New lighting for 2009 APQS Millennium

I have always wanted more lighting above my Long Arm and shortly after setting up my 14 ft frame, I realized that I needed it now more than ever. Weeks ago while quilting on my HQ-16 I looked up and shook my head at how poor the quality of light was that I was working under.

HQ-16 Lighting

It only took a few days of quilting with my new 2009 APQS Millennium with quilt glide to realize that NOW was the time to look for more lighting. So the search was on. I went straight to my favorite two places online for quilting info, FaceBook and The APQS Forum. It didn’t take long to find out that one of the only third party lighting systems out there were from http://www.deloasquiltshop.com/longarmlightingsystems.html

I have seen these lights in person at MQX in April and liked what I saw. The only concern I had was the shipping. Seeing as I live in Canada, I needed a solution that was closer to home. So I picked up the phone and called my trusy Ol’ Dad. He was over in minutes and surveyed the situation.

He wanted to address a couple important concerns that other quilters had with over head lighting. Buzzing from the ballast and heat from the lights. He shrugged his shoulders and off he went to Home Depot.

What seemed like only minutes later, he returned with

• (3) 10ft lengths of 1 1/4″ SCH 40 PVC Conduit.
• (10) 1 1/4″ PVC clamps
• (20) 10×5/8 metal screws (truss socket head)
• (3) 4ft Fluorescent shoplights w/ instant-on High Power Factor Electronic Ballasts. Uses 2 32W T-8 Natural Sunlight tubes

Now for the assembly. Very simple. Here we go.

1. Mark two of the conduits from the male end 5′ in.
2. Run a hair dryer on full power at that mark and bend the two PVC pipes to about a 70 degree angle.
3. Attach the two at each end of your frame legs just in front of where the table is bolted to the legs. Using the 1 1/4″ PVC clamps around both the bottom and the top horizontal leg supports. Line the top of the PVC to the height you want your lights on the outside of the table legs. line them up to the PVC. Remember the bend goes towards the center of the table. Predrill your holes and screw the clamps to the vertical PVC. Y
4. You now have a 10ft PVC pipes attached at both ends of your table, bent at 5ft towards the center of your table.
5. Measure the distance between the two female ends of the PVC over the table and cut and attach a third piece of PVC.
6. Now you are ready to attach the lights to the three PVC pipes above your table.
7. predrill the holes again for the  1 1/4″ PVC clamps. Attach the lights.
8. Attach all three lights to an extension cord from the center light over and down one side of the frame.
9. Voila… Plug it in and see the light!

PVC bent with the heat of hair dryer

1 1/4" PVC Clamp

PVC attached to APQS Table Leg

As you can see I wrapped the bottom clamp in packing tape just to be sure it held while I was attaching the lights. I don’t think it is necessary however.

PVC Joined Together Between Lights

Completed Lighting System Under $100

The Falcon has landed!

After debating names for a few days, My Quilting Chatroom friend Barb Bunz suggested the name Millennium Falcon. That’s an awesome thought I thought! So my new 2009 APQS Millennium has a name… The Millennium Falcon. Yes! This is a Star Wars reference and a pretty good one at that. As you can see the similarities in the picture below.

APQS Millenniums

So I spent 3-4 hrs yesterday waiting for my 2009 APQS Millennium to be delivered. Luckily I wasn’t alone though. I had 50+ of my closest quilting friends watching live on my studio cam and chatting me up in the chat room.

Manquilters chat room

After such a long wait boy was it exciting to finally see the big truck pull up in front of my house.

2009 Millennium Shipment Arriving

2009 APQS Millie Delivery

ManQuilter Loves APQS

2009 APQS Millennium with Quilt Glide 24 hr Countdown…

The 24hr countdown begins. I received conformation on Friday that my new Long Arm Quilting Machine has crossed the border, cleared customs and is now sitting in a warehouse in Edmonton.

2009 APQS Millennium

That’s right I said Edmonton.

That’s right, I live in Edmonton.

That’s right, it’s literally 15-20 minutes from my house right this very second.

Unfortunately the freight company is closed on weekends. This means that my machine will be loaded on a truck tomorrow morning and delivered to me.  Now you would think that this is such great news that I would breathe a deep sigh of relief. But instead I scramble to get the studio ready for the new arrival.

I am currently on my 3rd break from studio prep(lol) sitting in front of my computer looking through baby names for my new Millennium. Here are some of the ones I have come up with so far…

Milo
The name Milo is a baby boy name. The name Milo comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Milo is: Merciful.

Emil
The name Emil is a baby boy name. The name Emil comes from the French origin. In French The meaning of the name Emil is: Variant of Emile: Eager.
Milborough
The name Milborough is a baby girl name. The name Milborough comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Milborough is: Mild borough or fortress.

Milburn
The name Milburn is a baby boy name. The name Milburn comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Milburn is: Millstream. From the mill stream.

Mildred
The name Mildred is a baby girl name. The name Mildred comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Mildred is: Mild of strength

Miles
The name Miles is a baby boy name. The name Miles comes from the Hebrew origin. In Hebrew The meaning of the name Miles is: Variant of Michael: Who is like God? Gift from God.

Millard
The name Millard is a baby boy name. The name Millard comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Millard is: One who grinds grain.

Miller
The name Miller is a baby boy name. The name Miller comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Miller is: One who grinds grain.

Millicent
The name Millicent is a baby girl name. The name Millicent comes from the French origin. In French The meaning of the name Millicent is: Of a thousand saints.

Millie
The name Millie is a baby girl name. The name Millie comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Millie is: Diminutive of Mildred: Mild of strength. Also a diminutive of the Latin Emily, from Aemilia, the feminine form of the Roman family name Aemilius.

Millman
The name Millman is a baby boy name. The name Millman comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Millman is: Mill worker

Milton
The name Milton is a baby boy name. The name Milton comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Milton is: From the mill farm. Famous Bearer: 17th century British poet, John Milton

Milward
The name Milward is a baby boy name. The name Milward comes from the English origin. In English The meaning of the name Milward is: Keeper of the mill.

I’m waiting for a package people

I guess you all know by now that I’m getting a wee bit excited about my latest purchase arriving at my house. I don’t even have a tracking number yet or any confirmation that it’s even been shipped. Yet I stand in my Quilt Studio staring out the front window, listening for a big truck to turn the corner at the top of my crescent and make it’s way down to the bottom, suddenly appearing at the end of my driveway.

For those of you that don’t know, I bought a 2009 APQS Millennium last week and sold my HQ-16 all in the same breath. On any other day, saying good bye to my HandiQuilter would be traumatic to say the least. I have to admit I will probably shed a tear or two as I box up The HQ but I am confident that it’s going to a good home and will be enjoyed as much as I have enjoyed it over the past 16 months. My friend Ruth from facebook will be the proud new owner and I can’t wait to see how much fun she has with it.

Enough about Ruth, let’s get back to me, so I can try and explain just how excited I am to get my hands on my new Millennium. When I’m not pacing back and forth in front of the window, I’m browsing images of Millennium Long Arms on google. I think I’ve seen every picture ever posted in cyberspace. Today I woke up, rushed to the computer and started searching images to help visualize my baby arriving at it’s new home. Here’s how I see it:

One of my favorite clients… Moda Lissa

The quilting world really is a small community consisting of millions of quilters. It always amazes me how wonderful the quilting community is. Quilters are always willing to share their experience and time with other quilters. Even employees of some of the largest companies in the quilting industry are quilters themselves. Throughout the last year that I’ve been marketing myself online, I’ve met some amazing people who work for some of these industry leaders.

One of these people is Lissa Alexander, Director of Marketing for United Notions and fabulous quilter. You may already know her from her blog at http://modalissa.blogspot.com. I first met my friend Lissa Alexander on Facebook. We quickly became friends and lucky for me, Lissa became one of my clients a short time after.

I have to say, the best part of our relationship is getting my hands on gorgeous samples before they hit the stores. The first top she sent me was made from the ‘Neptune’ Line. I covered it with a baptist fan design in a 12W Aurifil thread. I think that is part of what made me stand out as a Long Arm Quilter. The fact that I was willing to work with thicker threads to achieve a very unique look on a quilt.

Neptune Line

The next quilt I received was waiting for me when I returned from MQX. I still remember sitting in Karen McTavish’s Victorian Feather’s Class when I received an email from my wife containing a picture of this quilt using Moda’s ‘Patisserie’ Line. I knew immediately I would return home to try my hand at Victorian Feathers. I loved how it turned out and was delighted to find a secondary pattern had emerged from the quilting.

Moda's Patisserie

The next quilt Lissa sent me dropped my jaw to the floor. It was this Wool Applique Block of the month that Moda called ‘Green Piece’. It was to be introduced to quilt shop owners at Spring Quilt Market in Pittsburgh. It was also the first ‘RUSH’ job I even did. I have to admit, the pressure was something I was not familiar with. My first deadline, man was I excited. While I’m happy to say I finished it on time and rushed it over to UPS to ship back to Lissa in Houston. We were so close to Market that the binding was stitched en route to Pittsburgh. I’m glad I didn’t have to do it.

Moda's Green Piece BOM

The next Quilt Lissa sent was Red Ocean Waves that will appear in McCall’s Magazine in the fall. I fell in love with this quilt shortly after pinning it to the frame.

Moda Lissa's Ocean Waves

Do you zentangle? What about Zentangle quilting?

A few months ago, a friend of mine on facebook commented on a picture of one of my customers quilts that I had quilted. She asked if I zentangled? Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it, I  had never heard of it either. I had no idea what she was talking about. So over to youtube I went to find out what this Zentangle was all about. Here’s a few videos I found that have inspired my quilting and doodling skills.

Moving on up! To the east side…

I sold my HQ-16 today and finalized shipping details on My 2009 APQS Millennium. Everyone keeps asking me how I feel about that. This is for them… feel free to sing along

How my APQS Millennium makes me feel

Well we’re movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don’t fry in the kitchen;
Beans don’t burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin’,
Just to get up that hill.
Now we’re up in the big leagues,
Gettin’ our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it’s you and me baby,
There ain’t nothin wrong with that.

Well we’re movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

My HQ 16 is for sale – sold!

I bought my HQ-16 in April 2008.

From the minute I got the machine home and set it up, I knew I had made the right decision. I was able to start taking customer quilts after about 6 months of practicing on this mid-arm quilting machine. I am still to this day amazed at the smooth, precise stitching that can be accomplished with very little practice. This is the perfect machine for finishing quilts up to 123 inches wide.

I have unfortunately outgrown this machine and need a larger quilting space to complete customer quilts faster.

Over the past year I have purchased various ad-ons for my HQ16 and I will include them all with the machine. Here is a list of everything that comes with the machine:

• HQ Sixteen Quilting Machine with Stitch Regulator, Front and Rear Handles, Laser Stylus, External Bobbin Winder and Portable Professional Frame
• Comes in king size length, but can still collapse to smaller sizes
  1 1/8 inch poles rigid enough to hold large quilts
  Poles come standard with Velcro for leader attachment. No taping or pinning!
  Fixed grooves built into frame for exact track positioning
  Four pole system for smooth, continuous feed. No need to adjust vertical height when quilt fills the throat of the quilting machine.
  Sturdy, heavy duty anodized aluminum frame.
• Brand New tracks on the table as well as the carriage under the machine where the HQ glides front to back and left to right
• 12 Bobbins
• Groovy Boards – Clam Shells, Cross Hatch, Dueling Circles, Dueling Squares, Feathered Wreaths, Squigles, Baptist Fan x 2
• Stylus, adapter and laser light
• Micro Handles
• Ruler Base
• Rulers, including versa tool, half circles and standard ruler

I payed just under $10,200 for everything I am including in this package.

Buyer responsible for shipping. I am willing to deliver and set it up for any local buyer free of charge. I will also give you a free 2hr lesson on loading a quilt and getting started.
I am asking $8500 for this 16 month old HQ sixteen.

Email me if you are interested or have any questions.

I have sold my HQ-16! Woot Woot!

My journey from a mid-arm to a long-arm quilter has come to a glorious end with the purchase of an APQS Millennium. I have to say that my friend/sales rep Karen McTavish was very influential in my decision to buy a Long-Arm. What can I say, peer pressure got the best of me. Then again when you see the AMAZING quilting Karen does what else can you do but buy the exact same machine that she uses. After all, we all know it’s the machine no the quilter.

Here’s a video of Karen trying her new machine for the first time.