2 days in Wiconsin - At The Heart of Quilting.

At The Heart of Quilting in Beloit, Wisconsin. This is where I have been the last 2 days, getting training for my new Gammill 22 long arm quilting machine.

 I left my home on Monday at 3:30 am and arrived at the shop in Wis. at 8:40 am, just in time for training at 9:00 am. There were two other ladies, Mary and Char, also in the training class. Training went all day until 5 pm with a lunch break at noon.

The morning of the first day we practiced setting up and sewing pantograph patterns. In the afternoon Cathy (the instructor and owner) went over machine maintenence. She was so thorough with step by step instructions that I wanted to go home that night just to oil and clean my machine. I realized that I hadn't been doing it properly but alas had to wait another day until I could get home to rectify that. Cathy also gave us some tips on starting a business of our own. Day one was worth the trip just in itself.

Day 2, we started right away loading up a small top that Cathy had prepared beforehand with areas drawn on it for specific stitches and techniques that she wanted us to learn and practice. I thought I was pretty good with some patterns that I had been practicing at home but quickly realized I still needed a lot more practice. We ended the day around 4:30 and I was back on the road to home by 5. My car was loaded with my roll of batting that I got with my gift certificate and a few extra items to help me along on this adventure of owning a long arm quilting machine,

After picking up my dogs in Des Moines from my daughters house I finally arrived home at 12:30am. I was soo tired right before I pulled into the driveway but by the time I got the dogs settled back in and the car unloaded I couldn't wait to go and oil my machine. I had to tell her (my machine) how sorry I was for not giving her enough oil and hoped that from now on our relationship would go a lot smoother. By 1:30 am I was ready to go to bed.

7:30 this morning I was up, letting the dogs out and checking my machine. No oil drips!! She was dry. WOW!
I have spent all morning practicing various stitches and winding bobbins and now at almost noon I am getting ready to load my first quilt.

Here are a few pictures of At The Heart of Quilting Shop and Classes.


This is the one side of the shop. They carry a lot of thread for the LA quilter and machine parts for your machine. I bought another bobbin case and an item to clean my rails of oil and lint. They also carry batting by the bolt and I got a bolt of 80/20 cotton/poly batt for all of my quilt tops at home.


This is the classroom and as you can see it will accomodate at least 6 quilters - 2 at each table.



Here is Cathy teaching different stitch techniques. She had a lot of great stories that made it all so interesting. The time really flew.



Cathy showing us a different way to draw leaves.
That was my training in beautiful Wisconsin. What a great 2 days and now I am home ready to get started.

Here is my machine all loaded and ready to go.




So now I am off to go a-quilting.
I hope you have a wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by.