Part of the joy of having so many renters is getting to drool over all the beautiful and fun quilts they bring in. I don't get to make as many of my own quilts as I used to, so it gives me the opportunity to live vicariously through their work. The quilts in today's post are no exception! Carolyn brought in this huge Trip Around the World quilt. She has a king bed at home, so of course she's always working on big projects. She said she's definitely ready to switch over to some much smaller quilts! I'm frequently asked how long it takes to quilt on a longarm, and it's always difficult to explain that it depends on many things; but now Carolyn is a wonderful example of how much you can get done if you plan well. She reserved the APQS Millie for a full day and a couple of hours the next morning to work on her king quilt. Normally this would be the best idea, most people need 6-8 hours to finish a quilt this big, but Carolyn managed to finish quilting in only 5 hours! She has rented with us a few times before, so she's starting to feel more comfortable with the machine and the process of advancing the quilt for the next pass. Her biggest time saver was her choice of pantograph. She chose a Linda Taylor design called Simple Feather Meandering which has a 14" width. With every pass she covered a large portion of the quilt. In fact, she probably only stopped to advance the quilt 7 or 8 times. If she'd chosen a panto with a smaller width, it likely would have taken much more time. So how long does it take to finish a quilt on the longarm? It varies! Two sisters and a friend walk into a quilt shop. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but that's just a typical day here at Quilted Joy! It's always a fun time in the showroom when a group of friends come in to rent together. Sisters Debra and Rose and their friend Shirley do as much of their quilting together as possible, which isn't always easy because they live far apart. Earlier this year they went to the Paducah show together where they found the pattern for the quilts they worked on during their rental certification class. They all decided to use the design boards, and there was a tense moment when a couple of them were eyeing the same board. Luckily, we have lots of designs to choose from and everyone was able to find the perfect board for their quilt. This was their first time using the longarm machine, and they all did a marvelous job! Next up, Veada (who you can see hiding behind the quilt :) ) worked on this T-shirt quilt for a young lady about to start her first year at Western Kentucky University. When a customer brings in a T-shirt quilt for me to quilt, I'll usually recommend a basic meandering treatment. This gives me the freedom to avoid trouble areas like pockets, embroidery, or finicky screen prints. I convinced Veada to step outside her comfort zone and give free motion meandering a try. I've seen many quilters try meandering for the first time, and often they will start to rush towards the end and their spacing won't be very even throughout the quilt. Veada did a great job! She stayed calm, took her time, and her spacing was nice and even. Finally, we had Tracie working on this adorable quilt for a lucky little boy. Those monster trucks are so fun! We found the perfect design board with big swirling circles. Don't you think those circles look like spinning wheels? I have a feeling someone will be enjoying this quilt for many years to come!