quilt belongs to a Facebook friend, Bill Locke. This quilt turned out gorgeous!

Close up of quilting in blocks.

Quilting in the sashings.

The feathered quilting in the borders.

Yesterday I  loaded my Manquilter mobile to the roof with long arm quilting machines to make the three hour drive south from Edmonton.  This was all for today, when I will be setting up the APQS booth at Quilt Canada 2010 in Calgary Alberta. The show doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday, so be sure to stop by and test drive an APQS Millennium or Lenni while you’re there. You do not want to miss out on these crazy deals that Heidi has authorized for the show. Here are just  a few more reasons to come and check out your new APQS long arm quilting machine….

Quilt Canada 2010 – Show Specials-2

You can find out more about Quilt Canada 2010 at their website. See you there!

Yesterday, I had a local quilter visit me in my home studio to test drive my APQS Millennium.

She expressed interest in a Lenni so I wanted to point out the differences between the Millennium and The Lenni before we got started.

I sat my client down before the test drive and let her watch Heidi Kaisand’s video I have posted on my website (The Simplicity of The Lenni) so she would have a better Idea of what the handles look like on the Lenni as oppose to my Millennium. I watched her face as she watched Heidi’s video (I know, that sounds so creepy) and even though the video was only a minute long, a couple points really seemed to strike home for her.

Particularly Heidi says…
“I like long arm quilting but I’m very new at it, and one of the things that I really like is the simplicity of our Lenni” That’s a very powerful statement!

I hear from new Long Arm quilters all the time how overwhelmed they feel when they first get their machines set up.

The APQS Lenni definitely addresses this issue. It’s two simple buttons make it very easy for a new longarm quilter to become comfortable with their new machine.

Thanks to Kelley J. Jones for posting this video to Youtube to show us first hand how the new side saddle computerized quilting system compares to the compuquilter on APQS machines. Note that they are both running the same pattern
Please be sure to visit the Longarm of the Law @ Ye Olde Forest Quilters and thank them for hooking this up!
http://www.yeoldeforest.com