The first-ever Georgia Quilt Show was held this past weekend at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, which is on the east side of Atlanta outside the I285 loop. There were classes, vendors, free short presentations with quiltmaking topics on the stage, fabulous give-aways, and a fine quilt show!
The show was put on by The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo folks who have an annual Expo here each Spring. I haven't been to that one yet, but look forward to it following this wonderful show.
I made one large purchase at this show: a Brother mid-arm machine! It's a regular brother workhorse machine which has been extended to give an 18" arm. Like all long-arm and mid-arm machines, it is only capable of free-motion stitching, which is all I need it for anyway.
It is a table-top model with no frame, which is my preference because I spray baste my quilts. Long-arm machines are wonderful, especially if you machine quilt for a living, but I absolutely do not have the space for a 10' - 14' frame in this house, and prefer not to spend a lot of time pinning quilts to the frame. If you are looking for a mid-arm machine that's affordable, and you don't mind the table-top model, this is a good one.
This machine has a wonderful, smooth sound to it (even my husband commented on that) and plenty of power and speed when I need it. I decided not to get the stitch regulator because after about a month of practicing most people don't need one anyway. FYI, the bobbin on this machine is the regular size bobbin, not the extra large type.
The base machine is the
Nouvelle 1500s from Brother. If you'd like more information you can contact Mel at Southeast Sewing Products (they're an industrial sewing products company) in Atlanta. Their website is
http://www.sewingmachine.com/ and their e-mail address is
sales@sewingmachine.com.
