Friday, July 8, 2011

Adventures in Learning! Whoop Whoop!

Learning curve?  How about learning circles and sharp right corners, a few zigzags, and mountains, and cliffs?  I have been playing with my Avante, determined to learn all that I can about different longarm quilting techniques.  

After loading my first real quilt (not the "what was I thinking when I bought this fabric" practice runs), getting it all pinned on the frame, rolled and and clamped and ready to go, I realized I had it loaded wrong.  Of course!  If there's a wrong way and a right way, I prefer the wrong way.  I learn so much doing things at least twice :-D  After much consultation with the manual (!!!) and the DVD that came with the machine and YouTube, I decided backing-and-forthing among directions was the long way down that road.  So I now have a "Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc." list hanging on the wall beside the machine!

So, anywayz, finally I was on the correct path, and fooled around with free motion quilting, and had a wonderful time!  After doing FMQ on my Janome, this was easy in a way, but also harder.  When you write with a pencil on paper, you leave the paper stationary (no pun intended) while you move the pencil around over it.  That's longarm quilting, right?  Well, I had spent the last few years unlearning that, and learning to use the pencil fixed while moving the paper around method.  They say it's hard learning new stuff as we get older.  Not only did I have to learn new stuff, but I had to unlearn the technique I learned while unlearning how to write on paper!  Trust me, you'll know what I'm talking about if you go from one technique to the other!!

But wait!  There's more!  While doing research and learning all I could from books and YouTube before I got my Avante, it sounded like pantographs are the easiest way to quilt, fast and done-done in no time at all.  YAY!!  I'm ready for that.  
You talk about unlearning!?!?!  Honey, you ain't seen nothing like unlearning while learning to use a panto.  Picture this: you're walking back and forth at the back of the machine tracing a piece of paper with a laser light, all the while trusting that it's coming out like it's supposed to on the quilt, because you're not even looking at the quilt.  What???!!!  The process also caused some more steep learning curves -- remember the wrong way that I like to do?  Those flowing lines of quilting designs, smooth and nesting together, row after row, that you get when you do pantos?  Um, well, not exactly.  Although the quilt is quilted, it's not quite as advertised.  I think I'm going to have to go back to the directions -- the books, DVDs, YouTube -- how's that done again?  I can do this.

Meanwhile, I have a tablerunner on the machine right now.  (It's loaded correctly!)  I have the ruler base on, and at hand I have those neat-o rulers I had to get right away because I can do ruler work with no problem, easy-peasy.  Ooooo-kay.  Easy-peasy?  Not so much.  But I am getting the hang of it, and while it looks pretty darn good on top where I used invisible thread, the bottom.. well, let's just say I've added "Step 7: use only busy backing fabrics with same color threads."  It's still dark-thirty this morning, so I don't have a picture of that process.  (What?  Plan ahead?  Take pictures in daylight the day before?  Well, yes, but I forgot it was going to be Friday.)

So my plan for the continuing studies of longarm quilting will include marking tops, with stencils and my own designs.  That will be the easiest technique of all, right?


A big Whoop Whoop! for me -- I'm persistent, anyway!  Go to Sarah's blog here: http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2011/07/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-start-your.html for more Whoop Whoop! progress reports!

17 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading your experiences of learning long arming. It brings back so many memories! You are not alone in what you are going through.

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  2. It sounds like you're learning a lot. Yes, you're persistent and that is what it takes! The quilts look great, by the way, so you did a good job!!!

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  3. So much to learn but it sounds like you are getting there. You will have it all mastered in no time :)

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  4. That is a big whoop whoop! I know for me just getting over the fear of using it was a big one... I have the capability to use pantos, but just love to do the FMQ from the front of the machine - it's so relaxing! So I don't plan to use pantos anytime soon. The biggest thing I tell ladies who give my machine a whirl? Remember to breathe!! It gets easier...

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  5. You made me laugh when you said that you learn so much doing things twice. Oh, I always tell my husband he likes to do things twice, now I will smile when he does that. Loved the post today, sounds like you're getting there. Interesting, not ever having touched a long arm machine, it looks so easy and so graceful. I think like you said the difference in techniques is really night and day, the complete opposites. Have fun with all that knowledge and keep us posted.

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  6. Funny post. I laughed through the whole thing especially learning by doing things twice. I've never quilted on a long arm before so I really enjoyed your experiences. Looking forward to seeing more.

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  7. You are funny! "If there's a right way and a wrong way, I prefer the wrong way." LOL. I enjoyed hearing about your learning experiences. I'm sure you'll be quilting like a pro in no time.

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  8. A big WHOOP indeed - I shudder when I hear of those who invest in a longarm and then it sits un-used because they are afraid of it. Sharing your experience will surely helps others - as well as give us a giggle.

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  9. You are getting there. Enjoy the learning curve. I like the quilting on the 2nd quilt a lot.

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  10. I think you are learning quickly and doing pretty good at it! Just keep practicing!

    LaDonna

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  11. I totally follow your pen & paper explanation!

    I am impressed with your confidence, perseverance & ability to allow mistakes!

    You get a big WHOOP from me!

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  12. It is definitely a learning curve process! I found that learning to use the machine first and then adding the pantos later really helped me appreciate the pantos. Good luck!

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  13. I laughed all the way through your post. I could have sworn you were talking about me-I have just had exactly the same experience and I couldn't have written it better than this.

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  14. It is a lot to learn on a long arm. I just recently took a class and I loved it. However, my curves turned out boxy and I did get a little frustrated. Thanks for sharing your story. It was a great one!

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  15. Love that you shared all of this with us. Believe me I have been there. I had a friend that told me to get a white board with dry erasers to practice on. Much bigger than paper and you can free motion draw on it using larger muscle groups instead of your hand and wrist. It's all about muscle memory and practice, practice, practice. After 4 years, I still get out my white board and practice a design before I put it on the quilt. By the way, I think pantographs are way more challenging than free motion from the front of the machine. Looking Good!!

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  16. Oh, this is so true - I have the HQ-16 and still refuse to try the pantos... I must be a control freak as I need to look at what I'm doing. Thanks for a grand chuckle and oddly enough, this makes me want to keep trying. ;-)

    many blessings, Elsie

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  17. Very good, very funny post! My own experiences are exactly the same.

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