In October, I posted about UFO projects I wanted to finish in 6 months. See the post HERE. Most of the projects have been finished, but this one is still waiting to be quilted. I purchased my new Q20 in December and had a month to play with it before leaving for 2 months. While I was gone I picked up a couple of great quilting books. When I returned, I had to re-learn how to use my Q20. I sat down with the manual and figured out how to thread the machine and bobbin. After the review, I began quilting.
I decided to use a pattern in Stitching Pathways book by Wendy Sheppard. The pattern makes me think of the motion of water under the sea. I will cover the water with this pattern, then I have to think about the mountains, the sky and the border. This is a great project for my new Q20.
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Each November Jody, the owner of Raintree Quilting in Juneau Alaska, and her Bernina technician Amy come to Petersburg to service machines and teach classes. Petersburg has a large group of quilters and each has at least one machine that needs an annual checkup. They rent a space and welcome the all quilters to come in and work on projects. It is a fun time for fellowship and learning. They also bring the latest Bernina machines so locals have a chance to upgrade or at least drool over the lovely machines.
This year while Amy and Jody were in town, I made a spontaneous purchase. Don't even ask me what I was thinking but I always say, go with your gut. While sewing away and visiting with one of my fellow quilters I learned about the Q20 for the first time. What? A quilting machine that you don't need a rack for! It is a remarkable machine that you can thread from the front and it has a bobbin winder right on the machine. It can be a sit down machine or a long arm machine. I went home and talked to my always encouraging husband and he said get it. I bought a Q20.
I have been thinking about quilting machines for awhile. I looked at a Gammil long arm machine a local woman was selling, but decided it was too scary for me. The 12 foot rack and large machine take up a lot of room and I would have to rent a space for it. I also felt I would have to eventually quilt for other people to justify the cost of the machine and I really don't want to do that. In addition, we don't have a Gammil technician in our region and the expense of bringing someone to town would be prohibitive. I have been quilting on my Bernina 430 for years, and I feel comfortable with the sit-down quilting process. If I decide to purchase a long-arm frame from Bernina, I can do that at a later date. The price of this new machine is less than half of the used, older Gammil and it takes less space. I am sure I made the right decision in my purchase.
Note to self...the machine doesn't make you a better quilter, practice does.
Linking to:
Monday Making,
Moving it Forward Monday, Linky Tuesday
