My grandfather believed that you should never begin a letter with an apology for not writing.

“Why waste the paper? If you get a letter from someone, you want news, not excuses.”

Blogging is the same sort of thing, I imagine.

GB80s

If you’ve been following the Master Knitter Level 3 journey and other posts marking the voyage, you may be relieved/surprised that I finally sent the portfolio in about a month ago. I’ve had all kinds of fun during my free time, glorious long days and warm nights that beckon me to spend every possible minute outdoors.

Work wise, I’ve started spending a chunk of my week at Laurena’s Longarm Quilting.

Boston Longarm Quilting at Laurena's Longarm

Laurena’s ready for the next wave of growth and has realized that she can’t do everything (although she certainly tries!). I’ll help her with marketing, social media and assisting renters at her studio in Burlington. I’ve known Laurena for (gasp) seven years now, as a small group of Rising Star Quilters headed up to the Vermont Quilt Festival for a fantastic fiber escape as part of my Tactile Travel tour business.

At the time, Laurena had one longarm quilting machine, providing custom quilting for Boston area patchwork lovers. When she added another machine and started teaching others how to use the machine in 2008, I was quick to sign up. I love hand quilting, but I have machine quilted several queen and king size quilts on my Bernina . One of my art quilts made of 5 layers of wool just wasn’t gliding easily with my home machine.  So I started the path and eventually felt confident enough to quilt Plantano II in 2010 (somewhere I know I have photos…).

I still love hand quilting, but when it comes to bed quilts, I’m all about the longarm. For those quilters who still firmly believe that hand quilting is the only way, I respect your belief. But it’s not the true and only path. If I’m feeling flippant, I could remark that only sail boats are an acceptable form of cross Atlantic transportation as well (But I’m not, so I won’t!). We all love different things. I, of course, love many things.

Have you tried a longarm quilting machine? Once you’re loaded, it’s quite fun… anyone who loves to doodle will adore it.  Anyone who doesn’t like doodling can definitely get their zen moment by following a pantograph.  Laurena offers Learn about Longarm classes twice a month, so definitely contact her if the idea interests you.

I’m looking forward to sharing some of the projects that tempt and try my hands and mind lately. So, expect more frequent blogging this summer. For all things about longarm quilting, I’ll post content on Laurena’s blog. I enjoy posting Tactile Travel discoveries and living projects vicariously through some of my favorite blogs. If you really want to hear the daily scoops, definitely let’s connect on Twitter or Instagram.

Then if there is a delay in posting, we can at least keep in touch.

Best Wishes!

Alanna