Learning HQ-16

[cindyg]

WOO HOO - I'm going to my best friend's this weekend to visit our HQ-16 that we bought at the quilt show. Saturday morning we have a HQ-16 class. I am so excited. I can't wait to get my hands on that machine!!! Does anyone have any tips about this machine? Or know any quirks is has?

[gardenquilter]

congradulations you are going to love it cant wait to see you post pictures woooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooooo

all of the machines have their little quirks just like our regular machines but they soon become our old friends and an extension of us lol is wonderful for certain

[SewSew]

Cindy, how did you do? How was your class?

Can't wait to hear how everything went yesterday.

Ann

[cindyg]

DewDew - The class was for beginners and we needed it!! We learned a lot and we learned even more after we got home and got started loading my quilt and quilting it. It was definitely a learning weekend. One thing I learned for sure is not to try and stitch in the ditch without a ruler to help me. In the middle of my quilt I just did some whimsical swirls. It's not pretty but I sure learned a lot while doing it. When I got thru with my quilt we loaded one of Vicki's and she used groovy boards - man, they are so neat. That was a learning experience, too. The groovy boards don't come with instructions. On my next one I think I'm going to use a panto. Those groovy boards are expensive and you need at least two of the same pattern @ $40 - $45 each. At the quilt show we bought 2 of the meandering pattern and that's what Vicki used to quilt yesterday. I learned that if you use pre-wound bobbins that you are suppose to take the cardboard off before you put them in your bobbin case. I had no idea!!! LOL LOL I learned that I'm suppose to set my bobbin tension first and then set everything else to work with that bobbin tension and I learned that there is several different ways to load your quilt. The teacher of our class did it differently than the teacher on the DVD. This will definitely be a learn as you go thing!

So have you been busy with yours? How did Victoria's quilt turn out?

[Littlebit]

Glad you are having fun ladies - It is a real learning curve!! I used rulers for the first time last week - took just a bit to figure out how much pressure to apply to the ruler and let the machine still move - lol - here is a picture of my first ruler work - the rest is free motion )

[SewSew]

Cindy, the lady at the LQS told us about taking the paper off the prewound bobbins. She told us that if you are experiencing trouble with your bobbin tension that the first thing you should do is put a net over the upper thread spool. She said that often that takes care of all your problems and you don't have to do anything to the bobbin. She also said to make sure that the bobbin thread and the thread spool were of the same weight.

When we were in Houston I was looking at the ruler base and they wanted $89.00 for it, my LQS had the same thing for $69.00 and the ruler I got at 10% discount. I am glad I didn't buy it at the show. I haven't even watched the video yet.LOL We just loaded a quilt and hit the road.LOL I finished a couple of charity quilts, just meandering and a Christmas table runner with a meandering loop design. I have to practice on slowing down a bit but other than that I am having fun.

[MastiffMomQlt]

Littlebit! That looks really, really nice!! Great job!

[cindyg]

Littlebit - you did a wonderful job with your ruler. That's a gorgeous quilt. SewSew - I read somewhere that you can cut up a knee-hi or an old pair of panty hose to make a net for your cone thread. I hope I can remember your hint if we ever have tension problems. That is excellent information.

[astitchintime]

Cindy, you still out there?? I'm back and have missed it dearly. Hope to hear from you soon... Debi

[WeSignificant]

Deb WELCOME BACK! How ya been?