Helping friends spend their money

Remember my friends, Rose & Debbie, who have helped me w/ creative projects--the fabric wall....my quilt?  Both of them are big time quilters but part of the 'process' is having the thing quilted once it's all put together.  That's the part where you put the back on, batting in the middle & sew it all together w/ various designs.  That has to be done on a special machine & they are pretty pricey.  Currently Rose & Debbie (& me for my one quilt) take their quilts to a 'quilter' who has the pretty pricey machine & they pay them to have it done.  

Rose has been thinking really hard about buying her own pretty pricey quilter.  There is a store in Louisville that lets you rent them for the day to quilt & after Rose & Debbie went over one day & used the machine Rose was really hooked....

The store also sells the quilters & they had a class on Saturday to go over all the details of the machines & essentially try to sell them.  Rose asked me to go to help her listen to all the info.  I said, "UHM Rose - I don't know anything about this stuff!"  She said, 'that makes you the perfect person to go because you're gonna think of questions to ask PLUS you're super techy & these machines are techy'.

I was in.

We went over to the shop & the "Lennie" was the original quilter she had thought about...but after she rented one of the bigger machines Lennie was old news.

 The studio has 5 quilters set up & eventually we would be able to try them out.  (Not everyone had been there before to 'rent' the machines.')

 It's so funny when you go in a room & most of the people are sitting towards the back.  There were 2 seats right up front so I said, "lets sit up front - we'll be the teachers pets."  A few people chuckled...

I was a good suck up little student & had my note pad all ready for notes.  

 So I'm sure none of you know anything about quilting, but this lady is a big deal in the AQPS quilting world.  (That's the brand of quilter.)  She does their YouTube videos, she travels all over the world showing people how to use them AND she's writing a book.  She was seriously knowledgable about the machines.  After she explained how they worked, how much they cost (& I know you're all dying to know...lets just say they range from $8900 (for Lennie) all the way up to the price of a small,  cheaper brand new car.  UH HUH. Think 20 grand...)

Rose knows I'm gonna tell her what I think - good or bad & I will look at things in a logical way - you know - weigh out the pros & cons.  I think it is a great idea for her to buy one so my job was also to convince Rose why.  (Of course she WANTS it - but sometimes it's easier to make the leap when you have someone cheering you on.  (2,4,6,8 who do we appreciate???!!) 

 "You can make money doing this, Rose."  

"People will bring their quilts to YOU & pay YOU to quilt them.   THAT money can go towards your payment!"

  "Think of all the money & time you will save by doing your quilts yourself!"

 "Think of the sense of accomplishment you will feel to do a quilt from the first stitch to the last!"  

Yes, I'm a good friend like that...

So there's also a computer option you can add for a mere $9500.00.  Ya'll know I love me some computer stuff & this thing was seriously cool, but Rose has decided she doesn't need a computer right now & I agree...part of the 'fun' is doing it yourself.  I told Rose she could always add it later (after she pays the machine off) if she wants to.  

 I wrote down all the things the lady said that seemed like important quilting things.  Thread types, batting types...I took 4 pages of notes...

Then it was time for us to play with the machines...

So the machines that Rose narrowed it down to (after she dropped Lennie like a hot potato) were Freddie or Millie.  The price difference on the 2 is $1000.  I told her that when you're spending that kind of money, $1000 isn't really that much in the scheme of things & you might as well spend the extra cash to get the few added benefits it gets you.  

So Millie it is...

You can quilt free hand from the front...meaning you can move the machine around & make your own shapes or diagonal lines, etc.   

I mean -what's NOT to love about a little electronic screen?

 On the back of the machine you can put down a 'pattern' & there's a laser light on the back & all you do is follow the lines & VOILA.

Rose said, 'Jaime - even YOU can do this!'

I told her I will move straight from official ironer for the group to official quilter!

Rose played around w/ the free hand section.

 

 She wrote our names in thread!

 We got all the pricing info & the 'special' is good through August 14th so Rose has some more time to think & convince her hubby it's a good idea decide.  As we were leaving we passed a Brinks truck... it was a SIGN!  I mean-we only needed a fraction of what they were carrying!  Come on!!

After the meeting we still wanted to hang out, but I told Rose we better not shop because she shouldn't be spending any extra money!  She suggested we get our toes done & off we went to my nail place!

I got purple.  Show of hands - who's surprised?

We had a great day catching up because she lives so far away I don't get to see her often!  If any of you need help spending your money - let me know...I'm here for you....