Deep Work Quilting
Today’s Topic: Deep Work Quilting, Learning a New Skill
Good Morning, Quilters!
I’m back! After a long, unplanned hiatus from blogging, I’m back in front of my computer–and I have some exciting quilts and news to share. Most of it is good news, but unfortunately, not all.
Deep Work Quilting with My Sister
Please meet my sister, Patricia. She is a long time quilter. In fact, she’s the person who inspired me to begin quilting. She is a lady of many talents and interests and she came to Minnesota to learn to longarm quilt with me.
A Lesson from an Expert
We started by taking a day long lesson from a longarm expert. Jeanette from Quilter’s Haven in Rosemount, MN was our talented guide. Her day long class covered how to load quilt layers on the longarm and the basics of using the Qmatic computer system.
Believe me, that was enough for the first day! We left with our heads spinning, but excited to get started.
Three Weeks and Nine Quilts Later
For the next three and a half weeks we spent most of every day learning to longarm.
We watched videos, consulted manuals, called the technician, texted Jeanette, and requested help from a few Facebook friends.
We laughed, we nearly cried…we tore our hair out…
But we completed nine UFO quilts! All of the quilting is very basic, but we learned a lot!
How to Become an Expert?
My refrain to my sister, whenever we made a mistake (which was almost every 15 minutes for 3 straight weeks) was
“We’re becoming experts!”
The best way to learn something–to become expert at it–is to make mistakes. The mistakes force you to learn faster than when things are going smoothly. Mistakes help you understand how things really work and why.
Pat and I are a long way from being expert longarm quilters, but we’ve taken a lot of baby steps–equivalent to a huge step-forward in three weeks. We are on our way!
Deep Work is Focused
Have any of you read, Deep Work by Cal Newport?
According to Newport,
Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a superpower in our increasingly competitive 21st-century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep – spending their days instead in a frantic blur of email and social media, not even realizing there’s a better way.
While I didn’t plan to, I found the mental effort required to learn to longarm left me with little energy for blogging or photography or dusting. (Though we did find time for cosmos and happy hour every evening!) Deep work is focused and demanding but very satisfying.
Tips for Learning Any New Skill
Whether you are learning to free motion or longarm quilt–or any other skill, Pat and I learned a few things that might help:
Start with an expert
Experts give you the fastest jump start to learning. Take a class or hire a private tutor for a day. An expert can weed out what’s important and what’s not so you can start working independently in the fastest possible time.
Learn with a friend
Beginning this big project was so much more enjoyable because we were working together. In addition, it was better to think problems through with someone else. Two heads are better than one!
Focus
The weather in Minnesota was below zero for two weeks-so we didn’t mind hiding in the sewing room. We minimized social media and other distractions (like housecleaning and cooking) so we could focus as much time as possible on quilting.
Embrace Mistakes
Mistakes are a necessary part of the process. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Pat and I both agree, the bigger the mistake, the more likely we were to not repeat it! By researching and studying our mistakes, we got a deep understanding of how the longarm and the computer work.
Progress
While we found progress was not a straight line upward, we are definitely more competent than on February 1. And the great thing is–we completed several UFOs in the process!
LET YOUR SUBCONSciOUS WORK
On multiple occasions, we found the best thing to do was to turn off the computer for the night. (Sometimes the computer reset solved the problem.) For several problems, we found our subconscious had solved the problem for us! We woke up with the answer! Amazing!
Free Motion Quilting, The Quilt A Long, and a Bump in the Road
Just because I’ve taken up longarm quilting, that doesn’t mean I will abandon my first love, free motion quilting!
I hope longarm quilting will improve my free motion skill and my ability to teach and write about it—like cross training.
Starting next Monday, we will begin another round of our quilt-along based on my book, 25 Days to Better Machine Quilting.
The next round will be completed in a shorter time frame and will included links to our first round along with some new material.
Tomorrow, I’ll share my new challenge–one that makes quilting difficult, but where there’s a will there’s a way!
What about YOU?
Are YOU ready for a new Deep Work Challenge on Free motion quilting?
Do YOU have a friend or sister who will quilt with YOU?
Has your subconscious ever solved a problem for YOU?
Are YOU facing a bump in the road?
We’d LOVE to hear!
YOUR Glad-to-be-back-blogger/quilter,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ. For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com. Thanks!
PPS…This post contains an affiliate link. If you choose to purchase–at no additional cost to you–I may receive a little pin money. Thank you for support LKQ in this way!
Have missed your emails. I don’t know how you do all the things you do!
“The only people who aren’t making mistakes are the people who aren’t doing anything” – Bill Trag, 12 Oct 1933 – 13 March 2010. I learn more from my quilting mistakes than any other single source.
Yeah!!! You’re back !! You have been missed, but I’m ready for some Deep Work!!!
A much needed pick me up after a horrible week. Thank you for sharing! God Bless you Lori.
I was just thinking about you yesterday when I realized you had posted in ages. Glad you are back.
This is SUCH a useful post — not only about quilting but about anything new that we take on. Those of us who strive to be perfectionists (and we know who we are!) need to re-read this, maybe daily. I’ve always appreciated a friend who pointed out how many times babies learning to stand up or walk try and try and
think about and try again. If they gave up every time they made a mistake, we’d all still be crawling. Thanks for not only the reminder to be patient but also for the tips on how better to learn more quickly. Great post.
I agree!
Good observation!
Hey there Lori! I enjoyed reading this post about your longarm quilting journey and how you and your sister finished 9 UFO’s. Great work! And regarding the next FMQ class, yes!, count me in!
Yeah! I have a Bernina Longarm and still feel like a beginner on it! I am looking forward to your experiences on it.
I appreciated your comments about letting your subconscious work on your problems. Sometimes a good nights sleep results in a solution, or a new way to think about the problem. Sometimes a mindless task, like cleaning the bathroom, will jog loose some ideas or creative solutions.
Sleep is good, the stuff about a mindless task *like cleaning the bathroom* is a boldfaced lie.😘. Happy to have you back, xox.
I agree! One of my favorites is waking up at 4 am, can’t go back to sleep, make hot chocolate and wash down the fingerprints all over kitchen cabinets since I am in there already LOL ! Our cabinets are white and I love them. It seems like my mind can mull it over while I am not in the moment obsessed with trying to come up with a solution. Uh, main problem for years was trying to make triangle points match, And I was always leary of trying to FMQ over those seam intersections. Needle change was answer to that one!
Lori, will there be teaching RE the wool press pads? I keep reading about them.. thanks
I have missed you too! Thank you for yet another inspiring post. Looking forward to seeing what more you can lead us to do!
Great news
Thank you Lori, looking forward to the next round. I am glad you have had fun working, learning and sharing time with your sister.
I got as far as doodling, making quilt sandwiches, testing my machine, and then stopped. This next round is just what I need to get me started up again!
Welcome back! I really missed you. I also want to THANK YOU SO MUCH for your fantastic 25 Days To Better Machine Quilting Training marathon! I printed every lesson and made filed in a notebook…what a great reference tool you have given us. I really enjoyed this blog and all the tips and “trip ups” you shared with us. I congratulate you on learning long arm quilting! It’s WAY different than sit down quilting isn’t it? Well, like every beginner hears, “Practice, Practice, and Practice makes almost Perfect…LOL. And I am soooooooooo looking forward to following your next quilting marathon.
Sounds so exciting! I wish I could try long arming, I’m still using my 750 QE. Maybe soon I’ll take a class, thank you for the inspiration!
I took delivery of a Bernina Q16 four months ago. I love it, but would like to take the next step up to the Q24 and Q-Matic, too. I will have trouble getting that past the husband, but it will come in time. I look forward to the quilt along. I’m pleased that you’re blogging again.
It is easier to get forgiveness than permission. 😈
Hi Lori! So glad you are long arming now! When I was learning to “stipple” or “meander” I was taught to put the design on an index card and trace it over & over with your finger or pen at first. Then, I would put myself to sleep at night tracing that pattern in the air! It worked! I have no worries about that now and it comes naturally to me (finally)
Next, I worked on the feathers. Did the same thing. First on a small arc. Then a swirl or serpentine. No worries about feathers either. Bump-back or heirloom! It’s all practice! Good luck to you and your followers! You give the best advice and I still bought all your books and love your patterns (I especially love the pine cone at Christmastime). Thank you and good luck long arming! Louise
Confused
Your not giving up free-motion only growing.
I am a longarm quilter . I free-motion with rulers, stencils and inspiration. Computerizeurterized quilting is not free-motion but created from a program.
With quilting in a frame is like having a canvas stretched out before you with the needle a brush.
Enjoy quilting is joy,
Hilda
I have missed getting your email messages and wondered if something had gone wrong. Glad to hear your absence was for something good. I love your books and your posts. I look forward to the quilt along as I got distracted the first time.
You’re NOT giving up FMQ, unless you stick with only computerized designs on your longarm. Angela Walters usually demonstrates her designs first on her domestic machine and then on her longarm. She often points out the differences in how you have to approach FMQ on a longarm. So far, I don’t have a longarm, so I appreciate the fact that you and others demonstrate FMQ on a domestic, even if you do throw in the longarm stuff as a bonus.
I love Quilter’s Haven and have shopped there at least 3 times now. I found out about this shop on a shop hop a couple of years ago. Your quilting is beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
My subconscious learn wasn’t in quilting, rather knitting. I wanted to learn how to knit using multiple colors and carrying over the yard on the back of the item. Did well with that part, however shaping the neck line was a different story For the life of me I could not figure out how to increase and decrease to form the neckline. I was so stressed I put the darn thing away for 5 years!!! Picked it up and the proverbial light lit up at least 1 million candle power! Finished!! ( note I also told my husband he was going to wear it even if it meant growing taller!!!)
Hi Lori
Truly loved your blog today and definitely needed to hear about Deep Work. Such a blessing and thank you. Hope to be a part of your next FMQ lessons from your book.
My husband and I, along with our dog Chase will be moving from Ashland OR to Northfield MN in just a couple of months. I sew on a B580 e and while we were scouting out our relocation options I discovered that Quilter’s Haven is nearby. So happy to know that this is a quality Bernina shop. I have been a dedicated apparel sewist but Lori, your blog is expanding my horizons. Thank you so much!
What an inspiring story Lori! I have been longarm quilting on a small 5′ HandiQuilter and I am waiting delivery of my new Bernina Q24 with Q-Matic. I would love to take a class from an expert – even better with a sister!
Thanks Lori…for reminding me and reinforcing the benefits of submerging in ANY project.
I am currently unable to sew due to having my arm in a cast, so have been focusing on my family tree instead, but somehow feeling guilty for my deep immersion in that project. Well, guilty no more! Thank you! So looking forward to your next post
Cherie
Hi Lori and Pat! It’s great to see you both. Your thoughts today are just what I need to do…jump in and focus. Looking forward to your up coming posts. Just as my oldest son used to remind his younger brother, “I’m breaking the wake for you to follow!” Continue to “break the wake” for us Lori.
You are such an inspiration,Lori! Thank you for sharing this. Looking forward to continuing the 25 Days quilting. And my middle daughter has taken up the mantle and learning to quilt also! We are having a blast together!
Look forward to future emails and more quilting tips from you! So glad you were able to go on this journey w/your sister, no one makes me laugh more than my sisters!
Welcome back! While quilting on a DSM & LA are different skills, I enjoy both & would definitely invest in a LA if I had the space. My DH believes I could make it work, especially with the new compact machines & frames. Dear is right! While not as cold as MN, winter definitely set in here while you were on your LA adventure & I eagerly awaited your return for fresh inspiration. Nice to meet your sister.
My friend and I spent the day working with his brand new QMatic. Fortunately, we’d prepared a large practice piece that we’d landed to sacrifice to the effort. You are right. We learn from mistakes. At the end of the day, I feel wonderfully accomplished. It is a great machine.
Great to have you back you have been missed
I love that you are learning to long arm. All the learning curves will help you remember where we all are with the free motion quilting. 🙂 Thank you for doing these quilt alongs for us.
I recently brought a quilt home from my Guild that needed quilting. I thought it would be a breezy, easy peasy flowers. Not so. I haven’t been practicing, how can I practice it all. The quilting turned out fine, but required much doodling and stitch ripping. Regarding sub concious problem solving, sometimes it happens in my dreams. I wake up with a solution or path to a solution.
Hi Lori-i had my Q24 installed on Sunday past. So like you I’m ready for the new quilt along! Thanks so much for all your sharing-have all your books they are awesome. Practiced your flower posy yesterday on the lngarm-worked fantastic.
I also just purchased a longarm, without a computer, however. It is a journey! I am excited to be moving to Minnesota in April as well! congrats on your new grandbaby:) they are the joy of our days.
Congratulations on your work, it is wonderful, I dream of learning quilting, my question is; can it be quilted with a basic sewing machine?
So glad you are back with us…I was worried. Your adventure is no doubt an
excellent way to help Pat heal with her loss as well as have fun with YOU!
Hope the restart of the lessons will begin soon. I could use a refresher…
although I still refer to your excellent book.
Can you tell me the pattern name ofthe quilt on the longarm? It is lovely! Thanks, Kathy