As you know I have a new toy in the studio. Yes, I finally have a long-arm quilting machine. Yay! I've been wanting (lusting for) a long-arm machine for years now and I finally bought one. I purchased a Handi Quilter Infinity. It has a 26" inch throat, which translates into about 20" of quilting space. Now I have no excuse for not finishing those quilt tops that have been languishing in bags and boxes in my studio.
Photo courtesy of handiquilter.com
While I don't make New Year's resolutions, 2016 will be the year to learn how to quilt on my new long-arm machine.
I'm itching to use this machine and to help me out, I'm watching Craftsy classes that I've purchased. I knew that the day would come when I could put this knowledge to use on my own long-arm quilting machine. Some of these classes are done on a domestic sewing machine, but the designs translate well for use on a long-arm quilting machine too.
Here are some of my favourite Craftsy classes that I'm sure will be a big help in my long-arm quilting adventure:
A New Look at Long-Arm Quilting with Mandy Leins - In this FREE class, Mandy explains some of the essentials of long-arm quilting and gives you some simple designs to help you gain confidence for the new long-arm quilter. I like the information that she provides regarding user comfort when working on a long-arm machine.
Machine Quilting Negative Space with Angela Walters – Angela shows you lots of free motion designs on a long-arm quilting machine. She also explains how to combine the various designs and alter their sizes to create interest.
Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers with Angela Walters – Working on a domestic sewing machine, Angela shows you how to create interesting feather motifs. She also shows you how to insert these designs in borders and blocks. Angela makes it easy to create unique feathers motifs in your quilts.
Divide & Conquer: Creative Quilting for Any Space with Lori Kennedy – I've followed Lori's blog for years and was thrilled when I saw she had a Craftsy class. As in her blogposts, Lori shows you a variety of motifs that can be adapted to the desired place on your quilt. Orange Peel, ribbons, leaves, flowers, sailboats and more, you'll learn how to create all these designs and many more. This is a great class if you're looking for motifs to add to your quilt designs.
Free Motion Fillers, Vol. 1 with Leah Day
Free Motion Fillers, Vol. 2 with Leah Day
I'm sure you've heard of Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project where she created a new quilting design each day for a year (and continues to add new designs). In these two classes Leah shares some of these designs and has lots of helpful tips and information about machine quilting. Using her domestic machine (the same Janome I currently own), Leah walks you through each motif describing how to create these designs successfully.
Machine Quilting Wholecloth Quilts with Cindy Needham
Design it, Quilt it: Free-Form Techniques with Cindy Needham
Cindy Needham creates amazing wholecloth quilts and quilts using vintage linens – something I love to collect. Both of these classes show you Cindy's approach to quilting on her domestic machine and include many quilting motifs. Cindy uses stencils as well as free-motion designs to create her amazing works of art. If you're an intermediate to advanced quilter, you'll learn to create beautiful art pieces in these classes.
This may seem like a lot of classes, but I find different and helpful information in each one of them. I like to take multiple classes from the same instructor – it almost feels like they're a friend helping me with my quilting.
If you're looking for classes to help you in your quilting adventure, I highly recommend any of these Craftsy classes. Enrol and start learning today!
Creatively,
P.S. I am a Craftsy affiliate and will receive compensation if you purchase through any of the links in this blogpost. This helps me to continue creating video and tutorial content for you. Thanks :)