Quilt Five, Special Visitors, and Big Steps Forward

Things are moving along beautifully here, and we are so excited to say that we have now finished quilt number five.

There has been plenty happening since our last update, but one of the absolute highlights had to be a visit on Saturday evening from Naomi, Sarah and Lorna from Creative Crafts Totnes. These wonderful ladies have played such an important part in inspiring this whole adventure. They are fantastic teachers, endlessly encouraging, and such passionate advocates for all things sewing, patchwork and quilting. After attending so many brilliant courses with them over the years, it was a real pleasure to welcome them into my little world of fabric, thread and longarming for a look at Lotti Longarm in full flow.

The evening could not have gone better.

There was plenty of laughter, lots of curiosity, and no shortage of quilting enthusiasm as the girls had a go at free-motion quilting, pantographs, and even got let loose on Pro-Stitcher. Watching other quilters enjoy the machine and explore what it can do felt really special. It also gave us a lovely glimpse of what future quilting days here might look like.

Naomi very kindly brought along an older quilt top that had never been longarmed and generously gave it to me as a practice piece. That quilt has now become quilt number five, and we are genuinely so pleased with how it turned out. Naomi was keen to try a fleece backing paired with cotton wadding, which gave us something a little different to experiment with. The results were lovely. We chose a daisy-based continuous motif, which helped soften the strong squares of the gingham beautifully and gave the finished quilt a gentle, flowing feel.

It was one of those evenings that leaves you feeling inspired, encouraged, and full of ideas. We came away with lots of questions to think about and plenty to reflect on, but one thing is certain: we are really going to enjoy working with Crafts Totnes on future quilting projects.

As if that was not enough excitement for one weekend, Pro-Stitcher software training also began. We had a three-hour session with Liz Holpin, and it was excellent. Pro-Stitcher is an incredibly clever system, but as with anything powerful, there is a real art to getting it to do exactly what you want. The training gave us a much better understanding of how to approach it, and we already feel far more confident than we did before. There is still lots to learn, of course, but it feels as though we are now properly on the path to getting the very best out of the system. We have more training lined up in the coming weeks, both at Holpin and on Zoom, so the learning continues.

Away from the quilting frame itself, progress on the stable block studio is gathering pace too. The new windows are in, the old dividing wall has come down, and this week the insulation work begins. It is incredibly exciting to see the space starting to take shape. Every step seems to bring us a little closer to creating the studio we have imagined for so long.

So for now, it feels like everything is moving in the right direction: more quilts completed, more confidence with the machine, more learning under our belts, and more progress on the future home of Lotti Longarm.

A very exciting season indeed.