I did something very exciting on Saturday, I ordered my first long-arm quilting machine! It will take about a week to get here, and I have a feeling this is going to be one of the longest weeks of my life..... =) I've thought long and hard about this purchase, as it is a good business venture, but also a very expensive one. I want to be able to stay home and raise my children, and also help pay the bills. After talking with various people, I decided to at least try it out, and many have said they are easy to resale if I decide this isn't my thing. I love the quilting part of the process, though, so don't think that will be an issue!
What started me thinking more seriously about this, is when I tried to machine-quilt a queen-size quilt for my good friend, Marlene. By the time I was done, I was very frustrated at having to push & pull and fight all that fabric with my regular sewing machine, and vowed never to do a quilt that size again without an actual long-arm machine! The resulting quilt was fine, but not all that it could have been, had I the right equipment. I had similar experiences with Jared's graduation quilt, and the baby-clothes quilt.
The stand for this machine is about 12feet long and 4feet wide, so it is no small thing to fit into the corner of my sewing area! =) For now I think we're going to leave it in the living room (Tyler's idea, and many have agreed it makes sense- Sheri said just make a pretty quilt to put over it when company comes!) Anyway, Tyler is now drawing house plans again, and as soon as we get the trim finished and a few other things, we're thinking of selling and building another house. Nothing big or extravagant, but this place is getting a bit cramped for us. We have 2 bedrooms and one bath (which has obvious complications), and Tyler is tired of not having a shop or garage to work in. We don't really look forward to the building process again, but it doesn't make much sense to either of us to just buy, when we can get about twice the house by building. We'll see what happens! I also joined the Alaska Club fitness center last month to try and loose a bunch of "baby-weight", so with all this going on I should be a little busy the next bit!
P.S. I added 3 new albums in the Picasa photos. I have been slacking a bit on the photo-taking, There weren't nearly as many to post this time!
2 comments:
Hi Lisa,
your old roomie here. You should do a blog for selling your quilts.. Amybee sells her purses and has a blog for it..with prices, etc....you might try it?
So exciting! I'm sure you're counting the days. I know Marilyn has loved her mother's machine, and I'm sure you'll do well with it. Now, to have the kids learn to play quietly by themselves for several hours every day while you quilt... Ha! :-)
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