This woman is an amazing quilter, but she is in an overwhelming season of life already and bought a longarm before even knowing if she liked free motion quilting or finishing her own quilts. Sadly, the story of Rockstar 2 is one I hear a lot. Unfortunately, several months later, her longarm, though set up, is buried under piles of fabric and projects half complete, and she’s never actually turned it on, much less tried it out. She really wants to finish her own quilts, though, so when she goes to a show and has some fun playing around on a longarm, she decides that THIS is the answer to her quilting woes (not finishing enough quilts), and she takes advantage of the show deal on the spot! But this Rockstar has a lot of commitments that take up her time (job, kids, family, other things, etc), so she only gets a couple of hours each week at her sewing machine, if she’s lucky.

She loves looking at pictures of quilts, she loves petting her fabric, and she loves the look of free motion quilting. Here’s a different picture: Quilting Rockstar 2 loves quilting. Why? Because she was already an avid piecer AND quilter, and the longarm makes it easier to do what she was already doing. Spoiler: This Rockstar is a PERFECT person to own a longarm. She tries a longarm at a show, saves up to buy one, and when she makes the purchase, quilts more than ever because she’s so happy and so dang pleased with herself.

Let me paint a picture: Quilting Rockstar 1 takes Free Motion Quilting Academy, falls completely head over heels with free motion quilting, and now, instead of piecing several tops each month, finishes slightly fewer tops each month but takes those tops all the way to completion because she finishes them herself. at the end of the day, only YOU can decide if you owning a longarm is your best choice) Example 1 I know they’re impressive and everything, and mad props to longarm companies for making everyone think they need one, but… (please remember this is my opinion. Real talk: not every one needs a longarm. But, should they? Is a Longarm Right for You? As you may have guessed by now, yes, I do have a “big quilting machine,” and I know many, many quilters who wish they owned a longarm.

For some reason, every time I tell a quilt muggle that I’m a quilter, they all spread their arms wide, their eyes get all big, and they say, “Omg, do you have one of those big quilting machines?!” I laugh every single time (which might make me a terrible person, but it’s hilarious to me that so many people do this when I have yet to meet a quilt muggle who could EXPLAIN the “big quilting machine” to me).

Tin lizzie quilting frame