Back to the Beast! (AKA my long arm!)

OK! I was asked about more info on the Beast! I guess that post should have come first! LOL
The back story is... As you may know I quilted along with Bonnie Hunter this year! LOVE LOVE LOVE the Celtic Solstice! I am... spacially challenged! did I realize that a King sized quilt was so big... nope! Kind of like when I bought the furniture that was in our living room! Oh well, live and learn! So, I found challenges in just trying to photograph the monster quilt! And then it dawned on me, if I don't have a room large enough to lay it on the floor how am I going to pin baste it?? I know many people put it on tables and move them over and clip and blah, blah, blah! That didn't appeal to me either! Plus, I would  need to buy 2 or 3 more boxes of curved pins! Who wants to do that!
 I talked with Honeyman and much to my astonishment he began to look on line! Now, I knew that the $12,000 machines were a little more than what he wanted to spend! Plus, this is a beginning machine for me! I have NEVER touched a long arm! He found a small Juki on line and we began to look into that. When I spoke to the lady at the store she explained that with a 9 inch throat you loose about 2 inches from the bar (I did not know this!) So... an 18 inch throat it had to be!! The lady was wonderful to work with and got us all set up! Yup, the only logical step to nowhere to pin bast was to buy a long arm!!

My Beautiful Beast!!

On to the machine!... After awaiting the arrival... It finally came!  Honeyman and I quickly (4 1/2 hours) set up the frame, which is a Grace Majestic King frame. We set up the carriage and discovered that the frame had to be adjusted because I opted for stitch regulators and for them to have clearance the tracks had to be ALL the way to the back! (lesson learned!!) The machine is an industrial machine that has NO markings on it! It is a SOLID machine! Not to mention heavy duty! It does have ram horn handle bars. It does what I need it to do!! I love how easy it is to navigate! We purchased it here at Sewing Machines Plus!

Rear Handle bars

Bright light!

On a side note I had to get rid of the afore mentioned over sized furniture and make way for smaller stuff to acomidate the Beast! (Did I already mention I am spacially challenged.. LOL) we got rid of our furniture and are sitting on lawn chairs while we wait for the new to be delivered (from my In-laws who are getting new)!

My view!

 I have... wait for it... 14 unfinished quilt tops! (it was 16, but I finished Impromptu and began quilting Twisted Sister on my Brother) I do hope to get through a few of these tops!
I hope this gave everyone some information! Please feel free to ask questions! I have only had my machine set up for a short while now and done 3 practice and 1 real quilt! So I am learning!
Thanks for visiting with me!
Be sure to come back soon!
Till then...
Quilt on friends,
Josie

After 2 years it finally got quilted!

The big stuff!

Set up and ready to roll!!

I went back over my posts and found the finished quilt top for Impromptu (by Rachel Griffith) on April 1, 2012! (Is that a long time for a quilting turnover?? Well this is kind of a combo post because it has to start with the Beast arriving at my house! My beloved bought me a long arm!!! And I had to somewhere find a place for it in the shoe box we live in!! LOL  It is set up! We had to get rid of our over sized furniture (and are awaiting smaller furniture never mind the lawn chairs set up in our living room!)
I decided to try my hand at it! Gonna be honest.... I have NEVER used a long arm before!! But I am in love with my monster and have no complaints!

I did an all over loopy on the white and tried my hand at a few different things on the squares! I did flowery clam shells and spirals and geometric triangles and squares (I have to say I REALLY like how they turned out and cannot WAIT to try a whole quilt in them!!)

 I just love all the textures! And I am over the moon at how it turned out! I know there are a LOT of pics, but I tell you I just couldn't decide on just one (or three!)

Thanks for stopping by friends! Hope to see you all soon!
Till then...
Quilt on!
Josie