I just returned from Machine Quilter's Expo in Portland, OR. I decided to go on the spur of the moment. Angela Walters' class Quilting Negative Spaces was available and that was my deciding factor. I'm so glad I went.
Angela's class was fab. In 4 hours, I learned new machine quilting techniques and patterns. Anglea encouraged us to combine the patterns to create new patterns. Her teaching style is great. She is a patient instructor and has a wealth of information to share.
I also took Gina Perkes' class Glorious Grids. Gina crammed a huge amount of information into a short 2 hour course. I have a new bag of grid tricks to use.
I am excited about putting all my new found techniques to use and plan to get a quilt top sandwiched today so I can get started.
But, the most exciting thing about going to MQX is that I bought a long-arm machine. Whoot! I was seriously considering buying a new Gammill machine. They seemed to be the leading machine manufacturer and many of the quilts I see in shows are quilted on a Gammill.
The first night at MQX, there is a sneak preview. I was impressed to see Charisma Horton in a booth with her long-arm machine all set up. She was there to promote her quilting service. The walls of her booth were hung with her work and it was colorful and cheery. I stopped to talk with her about quilting one of my quilts. As I spoke with her, I noticed that her machine was different than any I'd ever seen. It was sleek and clean. It was an Innova. Charisma had the best things to say about the machine and the company's support and service, so I headed over to the Innova booth to talk with them.
Innova is a 3rd generation quilting machine manufacturer. They have been making mattress quilters for years and have transferred their knowledge to the long-arm quilting machine they now make. Aircraft quality aluminium gives a robust, but light weight stand. The servo motors will be long-lasting and hassle free. Read all about their wonderful company here. http://innovalongarm.com Do I sound like a commercial? Can you tell how high I am on them?
My new Innova 22" long-arm should be here in about 3-4 weeks. Yikes! I need to get busy and clean out a room in my house. I cannot wait to get started quilting my own quilts on a long-arm.
About a year ago, I bought a new Bernina 820. I thought that with its 12" throat, larger bobbin and BSR it would allow me to machine quilt my quilts faster. The 820 is good for machine quilting, but for piecing, it is like driving a dualie pickup truck to the corner market to pick up a quart of milk. Over kill. I paid $7,000 for that machine and now wish I would have put that money toward a long-arm. I will probably end up selling it at a loss and put that money toward the long-arm. Ah well, ya live and learn, right?
