SURE – DON’T WE ALL WANT A LONGARM MACHINE?

Well, after 30 years of quilting, piecing, stitch in the ditch[ing], begging quilters to please, please, please, “Do this one quick thing for me by this weekend?” . . . I got a long arm quilting machine. It has taken me a long time to think about it (like 10 years), then there was the ‘discussion’ with other long arm quilters (another 10 years), then I progressed into the ‘I’m actually looking at them phase,’ (another 5 years).  Needless to say, this is nothing I have rushed into. Notwithstanding the number of quilt tops I have sitting in my sewing room waiting to be quilted. I figure if I never quilt for anyone else, I should be busy for years.

I looked at as many longarm brands as possible; high-end, low-end, unknowns, all of them. From day to day, I changed my mind. I finally heard through the grapevine about a cherished Gammill that “may” come available and I thought that would be the way to go. A known quilter’s pride and joy would make a terrific jump into the long arm foray. That was more than a year ago. It took my quilter friend more than a year to finally decide to let her “baby” go and countless conversations on my part trying to convince her that I would be the perfect home for “Baby.”

The last time I spoke with her while she was still undecided was around October or November and she said to wait until after the holidays (which came and went), then there was “the call.” I am telling you it must be like getting the call your new baby was ready for adoption!

So – where do you start with the whole longarm migration situation? What do you do first? Well, money was probably the first thing I thought about. We had to ‘do a deal,’ and I have to say, it must have been like negotiating to buy a child . . . not that I would know, mine were delivered to me. So, I asked the most difficult question: “Do you deliver?” I was really, really, hoping there was some magical method to transport a 1,000 pound machine that I didn't want to have deal with. NOPE, not going to happen. Talk about scared to death.

Since I didn't just wake up one day and decide I would like to become a longarmer, I had to decide where I was going to put it. That was no small task. It is sitting in the middle of my den as I write this simply because I still don’t know where it is going to finally reside. Who knows, it may stay there forever. As a classically trained quilter (is there such a thing?), I immediately cut out a “template” from paper using the dimensions of the machine. My friends and I drug that stinker from one room to the other, considered everything from moving out of my bedroom, giving the living room up to the ‘monster,’ dining room, den, spare room, back porch. You name it.  I tried to think of what that room would look like with a monster sewing machine located there. I was exhausted just moving the machine back and forth in my head! Anyway, I decided to practice what all quilters do; put it in the middle of the house, walk past it for a few weeks, or thereabouts, and hope that inspiration would tell me what to do! I loved that because I didn't have to make any decision at all, just keep walking past it for a while or so like we do with a indecisive quilt in progress.

Too tired to post tonight…going to sleep to dream about where to put Baby…..