I'm totally understanding your predicament! I love piecing the tops ( mine are very unconventional) and sometimes I tie them using embroidery floss or yarn ir even satin ribbons. As of late, I am hiring a very nice lady to machine quilt my tops. They are beautiful! She has offered to teach me quilting on her long arm, or on a regular sewing machine for $25.00/hr a bit pricey for me right now. Would like to know your thoughts... I have a two year old Grandson as well, and don't have enough hours in the day for all the sewing I would like to do!
Write soon,
Mary Jo

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Hi Mary Jo-
Sounds a bit like my decision. I still work full time, have three grandbabies- 5, 19mos & almost 2 mos. They all live 5 hrs away!

And don't have enough hours in a day to piece like I want to.

There are a lot of free learning sites out there. Have you tried "Longarm University"? She has some free lessons on her site that might help you out. I had a wonderful LAQ'r in my area that did a terrific job and then she paid her machine off and quit. I tried another in my area and she charged more & I was very disappointed. Since I'm a bit of a control freak, I have been quilting all my quilts on my regular sewing machine. It's really hard on my shoulders & takes about 3 days for a queen size quilt.

I'd like to do the LAM quilting for a business but I don't want to be too busy to travel when I want. So not only do I have the dilemma of deciding whether I should buy a LAM (HUGE investment) but whether I do this as a hobby or a business.

Here's another thought, those grandbabies grow up sooo fast! And then they're not visiting grandma quite as much as they used to. I'm torn, so I can imagine you are too.

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