Just How Many Quilt Tops Do You Have Stashed
on Your Closet Shelves Waiting to be Quilted?

And what are you waiting for?

Now you can learn how to choose an excellent professional longarm machine quilter - or set up your own longarm quilter to complete your quilting projects - Easy!

From: Penny Halgren

Date:

Dear Quilting Friend,

If you are anything like I am, I spend hours making a quilt top.

First, there’s choosing the pattern.  Should it be a simple block or a fancy block? 

Should I sew sashing betwen the blocks, or just place the blocks next to each other, possibly creating a design within a design? 

Should I take on the challenge of circles or clamshells, or stick with the known quantities of squares and half square triangles, with maybe some Flying Geese sprinkled in?

Once I have worked my way through those issues, there’s the decision about how large to make the quilt.

Often that is based on who it is for.  Engineer son, Bubba, is over 6 feet tall, so a quilt that is much shorter than that is pretty useless in his eyes. 

Quilting daughter, Stephanie, on the other hand, loves her cuddly couch-size quilts – bigger than lap but smaller than twin.

Once all of those decisions have been made, then it’s off to the quilt shop to choose the fabric.  I do make a quick stop at my fabric stash to see if there is something interesting, but truthfully, most of the time a new quilt requires a trip for new fabric.

Then there’s the whole process of cutting the fabric, stitching patches into blocks; blocks into rows and eventually into a quilt top with sashing and borders.

By the time it is finished, I have invested hours and weeks in the quilt, and there are still more decisions.

• Should I hand quilt or machine quilt it?
• What quilting design should I use?

The hand quilting vs. machine quilting question has to do with the use of the quilt and how much time I have. I am likely to hand quilt quilts that are special - either because of the design or because of who they are going to.

Those quilts that will be used a lot are more likely to be machine quilted.

But the last thing I want to do is ruin a beautiful quilt with puckers and tucks created by poor machine quilting.

This quilt is puckered due to my lack of skill at machine quilting. Click on image for larger picture.

Years ago, I tried machine quilting on my home sewing machine.  The experience was full of frustration and the resulting quilt - - well, I’m glad it hadn’t spent hours and hours making that quilt.  You can get a flavor of the results to the right.

It was a baby quilt for a friend; one that she was planning to use with her baby, so I knew it wasn’t destined to be any kind of prize-winning quilt.

But then there was the quilt that was way too big for my sewing machine.

I didn't want to even think about handling the bulk of that quilt in my tiny home sewing machine.

So I farmed it out to a friend who had volunteered to machine quilt it. I provided the top, batting, backing and binding, and turned the design work over to her.

It took months to get it back - maybe even a year. It was fine, but really nothing to "write home about."

I've Heard Horror Stories

Although I have been tempted, I haven't sought out a professional longarm machine quilter to quilt one of my quilts.

While I have heard many success stories, I have also heard horror stories. And, how can I know which will be "my" story?

I've heard the story about the "really close friend" who machine quilted a quilt and ruined it with a really bad quilting design. The quilt maker didn't realize that the quilt would be quilted with an overall design that made the entire quilt look "flat." The quilt maker wanted her beautiful, intricate hand applique to stand out.

Then there's the one about the quilt that had puckers and pleats quilted into the backing. Apparently the longarm quilter didn't do a really good job of setting up the tension on the layers as she quilted.

Or, the quilt that never came back. A friend of mine sent a quilt off to a professional quilter who still hasn't returned the quilt - finished or not - and it's been more than a year. (The quilt was promised within 3 months.)

Just imagine - you purchased quality fabric, spent hours cutting and sewing - including ripping and re-sewing so you will have square corners and pointy triangles in your quilt blocks - only to have it be ruined by a professional quilter.

But, What To Do?

One option is to get your own longarm quilting machine.

While that is an option for many quilters, there are other quilters who don't really have that as an option. It could be the space it takes in your house. Or, maybe knowing that you will really only quilt one quilt a year, and it seems like a large investment of time and resources (let alone space) for such a small usage.

Another option is to find a professional machine quilter to trust your quilt with.

Either choice requires some research.

Many of the longarm quilting machines come with manuals and training. Sometimes the manuals are very descriptive and helpful. But, then there are others that leave you hanging with a pile of pieces and no obvious way to put them together.

Once you put them together - then what?

Often the company will give you training on how to use the longarm quilting machine. But, what if you live in a remote town, or the training times aren't convenient for you, or the trainer speaks a different quilting language than you do and you get nothing from the hours you spend in the class?

There you are - having spent thousands of dollars, invested scores of hours of time, and you still don't know how to use your machine.

Or, maybe you have some basic knowledge, and want to learn more than just the basics.

On the other hand, you may decide that you don't really want to own your own longarm quilting machine, but you do want to know how to choose a great professional longarm quilter.

With so many to choose from, how will you know what questions to ask and what to expect?

• How flexibile will the professional quilter be - will she quilt it the way you want it, or the way she wants the quilt to be quilted?
• How long should it take?
• What if you have a budget?

What better way to find the answers than to ask an expert?

Professional Longarm Machine Quilter, Paula Rostkowski, shared information about machine quilting.

But where do you find an expert? Just a random Google search might land you in the hands of someone with a really pretty website but who doesn't know what they are doing.

Not long ago, there was an article in the Professional Quilter magazine about Paula Rostkowski.

Now, I know, just because there is an article in a magazine doesn't mean that the person really knows what they are doing.

But, I checked her website out and called her, asking many questions about her business and how she works with quilters.

In that short telephone call, Paula gave me some of her best tips for choosing a professional longarm quilter - things I hadn't thought about and would not have occurred to me to ask.

She's got the credentials in terms of experience, and she knows what is important to quilters who are looking for a professional to help them finish their quilt.

And She Shares Her Secrets with You

Paula was excited to be asked to be interviewed for our Eavesdrop on a Telephone Conversation.

And she agreed to share her techniques for longarm machine quilting as well as talking about how to choose a professional quilter to finish a quilt for us - the quilters who don't have a longarm machine and don't want to finish a quilt on a home sewing machine.

I feel very fortunate to have Paula join us so you can get her fabulous information.

Paula shared her experience as a professional longarm quilter, sharing techniques for beautiful machine quilting as well as giving us tips for how to choose a professional machine quilter who will quilt our quilts the way we want them - even within a budget.

During the Conversation, Paula covered topics like:

This information could save you hours of valuable quilting time - let alone frustration.

This call is worth its weight in gold. Paula shared secrets that beginning machine quilters need to know. Techniques that have taken her over a decade to uncover and sort through.

And, if you are thinking about hiring a longarm machine quilter to finish your quilts, the information contained in this interview can save you hundreds of dollars, countless hours of time, and could save your beautiful heirloom quilt from the hands of a quilting hack!

By investing in this CD, you get a recording of the interview, as if you were there - even though you might have been doing something else during the live call.  And you will get a copy of the transcript of the call, so you can read along with the interview.

You can play it whenever you want and as many times as you want to.  You can enjoy listening to the call in your car while you are on the way to the quilt shop. 

Imagine learning new tricks you can use when you start quilting when you get home.

All of her insights, inspiration and hard work, without the pain of your learning are right there on the CD for you to use. Just listen to her, and you'll know exactly what to do to make your machine quilting perfect or to find the perfect professional longarm machine quilter.

Your copy of the CD is a tiny investment of $27.97.

You can't afford to pass up the opportunity to have this information on your very own CD to listen to.

Although you might think you will never send one of your quilts out to a professional machine quilter, you might find yourself up against a deadline and a quilt that will be perfect for a machine quilter.

Then you will wish you remembered what questions you should be asking before you send your quilt off to someone.

Make your longarm machine quilting experience a most pleasant adventure with this information. Your family and friends will be amazed at the beautiful quilts you quilted on your longarm quilting machine.

Or, if you are looking for a professional longarm machine quilter, this information will take you one giant step closer to finding the perfect quilter.

You might decide, too, that you want to try your hand at machine quilting - now that you have more than one finished quilt top just waiting to be quilted.

You'll be missing the boat if you pass up this opportunity.

Yes! Please send me the CD with the Paula Rostkowski, expert longarm machine quilter interview for the special price of just $27.97. Plus, I will have immediate access to the Transcript of the Interview as an electronic download.

Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
Master Quilter