adventures in long arm quilting

yep, you read that right!
if you follow me on instagram, you know that last saturday i was able to rent the long arm machine to get some practice in.  i took my certification class on december 30th, and after that rentals weren't actually available since meissner sewing was having their annual floor model sale.  i got a call from angelina saying that not all the machines were sold yet, so they were trying to get those of us from that last class in so we didn't have to wait even longer.  i jumped on a date, and had my fingers crossed i wouldn't get the call saying it sold.
all last week i sewed and sewed in anticipation of saturday, getting ready to use the long arm machine for the first time without having to pass it back and forth with anyone else.  it was mine all mine for the day.  friday night, i was getting all my backs and battings prepped, hence why i didn't get any free motion practice in that day.  though, i think this could help count.
i had planned out which ones i would do in which order, going from my most basic project (an olaf panel i bought at beverly's in rocklin) to the one i wanted to be the most practiced for (the fancy fox pattern by elizabeth hartman)  i got to shop, got all pinned in after a quick refresher, and then was ready to go.  i decided i wanted to use the pantograph "african samba" since it was said to be a popular one that didn't have any sharp corners or perfect circles.  angelina got it all rolled out and marked off for me, and off i went.
i kept all three projects with the same color of thread, since they all had shades of blue in it, as well as the same pantograph to really get a feel for it.  i took a short lunch break after my second one, and came back to bust out my final one before calling it a day.  in total, it was about 3 hours combined, but it didn't feel that way at all.  time flies when you're having fun, right?
while i do love my walking foot, i absolutely love that i now have this option open to me!  i have a few projects in mind coming up, and i hope to find the perfect patterns to combine with a perfect quilting design.  it might take a little time until i feel ready to free motion an actual quilt, but i'm hoping that all my combined efforts will pay off.  clearly starting smaller before i brave it to quilt my disney sweater blocks quilt.  i'm imagining that will be my end of the year goal.  i've already got the panto in mind, but it involves a lot of circles.  oy!
i'm excited to show you my fancy fox quilt once i get it all bound up.  after a week of constant sewing, i now find myself anxious to start another project.  i have a few ideas in mind, so stay tuned!