More Practice Needed!

 Well...

That didn't go so well!  I had all kinds of things wrong with that first quilting sample...but I'm learning here.  This is my FIRST longarm and there's SO much to learn!  One thing I do know...I NEED MORE PRACTICE!  So, let's put some fabric on and just get a better feel for Lucey...we need to become FRIENDS!  We need to become BEST BUDS!!!!

HERE WE GO....

How do you learn control when you're learning free motion quilting?  Why you start simple!  Of course the first thing I wanted to try was RULER WORK..because I love doing RULER WORK!  BUT...baby steps...BABY STEPS!!!  We ALL have to start at the beginning!

This is practicing with simple designs to get the feel of this big longarm!

This is a very different feel than working on a domestic machine.

But...I think I like it...

More practicing...

no rulers...

just all free motion...

And...

Can I just brag on my husband for a minute?  

He was never willing to try free motion quilting on my domestic machine!

But...a little wine sure does loosen you up...LOL!

I got him to try the longarm out!

DIDN'T HE DO GREAT???!!!

Free Motion quilting is my passion!  Determination mixed with this passion will result in a good outcome!  I'll continue to share this journey with you...even the ugly things...shhh...

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

Let's do some quilting!

 When I went to Louisiana to test drive this longarm, I took a friend who has one with me.  I didn't know how to load it or anything!  I'm A DOMESTIC MACHINE QUILTER!!!!  Longarm?  No!

First, I learned to load it!  WAIT!  Let's back up a minute...

First, there was about 10 days before I could go to Louisiana and actually get the longarm and bring it home.  LOTS of Youtube videos were watched in this time!  (Technology is full of usefull information!)

Then, loading the longarm for the first time was kind of scary...but I got it done.  It's kind of simple, really.  You just have to know what bars are used for what layer of the quilt.  

This is my test piece when I went to test drive Lucey in Louisiana.

She felt really good and I knew I could get used to this machine.

Now let's look at my first practice piece since Lucey came home...

I feel like such a fish out of water!!!  I can quilt on my domestic machine and do anything I want to...I've put in the practice for many years and it DOES pay off!  It takes lots and LOTS of practice, but it's worth it!  We tend to put time into what we fell is worth it to us, and we each have a different "something" we feel is worth our time and effort, and this is mine.  I LOVE free motion quilting!!!  This is my FAVORITE part of the quilting process!

My tension is too tight, stitches are too small...can you see how it's literally tearing the fabric?

BOY, DO I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN!!!

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

Creating new storage

 Along with the cutting table being taken out in pieces, there was a shelving unit in the way as well.  

This shelving unit holds special fabrics a friend of mine hand dyes and they are absolutely gorgeous!  I treasure these fabrics, I LOVE these fabrics!  Now there's enough of them in my stash I'm willing and enjoying using them!  We have to remember we bought the fabrics in our stash because we like them and want to use them and had ideas for them...SO LET'S USE THEM!!!!  YES!  Give yourself permission to use these precious fabrics!!!  You'll find more precious fabrics to replace those you've used!

Here's the process of adding new storage!  

Remember, this is a judgement free zone...right?!!!

This is the shelving unit to empty and move its contents.  But as you can see...those special fabrics are not easily accessible nor are they even visible!   This makes them hard to use and be inspired to use!  

I have 2 dormer windows in my sewing room.  They're really cute, but have been easy to junk up!

Clearing this space out required more hard decisions and getting rid of things I've not used, and admit am not going to use after all this time.  Space is totally cleared out...WOOHOO!!!!

Deciding what to do with this space took a minute, but shelves on the wall seemed a logical solution.

And the shelves are almost competed!  Don't you love this?  I DO!

All my special hand dyed fabrics and aboriginal fabrics are on these shelves!

Refolding these took a minute, but they are easily accessible, visible, and useable now!  

How INSPIRING!  

This little alcove turned out so cute!  I love how the fabrics are folded...and want to do this with the rest of my fabric stash.  But that's a whole other project for another day next month!

More Later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

Making room for this new Long Arm adventure

 As a caretaker for 6 years, my life simply did NOT exist!  NADA!  NO!  NOPE!  Nina who?  FOR REAL folks!  If you've been a caretaker, you KNOW!  If you've been a caretaker, I APPLAUD YOU!!!  It's constant and I was all he had!  I'm saying this to bring up a point, as a caretaker you do NOT have time for your own home!  I kept his apartment clean, cooked for him, took him to Dr. appointments, shopped for him...you get the picture.  My life and my family were no longer first, they were second to last...I was last.    

Enough of all that, you get the point!  (You really don't want me to get on that wagon!)

After reading that, I'm assuming you can guess what my sewing room looked like after 6 years of what I call "blowing and going".  You know, Dad takes a nap, I have 30 minutes to sew, he wakes up and time to tend to him again.  Nothing gets cleaned up, you just have to enjoy sewing for the few minutes you can.  Now, my life is all about getting my life back...this includes my house!  We've been working on it and 2021 is the year to reclaim our home!  

Let's focus on the sewing room and this new addition coming in...

This is the space the long arm is going to live in.  The white table is all junked up and needs to go!  ALL that STUFF needs to go too!  I will have 2 feet of walking space between the 12' frame and my brown sewing table, so this can stay where it is.  

THIS IS A NON JUDGEMENT ZONE!

PLEASE?

There's a LOT OF WORK TO DO!

A LOT of things had been donated!

Aren't you proud of me?

Almost there!

Time for these to come out!

They are SO heavy, they will come out in pieces!

AH! That felt good!

Space is ready for it's new occupant!

And here she is!

There's still more work to do in this room, and the rest of my house, but it took 8 years to get this way!  My Dad passed 1.5 years ago, so now it's time for me to claim my house back!

This is a step in the right direction though!  Having a new reason to clear things out is great motivation!  The other side of the room is almost done...I'm getting a new cutting table!  Woohoo!  

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

New Adventure

I have to tell you about something that just happened!

I GOT A LONG ARM!

I am a DOMESTIC MACHINE quilter!  

I TEACH it!  I LOVE it!  I KNOW it! 

Long Arm?  Hmmmm???? 

We've all looked at Long arms at all the quilt shows!  There's always the opportunity to "test drive" different brands, and it's just fun to try them!  WHY NOT?!?!  I have several friends who have long arms and quilt for others as their business, and I've had the opportunity to play on their long arms too.  I've toyed with the idea of getting one for a few years...and I just kept backing away from it, never getting very serious about it.  I'd "test drive" used ones in my area, but either the machine didn't feel good or it was too expensive or I simply didn't have the money at that time.  Then, the question always comes into your head, "Do you REALLY want a long arm?".  About 6 months ago I just decided that if a long arm was in my future it was just going to have to fall in my lap.  I left the decision in God's hands and kind of forgot about it.

THEN, one day I get a text from an APQS dealer I had talked to some time ago, and she told me about a man who's wife has Dementia and can't use her machine anymore...am I still looking and would I be interested?  WELL...After taking care of my Dad for 6 years who had Dementia, (he passed 1.5 years ago), my heart went out to this husband!  I took a friend with me who has a long arm, as I didn't know how to load a long arm, and wouldn't know how to troubleshoot a machine that's been sitting for a while.  Sounded like a FUN day trip anyway...it was an easy 2 hour drive.  Once we got it oiled and ready to quilt, it was so much fun!  It just felt right!  Does that make sense to you?  This man was such a pleasure to work with too!  We agreed on a good price for the machine.  I told him I had to make room for it...aka, CLEAN OUT MY SEWING ROOM!  He said it's been sitting here unused for this long, a few more weeks doesn't matter.  

AND HERE SHE IS!!!  APQS LUCEY!

This is going to be a huge learning curve!  But I'm going to share this process with you!  The good, and the ugly!  HAHA!

More later!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts

EPP project FINALE!

 It's COMPLETED!!!

I'm SO excited to reveal the finished project!

This is entirely EPP by hand!  It was so much fun to make!

The quilting is done in a purple metallic thread...

Doesn't that just make it shine!!!

And there is a little bit of ruler work in the quilting...

I can't make all those lines straight without my rulers!

And, HERE IT IS!!!

Here are some close ups of the quilting.

This black thread is Hologram (or Tinsel) Thread

It's like a thin strand of plastic and it's fun to stitch with!

Lots of lines!

And I love the sparkle!

The center

The outer edges

This was a fun project and a beautiful wall hanging I enjoy looking at!

I hope you enjoyed this journey with me!

Sew the pieces of life together!

They make a BEAUTIFUL quilt!

Nina Clotfelter

www.ninaquilts.com

ninaclotfelter@gmail.com

follow me on Facebook & Instagram: Nina Clotfelter Quilts