Lessons

My goal when I started this blog was to take you with me on my journey to becoming a longarm quilter. A GOOD longarm quilter.  In the spirit of staying true to that goal, I've got to be honest and tell you there have been times in the past couple of months when I've been really, really frustrated. 

Like, really.  There's so much to learn.

Sometimes being a perfectionist can be a huge curse.  It's like living in a pressure cooker.

I have a talented and gracious friend who has been instructing me along my longarm journey.  She gently pointed out what I already suspected; I've been pushing myself too hard and need to take some time to just get to know my machine and what it can do. I decided I'm not going to take any quilts for the next few week; instead I'll spend the time becoming more familiar with my longarm.

I'm releasing some pressure out of the pot.  Whew.  It feels better in here already. 

After more instruction from my patient (!) friend, I went home and spent some time with this little quilt...

It belongs to my quilt group partner; she said I could practice on it.  (She's my favorite quilt group partner. She's also the only quilt group partner I've ever had, but that doesn't really matter.)

I learned a lot last night.

I learned it's going to take some practice before I can freehand a straight line. 

I learned just because I'm a good stippler on my sewing machine doesn't mean I'm automatically a good stippler on the longarm.  It will take a lot of practice.

I learned custom quilting is a lot of work.

But here's the most important thing I learned....(drum roll, please...)....

Custom quilting is a lot of fun.

I also figured out what my longarm needs is a person behind the wheel who knows how to drive.

I've got a couple of fun projects to practice on...I'll share pictures as I go.

Thanks for sticking with me on the journey...

- Kathy