My new to me Millie

I did it. I have been researching and trying longarm machines. I went to a used machine blow out at the Quilted Memories shop in Overland Park, KS last weekend and picked out my “new to me” machine. It’s a 2006 APQS Millenium on a 14’ frame. I am excited to get it and start working on it. I am heading west of the shop this weekend for an endurance ride and am hopeful I can fit it in the trailer on the way home. Do you think the horses will mind if they have to ride with it? With the frame being 14’ and having an almost full trailer of horses, I’m not very convinced it will work, but hopefully. I'll post pictures once it's at home and setup. Lyn at Quilted Memories has been very helpful in the tryout and purchase, I just hope she is in for the questions I’m sure will follow. In fact, everyone I’ve talked to about it has been extremely helpful. Quilters are a great bunch of people from my experiences so far. Here are a couple of more photos of quilts I've done on the Juki I had before.

Awesome weekend

It was a great weekend spent with horses and friends at an endurance ride in Utica, ILL. Matthiessen State Park in Illinois is a great park I'd recommend, if you have a chance you visit. Nice walking trails, there were lots of families out for the day on Saturday. There are waterfalls and canyons, not what you expect in Illinois. My friend and I finished the 30 mile limited distance on Saturday with happy, healthy horses. After the horribly hot summer we've had and I sprained my ankle early in June, I wasn't sure if they were in condition for a 60 mile ride. We're counting it as a conditioning ride for Kanopolis Canyon ride in 2 weeks. Who knew there were beautiful red rock canyons in the middle of Kansas? Now it's back to the business of trying to start a business. There is a used quilting machine sale in Overland Park, Kansas this weekend I believe I will head to. They have at least a couple of brands of machines I've not had a chance to try out yet, in my looking for the perfect machine for me. One of the machines sounds very interesting to me. I'll keep you posted on what I think.

Hello to all

A new blog is hardly a novelty I'm sure but here goes mine.  It's a blog about a new venture of trying to start my own business of quilting and braiding horsehair jewelry. I'm in the process of researching long arm machines to find the one that works best for me. I've been using a medium arm for several years and am looking forward to the capabilities of the long arm.  I get good reviews on the free motion quilting I've done so hope the learning curve is relatively short. I have about 10 tops lined up for learning including some I plan to do for the Quilt Beyond Borders charity.  I also braid horsehair into bracelets, necklaces, and keychains. That comes from wanting momentos of my own horses and helping others who've lost their equine pals. As Winston Churchill said "there is something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of man". Stay tuned for the progress.  Lisa