Longarm Quilting Machine Unpacking

She came with a bow!   I don't want to take it off, ever!  

First thing I unpacked:

Update on my boxes: -  it looks so far like there is no visible damage to my items.  I did however, receive an extra table leg that was to be delivered to someone else.   I didn't realize it until I got the call from the freight company.   

My dealer Matt Sparrow -  is such a gem. I emailed him about the condition of the shipment and he called me immediately and talked me through it. 

The 8 boxes of items were not difficult to move. The 12 foot pole boxes were definitely heavy, and a two person job.   Before you even consider buying a longarm quilting machine - make sure it will fit into your space...by that I mean make sure you can get the 12 foot poles around stairs, corners, etc.   A 2x4 piece of lumber was recommended to test out if they will fit. 

Confession:  I cheated and used 3 hockey sticks taped together.   

Unpacking the boxes was fun.  Kind of like Christmas actually.   

I was supplied with a selection of threads of Aurifil,  Omni, Filtec, Superior, Signature and KingTut.

(I want to get my hands on some of the new Aurifil longarm quilting thread that was announced)  

I received two pantographs (12 foot long sheets of paper with an allover cool design on it.  You basically trace the design with a laser pen and the machine stitches it for you)

One thing I was very happy to receive was a sampler guide of batting.   It is only from one company (Pellon Legacy), but it is great to have a feel for what each type is like.  There's 100% cotton with and without scrim, wool, poly, rayon, soy and the 80/20 blends.   Now I know what kind to order without guessing! 

 Also received these cute stickie note pads.  I'm going to wallpaper my studio with them.

I was able to assemble not much on my own yesterday.  Poles and rails are heavy, but I did get a start on two things.

Here I am putting the cross bars in.  Yes, I put the damn timer on the camera and ran over to the space, tripping on my way....and still managed to smile and pose.  LOL

The instruction manual is NOT LIKE IKEA.  CHEER!!!  It is so thorough and detailed and dare I say easy.   But I only did a few things so far. 

The manual should state that you need lots of soap and or wipes in between steps.  :-) These are my hands after putting ONE crossbar on.  please don't judge my dry cracked hands...I live in such a dry place!

The next thing I was able to do was adjust the height of my table legs....that was easy.  

This next part looked easy, but when the instructions say 'may need a helper', they are right.  This is where I left off.  The ladder/rails are super heavy. See?  Not much done.

Also,  if you notice, the photos in my studio are all light and bright.  I had daylight fluorescent fixtures put in and I cannot believe how awesome it is down there now!   All of the photos were taken without a flash....awesomeness.

The rest of the setup will be assembled tonight and tomorrow with my husband.  I'm sure we'll have lots of laughs and snarky remarks as we put this thing together.   We never fight when we do this stuff as many people we know do.   We just resign ourselves to being feeble at it and laugh our way through it.  :-)  I love him for that.

I'm working on a quilt right now that I detest.  I've ripped the layout apart twice now, with hopes that this next layout will look better.  Thank god for the design wall to help me through it.  I'm just not into the colours or fabrics so it's making it a bit tough.  I want to share it with you for feedback and suggestions, but I have a feeling the recipient reads this blog on occasion.