03/29/2026
A passing thought…
What is true in life…is as well true in Longarming…to some degree for each individual it’s all relative.
Besides being productive, enjoyable, purposeful, another costly undertaking, and occupying what would be in many cases wasted time, it has its different levels of difficult and easy. Like people you know or have known throughout your life they can range from difficult to deal with or easy to deal with, or somewhere in between. Elaine has often said “impossible.” I have not encountered that in Longarming…not sure to whom she was referencing that. But I have identified several levels of both. Remembering that on some days I am the one that defines the level, not the piecer.
The categories or levels are:
Extremely Difficult
Highly Difficult
Moderately Difficult
Somewhat Difficult
Routinely Difficult
Not having ever longarmed via a computer and having done all my projects hand guided not sure if these levels would apply. Being tactile and bodily kinesthetic. The computer tablet connected to my Innova replaces the paper pantographs and gives me the ability to manipulate the piecers quilting pattern choice in numerous ways. The Panto Vision system is one of the main reasons I became so involved in longarming. Unlike a free motion longarmer…my artistic ability is shall we say…” extremely” limited. Having attended many quilt shows to date, I am, at the least, humbled by their artistic talent. Not to mention a little jealous.
In the middle is an average that ventures in between the difficult and the easy. This is where most projects fall. The easy are as frequent as the difficult. With few exceptions, one way or the other, there seems to be a balance in every quilt. Like the difficult…easy has its levels as well.
Routinely Easy
Somewhat Easy
Moderately Easy
Too Easy (Caution kicks in here)
Too Good to be True Easy (Stop what you are doing, something is wrong)
Fortunately, the Too Good to be True and the Extremely Difficult are rare.
Regardless of what category a quilt falls in it is a joy to be a part of its crafting. It has been 15 years since Elaine asked if I wanted to go to a Quilt Show. A point in life where the correct response was “Yes dear.” Little did I know at the time, since retiring, that the voids of purpose, productivity, enjoyment, an almost daily accounting of constructive use of time would be in front of a Longarm…yet another power tool, but here we are. There has been another reward brought on by longarming…the people I have met along the way. They have made it all worth doing, the difficult as well as the easy. I have had many associations with “groups”. The Marine Corps, law enforcement, sales, construction, fire service, occupational training, and now quilters. I have again been blessed…this time with quilters. Thank you all for allowing me to be a part of your quilting journey. Looking forward to more years of doing the difficult, the in between, and the easy at each and every opportunity.
Quilt till you wilt…we do.
