Handi Quilter Event

The Handi Quilter event I went to was Wonderful! I learned so much. The coolest thing was that I was the only one who wanted to work on the Sweet Sixteen. The store, Friends Quilting Basket in Lake Odessa, MI, that put this on, brought in 4 long arms and a Sweet 16. There were 12-15 people in the classes, and I had the 16 all to myself--without having to pay extra or anything!!

The instructor was Mary Beth Krapil, a Handi Quilter educator. Also on hand were the store owner, Josie, staff from the store, and the store tech. So any questions were easily answered. All of these people were so kind. I'm so glad I found this store. I was not happy at all with the store I actually purchased my machine from, so it is so nice to find one eager to help.

In all the quilting magazines, there are ads for the new HQ long arm. Only 4 have been delivered in the country. We had one at our event to play with. Boy, does it have cool bells and whistles! For more information on the Infinity, see here.

I took tons of pictures:

The event was held in a church. This sign is what greeted us. Let you know you're in the right place.

Chris, the tech, goofing off

The Infinity

Can you get a feel for the size of the room?

The long arms were each 12', and there was plenty of room!

Mary Beth bought herself a Sweet 16 since she was going to have to teach them, so she is very knowledgeable on them too. She told me she thinks quilting on the Sweet is more difficult than quilting on a long arm. I've often wondered about that. She said she admired my quilting.

We had a class on Free Motion Quilting (FMQ), a class on using rulers, and one on Borders, Blocks and Backgrounds. The rulers class was the most enlightening to me. I've played with rulers and always forget to breathe because I get so tense. She made it much easier.

My room mate issue worked out just fine. Jean was quite nice and we got along fine.A whole lot better than it might have been. I actually woke up the night before I left, worried about security. Can I leave anything in the room if I'm not right there, will I wake up to find she'd absconded with my things, all sorts of wild worries. None of the above happened! Yay!

Because the store and this church are out in the boonies, the owner provided lunch for us all. A very nice perk. Much appreciated. Also donuts in the morning. Not quite so appreciated by me. Donuts talk to me. They jump in my face and say, "Eat me. Eat me. I'm so creamy and yummy." Darn little things know just how to get me.

More pics tomorrow.

Thanks,
Lin