In the first Witchin’ Stitchin’ blog, we referred to a fearsome piece of kit – the new long arm quilter. This consists of a loft frame, and a quilting machine mounted on wheels that moves over the quilt. A brand spanking new Handi Quilter Moxie, or as this one is affectionately known – Roxie Moxie!

So, the first problem was, as Roxie did not have her own broomstick and was relying on wheeled transport the lorry delivering it couldn’t get up the lane, so she had to be brought in on a pallet truck. Several boxes later, a bit of house removals to make space, and armed with the instruction booklet and an app, Roxie eventually appeared in the spare room at Coven HQ. To be fair, DC was trying to build the loft contraption with a duff shoulder, so that didn’t help. Chief Witch waited until the glamorous bit – ooh! pretty threads!

Now it’s like being back in school. There have been lesson plans to follow, learning to draw freehand circles, and there have been a few incantations over Roxie’s head, none of them repeatable in the written word. Now when it comes to taking the leap there are a few things you should check for (1) make sure there are no witches assistants in the room, remember all witches have a few animals hanging around, you may need to walk over or around them (2) Never never leave them in the quilting room alone see evidence below.

So, after a bit of extensive practice, we thought we should load the first quilt. Chief Witch chose one of her own (in case it all went horribly wrong), and Chief Stitch produced some backing fabric and the bolt of wadding. Well…..it is just as well there was no recording equipment in situ because wrestling the bolt of wadding out of the plastic wrapper was, I’m sure, akin to assisting a cow to give birth. At least that’s apparently what it sounded like in the next room, where one’s husband was on a conference call at the time! Whoops……working from home has distinct disadvantages when the two of us are let loose. James Herriot had nothing on us.

Now we do not pretend to be masters at this long arm lark. So far, it’s been a steep learning curve. Keeping our Roxie in clean, pristine condition; Getting to grips with big bobbins; Tinkering with tensions; Quite literally steering the bull by the horns, but we are slowly getting there.

The broomsticks are parked and ready for our next tour and what are we up too we hear you ask, well ….. stitching a little magic.

Remember Keep Stitching