September Already!!
The Labor Day holiday is past, kids and grand kids are back in school, the days are getting shorter and there is a little bit of a change in the air - Autumn will be here soon! This is the time of year where, as quilters, we can take a little break. Summer is over and the Holiday frenzy hasn't started yet. If you are experiencing a lull in your quilting or your quilting business, enjoy it! You know it won't last and soon you will be busy, busy, busy once again.

If you do have a few spare moments/days consider making or quilting a quilt for the American Hero Quilt Project www.AmericanHeroQuilts.com This project makes and distributes quilts to wounded service men and women. I have machine quilted many quilts for this great organization and over the last week or so I have pieced two quilt tops which I hope to quilt very, very soon. American Hero Quilts are always looking for machine quilters - this is a great way to practice your quilting skills AND contribute to a worthy cause. If you don't have the time to piece or quilt for them, they could use your financial support.

Basics of Machine Quilting
This is also a great time to get back to the basics of machine quilting. No matter if you are a very new, beginning machine quilter or an experienced pro, you can always learn something new to make your quilting more exciting or efficient.

Longarm University and Longarm Classroom have MANY ways for you to increase your quilting skills.

Check out the Tutorial Page on the Longarm University website. There are many FREE video tutorials on a wide range of machine quilting skills including -
▪  Turning the Quilt
▪  Starting and Stopping a Line of Stitching
▪  Loading a Large Quilt and much, much more.

There are also FREE printable (pdf file) instructions on -
▪  How to Put a Quilt on a Quilting Machine
▪  How to Quilt Pantographs and more.

Longarm Classroom has MANY online classes which you can join at ANY time, day or night, for machine quilters of many different skill levels.

For the beginning machine quilter (no matter what kind of quilting machine you have) I would recommend

▪  How to Quilt a Pantograph, an easy and efficient way of creating great texture on your quilt using the No Math, No Measure method of pattern placement. Learn how to make your pantographs look like all over texture, not "stripes" of quilting across your quilt.

▪  Borders, Corners & More, Working from the Back of the Machine, this is "advanced" pantographs which shows how to use pantograph patterns as borders with corners, how to quilt individual blocks (from the back of the machine) and how to have borders, corners, pantographs and block quilting all in the same quilt. Included in this class is a piecing pattern for the 4-2-1 Medallion Quilt, a simple, quick quilt top.

NEW ONLINE CLASS!!
▪  Easy, Breezy (Free Hand) Quilting, Lisa Coker Instructor.
At Innovations 2009 several classes were recorded so they could be placed online. Lisa's class is a good, basic, beginning free hand design class. Let Lisa show you over 20 different free hand designs that you can use in your quilting. There are a few designs that she creates that I had never seen before. You can be sure that I will be using these designs on my quilts and I know you will want too also!

For the intermediate to advanced quilter there are LOTS of class choices for you, too!

▪  Quilting in Circles and
▪  Baptist Fan Quilting are great classes that show you step-by-step how to work with circle templates. You will be amazed at what you can do with simple circles! Included with these classes are piecing patterns for the quilts used in the classes! 

▪  Rings Around the Wreath Class,
▪  Summer Flowers Quilt,
▪  Fancy Motifs Quilt and
▪  Feather Plume Quilt are classes that focus on feathers and how to create wonderful quilts and quilting that showcase your quilting skills. No matter how you make your feathers - the traditional longarm feathers, the hump-hump-bump feathers, hooked feathers, or any other way - you can do them in these classes.

There are also other, specific template classes offered also.

I know it is early, but if you are looking for some quick, holiday gifts, the Practically Painless Pillows online class shows you how to make pillows, the easy way, from start to finish. This is a GREAT way to get a head start on your holiday gift giving projects. 

For a complete listing of the Online Classes at Longarm Classroom Click Here

Online Classes Special Offers
There are THREE different Special Offers for the purchase of multiple classes at a Reduced Price on the Longarm Classroom website.

LEARN & SAVE $$ AT THE SAME TIME !!

For complete details on these Special Offers
Click Here

Machine Quilting Business Blog  
A new FREE Blog, focusing on your Machine Quilting Business has been created! If you have a machine quilting business or are thinking of starting one, you NEED to check out this Blog and feel free to leave comments and suggestions for topics to discuss. Feel free to subscribe to this blog and you will receive an email every time something new is posted.

To view the Machine Quilting Business Blog Click Here

Cindy Roth has started her own personal blog. To check out what is happening in Cindy's world Click Here

Intriguing New Product!
While I was at MQS (www.imqa.org) in May I saw many new and intriguing products. One product that is REALLY interesting this the 3-D Threader. Imagine, being able to have THREE cones of thread on your quilting machine AND using ALL three of them at the same time! You will be AMAZED at what dimension and texture this product can add to your quilting!

Please take a few minutes to check out their website at www.3dthreader.com I know you will be intrigued, too!

Longarm U Travels to Kansas City !
I will be in the Kansas City / Overland Park, KS area teaching machine quilting classes and giving a presentation to the MO_KAN Machine Quilting Guild.

For complete details and registration information for my traveling classes Click Here

Longarm U Workshop Schedule for 2011
Here is a list of the upcoming workshops/classes. For more information just click on the date. 

NEW!! FREE Online Class Posted!
I have been working on updating and creating new quilting templates. My newest templates, Sashiko Circles, is a updating of the Circles & Waves template. The new Sashiko Circles templates make TWO different sizes of circles using only ONE template! To show how this template works, I have created a FREE Online Video Quilting Class using the Sashiko Circles Templates.

To view this Free Online Video Class Click Here