Valerie Lee Funk
This is me quilting Dr. Seuss for my grandson

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My name is Valerie Funk and this my HQ Story. Several years back in 1998 I was accidentally shot while serving as an officer for the state of Indiana. I knew my recovery would be long and hard so began looking for hobbies to keep myself busy. Eventually I stumbled onto quilting and I was instantly hooked. I am a self taught quilter having learned mostly by way of YouTube videos and magazines. About a year ago I finally joined my local quilt guild in Osceola Iowa. The ladies there were an absolute wealth of knowledge. The long arm quilters within our guild were all very reasonably priced but because I was piecing quilts at the rate of 2-3 a month I decided that I really wanted to look into buying my own long arm machine. I had absolutely no knowledge regarding long arm machines so I got on line and researched the different kinds of machines and all the different options. After many weeks of research I decided that what I really wanted was an HQ18 Avante. It was just the right size for me and very reasonably priced. After finding my closest HQ rep I made the long drive up to her shop so I could test out her machine. I knew as soon as I tried the HQ18 Avante that was the machine I wanted. It was so smooth and the stitches were flawless! It was so easy to use. And since I had very little long arm knowledge, easy is what I needed. I received my Avante in early May and I have never been happier. I have quilted over a dozen quilts since then and I just love it! Quilting is very therapeutic for me. When I am finished making my quilts I like to give them all away. It makes me so happy to see others get enjoyment from something that I have created with my own two hands. I like to think of myself as an artist with fabric as my medium. If I would have know that long arm quilting could be so easy and fun I’m sure I would have made this purchase a long time ago!

I own the following HQ machine: HQ18 Avante

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