Carol Albrecht
Carol at a HQ24 Fusion

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To get this (HQ24 Fusion)....You had to build ..... WHAT! The path to my HQ24 Fusion with the HQ Pro- Stitcher truly begins back when I was around the age of five or six. My Grandmother named Orpha Jane, was a garment sewer using old newspaper to make all of her patterns; my mother did very little sewing. I acquired my interest of sewing from my grandmother. She had got me into hand sewing but that was not enough. One day I asked my mother if she would teach me to thread and use the sewing machine which was an old Singer treadle. She did not have the time. In my persistence I kept asking her and she would always say no; so I told her I would figure it out. I was told I would not be able figure it out; I had to prove her wrong. Through trial and error, I figured how to thread and operate the machine by myself in just a couple of days. With that said, I learned my love for sewing. I did all garment sewing at that time as it was hard to find clothes that I liked that fit that had long enough sleeves, hem length & etc. After numerous 4-H garments with many ribbons and “Make It with Wool” contests, I proceeded to become a Home Ec. teacher (with emphasis in sewing) from UW-Stout, Menomonie, WI. I taught many years in Milwaukee, Hales Corners and Palmyra, WI. In 2000 I was in need of a new sewing machine and started looking and looking at many different shops and brands. Finally, I came across the Janome machines in 2001 and bought my first one, Janome 10000, from Kari’s Sew Unique from Whitewater, WI. From then on I have purchased many different machines from her and then later started helping out in her shop on an occasional basis. Gradually I started quilting small items and less and less garment sewing and getting into bigger quilts. Now it is either quilting or embroidery. In 2007, Kari’s started selling HQ Sixteen’s. I fell in love with the HQ Sixteen and the HQ18 Avante and then later the HQ24 Fusion with the ease of use and the smooth motion. After several years of using the shops HQ machines, I decided I wanted one for myself. In order to have place for my HQ24 Fusion, this spring I had to add a second 2 car garage to my existing garage and raise to roof over both parts of the garage to add a sewing room large enough for the HQ24 Fusion. The other option was to kick my husband out of his shop in the basement, but that was not practical or take out the pool table in the basement, but my kids and grand kids would not go for that either. It has been a fun and exciting process designing a quilt studio from scratch just the way I want it. Shortly, I will have a 35 x 24 sewing and quilting room with a another area of 10 x 24 to stash fabric & etc. However, it is not quite finished. As I write this story, the drywallers will be starting on Monday. I hope to start moving things before by Labor Day especially the machine; it is in the box that is in my dining room calling my name. Over the past 3-4 years I have used Kari’s Handi Quilter machines to finish many quilts; now I will have my very own machine to finish my quilts. My husband has nick named the new room “Carol’s Quilt Castle” but without a moat.

I own the following HQ machines: HQ24 Fusion, HQ Pro-Stitcher

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