Let’s just get more confused: Long-arm or mid-arm

I collected a bunch of questions from potential long-arm quilting machine buyers on reddit, so I don’t just ramble on and on. Because if there’s one thing I can ramble on about, it’s quilting.

Mid-arm is a relatively newer term, and quite confusing, depending on whether you are talking to a dealer or a consumer. From my understanding, it’s really more of a marketing term, not a specific type of machine, which is why it’s confusing.

A mid-arm machine can have feed dogs or not. So, what that means to you, is, a mid-arm is simply a more industrial, stripped down version of a home sewing machine, with a stronger, faster motor, OR, it’s a smaller longarm machine, that they are calling a mid-arm, which has no feed dogs, for lower budgets. So, are you more confused now? I kind of am, so don’t feel bad!

A longarm quilting machine, is designed to do one thing well; move over a quilt, whether manually or computerized, quickly. It has no feed-dogs, and the needle is in one position. It doesn’t even straight stitch, technically, because unless you or a computer is moving the machine around, it’ll stitch in the same spot forever and ever, amen. You can’t piece quilts with a longarm, although there are some fun projects that you can accomplish, other than quilts, but no one would ever invest in a longarm to piece quilts.

Let’s forget the terms, mid-arm and longarm for a second.

What are you hoping to do with this machine you are thinking about buying? Are you going to set up a quilting service as a home business and quilt for others? Do you want to finish your quilts more quickly or with less strain on your body? Maybe you want to do a little of both?

Here’s why I personally chose the longarm that I chose; I had the space, the budget, and I already had a regular sewing machine that I love. I was tired of basting my quilts with safety pins and adhesive spray. And moving and maneuvering a quilt under the needle can have some physical impact on your whole body, as you already have figured out, if you quilt on a domestic machine. Yes, standing at a longarm can also be physically exhausting, so I’ll cover that in another post.

The more I try and explain mid-arm, the more confusing it gets, because it’s not really a specific thing. With a mid-arm, you are going to move the quilt sandwich with your hands. If you are moving the machine, and it’s more petite, then it’s a smaller longarm.

Longarm quilting machines have one main job, quilting.
“Mid-arm” quilting machines can simply be a souped up domestic sewing machine, with a heavy-duty motor, with feed dogs and a wider throat. If it’s being called a “mid-arm” and it has no feed dogs, then it’s a longarm, but smaller and at a lower price-point.

No wonder there are 30 minute youtube videos explaining the difference! Gotta love marketing.

Do you want to stand and quilt, or sit? Do you want to move the quilt around, or move the machine? Do you want to pre-baste, or ditch the basting and load the backing, batting and top, directly onto a frame. You can probably guess my answer to that by how I phrased it!
Why do longarm machines cost so much? Can I recoup the cost of a longarm? How many hours does it take to finish a full-size quilt on a longarm? Is it really quilting if the computer runs the machine? (Oh, please…that’s a question? I’ll answer that now. YES. Sheesh.) Where do you learn how to use a longarm quilting machine? What are other options available if I don’t have the space for a longarm?

Those and many more questions, will be answered in the following posts. Or, I might change out of my Covid-19 quarantine daily outfit, you know what I’m talking about, get real clothes on and answer in a video.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

Buying a longarm quilting machine, pt. 2

Part 2 -

So, I had my dream and my motive, and I pulled the trigger for a Gammill Statler Stitcher.

1. We have moved to an acreage, and had a large room next to the garage that we decided would be perfect for a longarm machine.

2. I waited until I could afford to buy it, without needing to establish a quilting business right away to pay for the payment. Why? Because it took all the pressure off. However, I have quilted for a few friends, who pay me the local rate. I was at a Statler Stitcher retreat once, and was amazed that 50% of the attendees, owned this monstrous machine (monstrous in a good way) for quilting their own quilts.

With that being said, I’ll just be really honest about this so you can make your best decision. Because if you are reading this, you are probably considering having a longarm quilting business, either part-time or full-time.

I gathered a lot of questions, which I will try to answer based on my own experience in the next few blog posts and from talking to a lot of longarm quilters.

You do not have to be a quilter to own a longarm quilting business. In fact, some of the most prolific longarm quilters, do only that and do it very well, and have large clientele lists. How can that be?

Here’s the deal. If you LOVE the piecing aspect of quilting, and start up a longarm quilting business, you’ll lose some of your piecing time. That’s one thing to think about before deciding to buy a machine for a home business. My friends who own quilt shops, started them because of their love of quilting, but guess what? They don’t have a lot of time to sew, because they are running the shop.

My longarm quilting machine, the only machine in my house with a name, which is Gertie, is out in a room that gets pretty crisp in the wintertime. I didn’t quilt any quilts between mid-Dec and February. Fortunately, it’s not my business, so I could use that time to piece. This is one reason I chose to have a different business, so I can sew whatever I want, whenever.

Some people think because the machine is computerized, you can set it up and walk away. That’s pretty much not true. I’ve run into the house to grab some water or go to the bathroom when a complex design is stitching, ON MY OWN QUILT, and I know it won’t get far while I’m gone. But, setting your Gammill Statler to stitch and walking away, is like putting your new Tahoe in drive, and going back into the house.

Things happen. Threads break, bobbin thread runs out, the foot might get caught on a thick seam and so on. Best practice, is at the very least, be in the room. If I have a really well-pieced quilt top on the frame, no bumps or thick seams, I can step over to my desk and catch up on blogs, read a magazine, watch a recorded training, or even do my online coaching. I have fitness bands next to my machine, so I can stretch and get in a little resistance exercise. You learn the sounds of your machine, and the more you quilt, the more tuned in you become to possible problems, if you have turned away for a bit.

So, I guess my first question back to you, if you are thinking of starting a longarm quilting business: Do you want to give up your own piecing or sewing time to finish other people’s quilts? Because you will have to, if you want to quilt enough quilts to pay for your machine. I still think it’s a fabulous opportunity to have a service oriented home business, but there is a large investment, and a learning curve, to consider. And time.

In the next blog post, I’ll talk about the time required from my own perspective as a hobby longarm quilter.
Why do longarm quilters charge a minimum, no matter the size?
How much time does it take to learn how to use the Statler Stitcher?

Feel free to pop other questions that you would like me to answer, below.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

Buying a longarm quilting machine, pt. 1→

Should you buy a longarm quilting machine? Or, are you trying to figure out if it’s the right purchase for you?

I had a longarm quilting machine, specifically a Gammill, on my dream board for 15 years. I first saw one at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, 20 years ago. It blew my mind. Of course, almost anything would have at that time, because I was free motion quilting full-size quilts, even a king-size, on my little mechanical Bernina 810.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve seen that machine, but the throat space is small. The needle uptake, because it’s mechanical, is not super fast like a more modern electronic machine. So, to drive the Gammill longarm, with all that throat space, and without wrestling fabric and batting around, amazed me! And I knew if I kept making quilts, I’d have that machine one day. So, what took me so long to pull the trigger. There were a couple of things, initially.

1. I didn’t really have the space, when the boys were at home, without taking over our home school room or the family room. And, for a hobby machine, I didn’t think I wanted to do that.

2. I just didn’t know if I would really stand at the machine, and free motion or trace stencils for hours and hours. I know there’s a big learning curve to making desirable designs.

Then, 3 years ago, I was just looking around on the Gammill site, and noticed a computerized machine, the Statler Stitcher. I was a little confused, because I didn’t remember seeing that before. I watched the videos and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. And I knew right then, when I got a longarm, it would be the Statler. I had talked to numerous longarm quilters, even before I saw the Statler, and they all recommended getting a Gammill.

I kept going back to the website, put the machine up on my dream board, and then made a call to my regional Gammill rep. A fellow quilter invited me over to see her machine. I was hooked. Later that year, I bought a floor model from my regional store. For informational purposes, it’s a 12’ table, and a 30” throat, I believe.

I’ve been using my Gammill Statler Stitcher for 3 years. In the next post, I’ll talk about the learning curve and what I love about having a longarm and why I use it primarily for my hobby, even though there is enough demand that I could have a business, if I wanted another business!

If you have any questions about the Statler, feel free to pop those in the comments. I’m not a sub-dealer or rep. But, I’ll share my expertise with you, if there’s something you’d like to know!

Your Friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

Sugar Water for Bees

Spring feeding: Ratio by weight is 1:1

If you have a kitchen scale: Weigh out 1 pound cane sugar for every 2 cups of water.

Heat your water just to boiling, turn off. Add sugar, stir until clear. Cool to room temp before putting in your bee feeder of choice. Last year, I experimented with adding a few drops of Reishi mushroom complex and 2 drops lemongrass essential oil to my cooled sugar water. All I can tell you is, the hive is strong and healthy and made it through our cold winter. I don’t see mites at all and I didn’t use chemical mite killers. I don’t know….it didn’t hurt, so I’ll continue.

2 cups water: 1 pound sugar
4 cups water: 2 pounds sugar
6 cups water: 3 pounds sugar
8 cups water: 4 pounds sugar
10 cups water: 5 pounds sugar

Why did I just type that out? Because, as a new beekeeper you have enough other things to think about! If you don’t have a kitchen scale, and only have 1-2 hives, just buy sugar already pre-weighed. I’ve seen cane sugar in 2, 4, 5 and 10 pound packages. The cheapest, of course, is to buy it in the 20 pound bags. You be the judge.

My biggest stock pot is in use today. So, I weighed as much sugar as I thought would fit in my instant pot container and poured it in. I heated the corresponding amount of water just to boiling in a pan on the stove. I turned off the burner, poured the boiling water over the sugar in the instant pot stainless steel pan, and stirred until the sugar melted and water was clear.

I could fit more in, but sugar water is a sticky mess when spilled, as you might have guessed.

Should you feed, shouldn’t you? What kind of feeder? Jar, top, bucket…All kind of opinions and methods out there. Do a google search on just that topic, and you’ll find hours of video and blog posts!

I do what my local beekeepers have told me to do. It’s different in different areas.

In Nebraska, when installing a new hive, I always feed. Why? There’s not a lot blooming in mid-April and sometimes we have cool, rainy days and a brand new hive, has no resources to draw upon, if the weather turns cool or if there’s nothing to forage. They turn on netflix and twiddle their thumbs and perish, or get weaker. Interesting. You can learn a lot from bees…

So, what I do, when I install a new hive, is prepare a 1:1 syrup, above. I have it cooled and ready for when the bees arrive. In fact, everything should be ready. If you are the type to wait until the car beeps at you to put on your seatbelt, then you might want to pay attention here. It’s stressful to have your package of bees arrive, and realize …oh, I don’t have enough frames for a brood super. Or, where did I put my equipment…oh yea, I should figure out how to narrow down the entrance, and who used all the sugar, for Pete’s sake?

Here is my simple list this morning, to make sure everything is available and ready, when my bees come on the UPS truck.

• Bee suit

• hive tool

• feeder

• sugar syrup

• smoker (although I rarely use it when installing)

• 1 baby marshmallow in case the queen case doesn’t have a sugar plug (some do, some don’t)

• 1 deep super, cleaned, and ready with frames, lid, inner lid, top feeder

• hive stand leveled

• Entrance narrowed down to 2” (I have a thin board with a cut out that I nail in place)

I will have all of this in the back of my golf cart, (an acreage necessity,) before the bees arrive. Then, when I’m ready, it’s all there and I’m not searching for stuff. This is really important, because once I install the bee package, I leave them alone for a few days, until I check to make sure the queen got out of her cage.

My worst experience installing a new package of bees, was the opposite. I was going back and forth to the garage and house, trying to find all the things I needed; trying to get my syrup cooled faster in the fridge; and building the last few frames.

Bees pick up on stress. The calmer you are, the better. Having everything ready, in one place, will help with that calm.

I still consider myself a beginner, even though I’ve been beekeeping 5 years. You are constantly learning, adjusting. I tend towards to the ‘less is more’ approach. Bees are smart.

Now, if you are a new beekeeper, there is a lot of really good info out there, and some pretty poor info. I think some of that is often because one beekeeper is a good teacher and one does things automatically and hasn’t thought through all the steps in order to teach it.

One beekeeper I love to follow on Instagram is Hilary Kearney. She’s so chill about bees and knows how to teach. Her Instagram is @girlnextdoorhoney . I love and can recommend her 2 online courses, blog and resources. You just can’t go wrong with Hilary’s training. She has lovely books, and just launched a kickstarter game. A good forum, with lots of information and help, is the Flow hive forum. It tends to be a little kinder than some of the other forums, but if this is your first journey in beekeeping, you’ll find the opinions are numerous, and you might be called names by the “my way or the highway” people.

That’s it for today! My bees should be here soon, so I’m going to shower with my non-smelly soap, get my cooled syrup poured into gallon jugs and be ready!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel-The Fit Quilter

Happy May Day!

Hey friends! It’s May 1st!
Another sunny day here in Nebraska, with just the hint of a breeze; barely even that.

My official Facebook fast is over, but I have to be honest here, I’m not sure what to do. I may have to ring my mindset mentor, whom I haven’t talked to for over a year, and get his help to think through this.

In the meantime, though! I’ve joined another challenge on Instagram. It’s called Me-Made-May 2020. At it’s heart, it’s about making your own clothes and developing a better relationship with your wardrobe. In the last year, I started making some clothes again and realized how much I love the instant gratification feel to making clothes as compared to a quilt. The quilt top I finished yesterday, or almost finished, has been in the works since 2017. I can make a t-shirt or pair of underwear in less than an hour, and wear it that day!

If you are interested, you can read about the sewist/blogger who started this challenge several years ago on her blog, So,Zo-A Sewing Blog. If you are an Instagrammer, (can you believe that’s a thing?) do a hashtag search for #memademay2020 or Zoe Edwards of @sozoblog, you’ll find all the info you need.

This goes along well with the Mindful Wardrobe Project that I participated in with Meg McElwee, Sew Liberated, at the beginning of the year. I still have 2 sections of that course to finish, with the closet cleaning out at the top of the list. I got distracted, what can I say?

That’s my Instagram challenge for May. I look forward to making new friends and working on my wardrobe.

One of the clothing items I started sewing this year is bras. Why? I am not sure, but it looked like a fun challenge during the colder, snowy months. I’ve now made 4 different bras, 2 are underwire and 2 are bralettes. And, it’s a little addicting. Right after I made the first one, I went online and ordered another kit and more materials. Then, I revived my underwear drawer, and made some really comfy underwear. The funny thing is, when I’m at home, …is this too much info?… I generally go bra-less. I mean…who needs it when you live in the country and don’t see people, day after day! And yet, I’m now on bra number 6; a pattern by Emerald Erin Sews, called Black Beauty. And it’s with bee fabric. Of course it is!

You’ll always find me posting pictures of my sewing adventures on Instagram. I love my instagram sewing community, sew much!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel
@thefitquilter

April 2020

Well, friends. That’s a wrap.

Today is April 30, 2020.

Looking back, April was weird in a lot of ways, starting with the shortage of toilet paper. That one still kind of gets me. I don’t want to be without toilet paper any more than anyone else, but, I wonder if we’ll start to see boxes of toilet paper for sale on garage sales once this stay-at-home mandate is lifted! We won’t run out for a long time, but I went the 1-ply route because of our insufficient septic tank, and 1-ply lasts a long time. You should try it if those puffy clouds of quilted toilet paper are flying off the tube too fast. My son balked at me, when I suggested he get 1-ply. I told him, 1-ply is better than no-ply. But, I digress.

April 2020 was a great month for me, personally.
1. I took a break from posting on Facebook for a whole 30 days. I learned a few things from that.
2. Our business has always promoted at-home health and fitness…it’s not a new thing we rolled out, so nothing was different in my fitness approach.
3. I drove to town for necessities only. That was a big change. It takes 1.5 hours out of my day, for even the shortest errand in town.

With all that reclaimed time, I sewed. A lot. I’ve seen people finishing up home remodeling projects. Not me. I sewed. People cleaned their houses top to bottom. Not me. I sewed. I had started a pile for the thrift shop, before covid-19 restrictions, and it’s still at the top of the steps on the 3rd floor. Why? No place to take it. Sew.

If you go to my Instagram account, The Fit Quilter, you’ll get an idea of all the things I made in April. I only hit a few snags, when I wanted to run to town and get something, but made do with materials I had on hand.

I have so much I want to share today, but it’s sunny, the wind has stopped blowing a gale, and I’m going to spend as much time as possible out in the sunshine!

Blessings to you if April 2020 was a month you never want to experience again. I know, because of the way we lived and worked before covid19, most things didn’t change much for us. I feel very blessed about that.

Outside is calling. Time to check on my bees, what’s in bloom, which birds are coming through during migration and so on and so on!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel

What did Grandma Wear

I think because I have so much more time at home, not because I all the sudden work from home, but with the restrictions on travel and shopping, I go to town less once or twice a week, at most.

By “go to town,” in the off chance someone is reading that I’m not aware of, I am referring to our 25 minute drive to Lincoln, Nebraska. We live on an acreage, and almost all of our shopping, besides tractor or mower stuff, is done in Lincoln.

That’s a time sucker for certain. If I don’t plan things well, or at all some weeks, we can end up going to town several times. That’s a minimum of 1.5 hours, even if we have one quick stop.

That’s a lot of time, if you think about it. I know for those who live in cities, like Los Angeles, that would be a dream to get somewhere in that amount of time. For me personally, it always feels like a waste of time.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. Dreams and early morning thoughts. I wake up thinking about things that seem so off the wall. Take this morning, for instance, I woke up thinking about what my grandma on mom’s side, wore every day. I laid in bed, trying to remember if she had ever worn jeans or pants. I think the answer to that is no. I don’t recall ever seeing my grandma wear pants. Come to think of it, my grandma on dad’s side didn’t either.

If memory serves, one grandma always wore more fitted, wool or a thicker fabric, dresses and support hose. The other grandma, wore cotton dresses and aprons, flat lace up shoes.

And why I woke up wondering about that, I suppose has to do with the Mindful Wardrobe Project that I joined with Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated. We didn’t talk about this, but all the pondering I’ve done about my closet and wardrobe and why I wear certain things and why I don’t wear others, probably brought that up from my subconscious.

If your grandmas have been gone from this earth for awhile, do you remember what they wore?

Your friend,
Anne Dovel
Instagram@thefitquilter