We've had lots of renters coming through the studio recently working on all the quilts they made over the winter months. We all love seeing our regulars - and I just love it that we have regulars! - but it's always so much fun to teach the rental certification class. The newbie quilters are all so excited to get started on their first longarmed quilt. It's such a joy to see their eyes shine when they realize how easy this really is! We talk about lots of things in the rental certification class, but one of the most important topics is how they'll quilt their quilt. Michelle brought this fun black and white quilt with lots of eye catching prints. No matter what quilting design she decided to use, it was going to be lost in her fun fabrics. She decided to use design boards with an orange peel design. The orange peel is perfect for quilts where you want to add lots of texture with the quilting. And the design boards are super easy to use. We like to say they're like quilting with training wheels! When Angelique took the certification class she chose our most popular method for quilting - the paper pantograph. She used the Square Spiral pantograph, which is easily one of my favorite pantos, and a bright contrasting thread. Doesn't her quilting look fabulous? She also followed my advice to bring in a quilt your dog will look good on! A lot of folks often wonder what quilt top they should bring in for their rental certification class. Quilting buddies Diane and Elizabeth brought in something really simple! Diane brought that adorable panel and just added a fun sashing and border. Elizabeth did an even faster option and just brought in two pieces of fabric! Like I said, a quilt your dog will look good on! This gave them the freedom to practice their quilting without worrying about little mistakes along the way. Diane quilted her panel with the Toss Up pantograph and Elizabeth chose the Square Spiral pantograph. Every once in a while I'll have a very adventurous student like Sarah who doesn't like being boxed in by pantographs and design boards. We let Sarah unleash her creativity during her class and she had soo much fun! She quilted straight lines, pebbles, meandering lines, and even stitched out her niece's name! Longarm quilting is so much easier than we sometimes think it is, we just need to give ourselves permission to play, experiment, make mistakes, and have LOTS of fun!