I never thought about sending my "babys" away to be quilted, so I do everything by handquilting as good as I can
I never thought about sending my "babys" away to be quilted, so I do everything by handquilting as good as I can
May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past.
Track me on facebook: "Renate Schön" or send me your facebook name and I will track you
I've only ever sent one quilt out to be quilted. Recently I invested in a Handiquilter Sweet 16 sit-down machine and we are getting acquainted so I can be more creative and more productive.
I quilt my own either long arm or hand quilt. I just can't afford to send mine out, there are some really talented quilters out there.
I have to admit it: I'm too cheap to pay anyone else to quilt my sandwiches. For a long time, I was a stitch-in-the-ditch girl. Then my LQS started renting time on their Handiquilter, and I jumped on that opportunity. It was great, no eMail distractions, no phone calls, and a 5pm-I-gotta-finish-it deadline. I was in heaven.
Then the LQS realized that the noise of the Handiquilter was too disruptive for their classes -- which is their bread and butter -- so they quit renting time on their machine. Now I was hooked. I hated basting, and this was a no-baste methodology!
So I searched craigslist for a used Little Gracie and a used Juki, and every quilt I've since completed has been on that combo. However, I have one 8-year-old UFO that is basted and partially hand-quilted. Its number popped up for February in the 2013 UFO group. I just don't have the patience for hand quilting, so I'm going to FMQ with my Juki. Wish me luck!
I took a class so that I could use a LA with the computerized quilting to do a quilt for my sister for the birth of my new niece - Cat in the Hat - decided on before I knew it was a girl. That quilt is on big brother's bed, so now in the process of making another quilt for my niece. I have to admit, I am just addicted and it gave me an excuse to buy more fabric and a different template. I would love to get some sort of system, but can't afford the computerized systems that are out there. I have played with fmq with the LA at some shows and it seems much easier for me to move the machine than to move the fabric - I think they are just 2 different skills.
I'm new to quilting, having done 2 lap quilt tops & 1 king size quilt top. I've taken all 3 to a local LAQ. As a newbie, I didn't want to take the chance of messing up the quilts after all of the hard work I'd done on the tops. It is expensive, but worth every penny IMHO. I love the process of cutting/ironing/sewing/watching the pattern grow. But wrestling a king size quilt attaching the binding to the front was enough for me. No way can I manage all of that material/batting/weight to FMQ on my sewing machine. I wish I could do it all myself, but I consider it 2 separate sets of skills. Sort of like painting a room vs painting a picture. Both are painting, but completely different.
Just to let you know, it takes longer than you would think to LAQ. It can take just as much time to load the quilt as it takes to quilt it. Also, the person you send it to has to work around a lot of small problems, like if the quilt is not square or there a puckers and other issues that need to be quilted out to make it look good. Anyone can buy a LAQ machine, but it takes experience and time to make the quilts you do on the quilter look good, just like FMQ on your machine. That is part of what you are paying for when you send you quilt out.
My best friend and I just started to LA quilt for others. What have been working on her Tin Lizzie 18" for 3 years. We just now feel we are good enough to do justice to other peoples quilt. When we started to do other peoples quilts, we found that their expectations were extremely high. Quilt not square, we were supposed to fix it. Problems with seams or puckers, they were supposed to disappear when we finished. That is where the real work and talent comes in. If you ever saw the YouTube video of "You could quilt that out", it is really true. Some people (not all or most) send out their beginner quilts and expect them to come back looking like a professional pieced the quilt. A talented LAQer is worth the expense and can make your quilt look great (but we are not miracle workers).
No room for a long-arm but I sure would love to have one! I've taken two quilts to long-armers to be quilted but didn't do my homework first. The first one ripped me off price-wise, then not knowing any different, I took a second one there again and the second quilt was much larger but she charged almost the same and the first was a baby quilt. Come to find out there was a minimum charge that equaled the cost of a twin. When I took the second one to her I waited over six weeks and she still hadn't touched it. Picked it up and took it elsewhere and had it back in my hands in one week, at half of what I was quoted by the other person. Live and learn!
Ellen
I don't think that anyone here is against a LAQ. There is a cost to it that some of us can't afford. There is the option of learning to do your own quilting by hand or with your home machine. Some of us own the sweet 16 and some of us rent a LA. I think that like every other field there are some LAQ that are wonderful and others are horrible.
It is only worth the expense if the person spending the money feels that way. For my own bedroom I want the quilt done on the LA. I also want it to be done totally by my own hand. That has a lot to do with why I quilt. I want to give of myself to others. When I can no longer do that then I will rethink my position.
There is nothing wrong with sending it out and there is nothing wrong with keeping it at home.
Lisa
Please treat others as you would hope others would treat those you love.
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I had a grace frame and janome that I used for a couple years. quilted several quilts on it and loved it but got so busy with other things that I wasn't using it so I sold it. Kind of wish I hadn't done that but alas I did....I quilt small things on my machine at home but send other quilts to my LQS to have quilted. They are very reasonable and good. I just can't handle the weight of doing a large quilt on my home machine.