My Longarm Learning

We were sad to hear of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh today. There are few other people alive who have had personal experience of the world and the people at the highest level of government as the 99 year old Prince.  However, it was his impact at grassroots level that really impressed me as a 14 year old. Like many schoolchildren in the UK I took part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme with first of all the Bronze award at school.  My community service was to serve tea at the local hospice, an experience which was so valuable and I still remember some of the lovely people I met there. I'm not sure many people had wine-making as their hobby but I justified it on the basis of it being quite technical! I learnt how to plan a walk, hang wall-paper and play golf!  From that small seed my experience of walking and expeditions grew and at University I joined the Duke of Edinburgh Society becoming Treasurer and Expedition Leader in my last year. I'm proud that I trained f

"Life's so bright, gotta wear shades" I was reminded of this expression that I frequently used in the 1990s whilst wearing my RayBans or Killer Loop wraparound sunglasses. These outdated accessories may not be quite so cool now, but wouldn't it be nice to think that a brightness will take over our lives when we emerge from the "hibernation" of the past year. Life's so bright, gotta wear shades In order to celebrate that brightness you may like to check out the brightness of your Handi Quilter Avante if that is your longarm of choice. Since it emerged on the longarm market in 2010, the Avante has proved to be a real winner. The favourite of professional and hobby quilters alike. We sold our last new Avante this week. It's the end of an era for the Avante but we know that quilters around the UK and Europe will continue to derive great pleasure from using their Avantes for many years to come. Lights on the Avante - new LEDs on the outside with the UV (b

 I was struck this week by the importance of words of encouragement.  I know plenty of parents who have spent the early part of 2021 encouraging and cajoling their children to do their school work at home. Sometimes the roles are reversed and children are persuading their elderly parents to keep exercising despite the difficulties of lockdown. We all know how important words of encouragement can be, particularly if we are feeling isolated. Motivation becomes more difficult. It's one of the reasons why we have Facebook Groups like Longarm Learning Curve for Handi Quilter owners. You may not know it exists but within the group are all the previous HQ Owners in the UK (and worldwide HQ Owners can also join). The admins in the group are me (Liz), Lynda Jackson, Handi Quilter Ambassador and Educator and Nel Eyre a Handi Quilter Owner. We ensure the advice and guidance is on point and relevant to the group but otherwise no question is silly, stupid or unimportant. There is also a brand n

Quilting Quilting Quilting! We are getting a sense of how much piecing and quilting has been taking place during lockdown in the UK and around the world. We are all so fortunate to have an outlet for our creativity at a time when our normal lives have been set aside. Judging by how busy the sewing machine companies have been in the past year we know lots of people have been stitching away piecing lots of tops.  But then you have to quilt it! Quilting by Ann Eckley on a Sweet Sixteen Sitdown / Stationary Machine Quilting by Ann Eckley on a Sweet Sixteen Sitdown / Stationary Machine We love to see our customers' finished quilts and one of our customers, Ann, sent us this one last week. She's had her Sweet Sixteen machine about a year. She used the Arc Set B Ruler and Handi Versa Tool . Her echo of the Dresden Plate is really effective and we think she has done a beautiful job on this quilt. The concept of echoing applique designs is quite a traditional way of quilting by hand or