On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to use the HQ16 at my local quilt shop (Sewing Machines Plus in Mandan, ND). I have never quilted anything on a long arm or mid arm quilting machine and I was eager but apprehensive. I learned all about loading the backing, batting, and quilt top onto the unit and then I started quilting. I decided I wanted to do it all free hand even though the machine has designs programmed into it. I knew I was going to quilt a design through each strip on each quilt block. The narrower strips got a simple wavy line and the wider strips got something fancier. I quilted a circular shape along the borders, which you can see in the bottom photo.
I enjoyed quilting on this machine but must say after standing there four to five hours and doing the entire thing in one shot was very tiring for me. Quilting like this is much harder than the professionals make it look and I really give the people who do this a lot much credit for their free-motion skills. I have lots of spots in my quilt where there are little boo-boos, but I'm not going to worry about it and just chalk it up to practice and fun. Thanks Angie for your generosity in letting me use your machine.