HandiQuilter 16 For Sale!

Author's Note added 3/27/10: Machine is SOLD!

Just one year ago, I bought an HQ 16. I've upgraded to a bigger machine, so want to sell my first baby. It is an HQ 16, on a Studio Frame (the best!). It is one year old, has the new handles with tilt screen. Comes with all the usual stuff - external bobbin winder, Front and Rear Handles, Stitch Regulator, laser light, Velcro leaders.

It is in EXCELLENT condition, and comes with a warranty! Yes, my warranty is transferable! Asking price $6000. Email me (alice@dellajane.com) or leave contact info in a comment. Financing may be available. Price does not include shipping from Omaha, Nebraska.

Quilt for The Gathering

Teri Quinn, friend and fellow member of The Cottonwood Quilters took on the HUGE task of providing quilts for The Gathering, a fundraiser for a local private school. I agreed to quilt one of ten quilts which will be auctioned. Janice Lippincott and June Jensen combined blocks from a Houston class and made a beautiful top using colorful batiks and black and white prints.

I quilted it using a free-form spiral feather design. The thread is Superior Rainbows #821 - a multi-colored thread that was PERFECT with the batiks and showed up just as I wanted on the B&W prints!





Janice pieced a batik back that is as wonderful as the front! You can see more detail of my quilting in this photo of the back. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the entire quilt! The quilt is in the hands of yet another volunteer, who is doing the binding. I will add a picture of the finished quilt when I see it again! You can SEE MORE detail pics of this quilt on flickr.

A Black Belt Quilt For Alyssa

To celebrate her First Degree, Level 1 and Level 2 Black Belts in TaeKwonDo, I made Alyssa a quilt. Each fabric in the braided sections represents one of the belts she earned as she worked her way to the black belts. The separator bands (sashing) between the braids represents the First Degree, Level 1 belt. The outer border represents her First Degree, Level 2 Belt. This belt has their name and rank embroidered with gold thread, so I quilted it on my HQ16 using yellow thread. In the braids, I did a free-form spiral-y feather.


In the outer border, I wrote the ten tenets of Ho Am TaeKwonDo - Honor, Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, Courage, Community, Strength, Humility, Knowledge. In the sashing, I wrote the dates she earned each of her color belts. The center of the quilt back is a straightforward look at the color belts, white, yellow, green, senior green, blue, senior blue, brown, senior brown, red and senior red.

You can see more pictures of the quilt, including closeups of the quilting on flickr.

Queen For A Day!

More precisely, queen for TWO days plus! Last weekend, I flew to Salt Lake City and attended a retreat with an eclectic group of 14 other quilters. What we had in common is that we all own (and love!) a Handi Quilter. We were chosen to be featured in Handi Quilters print ads during the coming year. (As the first quilter to be in the ads, I know what a thrill it is to open a quilting magazine and see myself!)

At Handi Quilter headquarters, we were greeted with an impressive display of cheers and silly string from all the HQ employees. What a fun start to our retreat! Our pictures are on a huge banner in the main entry.


Our retreat was crammed full of activities. A class on Thread, Needles & Tension. An impromptu session about Groovy Boards. A session with Suzanne Hyland on quilting choices. Great food! Drawing continuous line designs on paper, then moving to the HQ Studio and drawing them with thread. A limo ride to Elaine's Quilt Block, where I found some great fabrics. Dinner @ HandiQuilter CEO Mark Hyland's house. What an impressive view they have! Taping our "My HQ Story" video's (They are posted on YouTube - See Mine Here! ) David Taylor's amazing Show & Tell of his quilts. Suzanne Hyland's great quilts during our "How Do I Quilt This Quilt" session.

Being famous requires photographers, so Luke followed us around like paparazzi, taking pictures and videos of everything we did. Check out Part One and Part Two on Picassa. And most of the pictures I took can be seen in my Handi Quilter set on flickr.

It was a wonderful time. Thank you Handi Quilter, for this experience! And now, back to my normal, everyday life. Quilting, of course, on my HQ 16!

My 15 Minutes of Fame Are Here!

Andy Warhol said it in 1968. I've been waiting 41 years (41 YEARS!) and I think my time in the spotlight is here.

Drum roll, please............ I am being featured in HandiQuilter ads in a number of national quilting magazines. It is exciting to open the October issue of Quilter's World and see my face on the first page. Go get your copy now & look! I'll wait. And I'm in Quilters Newsletter, too! Page 23, in case you want to find it quickly.

How did it happen? HandiQuilter asked owners to submit their stories online. You can read My HQ Story. Plus you can see me as a redhead! Fifteen of the stories were selected as winners, with the writers to be featured in print ads. And I'm the first one in print!! My 15 minutes of fame!

p.s. Read the other My HQ Stories too! They are funny & interesting and touching. I can't wait to meet the other winners at the special HandiQuilter Retreat later this month!

I Have A Handi Quilter!

On Tuesday morning, it was an empty (relatively speaking!) room:

Getting it to this point involved hours of sorting through piles of mostly quilting stuff, going through boxes of mostly quilting stuff and making decisions about what stays and what goes. I sold one sewing machine and a table, but what you don't see in this empty room picture is the full shelf in the next room of Stuff-That-Stays.

Leslie & Kevin showed up at 10:30 am with a truckload of boxes and several hours later, I had my new baby - a Handi Quilter 16! I love it! If you want me, I'll be quilting!