Marsha Walper
Marsha Walper at her HQ Sixteen

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Confessions of a Quilter’s Husband What was he talking about? Where could he possibly have gotten this beautifully machine-quilted piece of fabric he held? How did he quilt it? Then, he confessed! Much to my surprise, my husband had ordered me a HQ Sixteen and it was delivered and set it up while I was away! What made it even more amazing, was that when I first walked in the door, my husband greeted me with a wonderful piece of quilted fabric and told me how easy it was to do! I could hardly believe it, a new HQ Sixteen set up in my sewing room and my husband showing me the beautiful machine quilting that he had done on it! After this I was just about ready to believe anything. But, the confessions came. My husband laughed and confessed, he did get the machine, but the nicely quilted fabric was a sample provided by the Handi Quilter Company. After trying a lot of different machines at various stores and exhibits, making the choice about what machine to buy finally came down to my friend Maureen. She is the inspiration behind me wanting a HQ Sixteen. A quick quilting session on Maureen’s HQ Sixteen was all it took and I knew it was the machine for me. I have always admired her fabulous creativity and the amazingly beautiful quilting she does on her HQ Sixteen. As a finalist in the International Quilt Festival in Houston for five years, Maureen has encouraged me to become a quality “artistic” machine quilter and now my HQ Sixteen has made me a believer. Following this wonderful surprise and the ongoing support I receive from my husband for all my quilting activities, a new “artistic” quilting journey for me is now underway. The instructions on the DVD that came with the HQ Sixteen were easy to follow and in no time I was stitching away as though I had been using the machine forever. Customer service for the HQ 16 has been wonderful. An important personal touch was provided by Suzanne Leimer and her husband, Ladd, from Suzanne’s Quilts in Moultrie, Georgia. They drove down to Florida to check the set-up, give me quilting tips, and demonstrate the great bobbin winder provided with the machine. While they were here, my husband enjoyed visiting with Ladd, who is also a teacher. Suzanne invited me to attend a machine-quilting class at her shop. A few weeks later, I drove to Moultrie and participated in an exciting all-day class with a nationally known teacher. For a several years I have been quilting by hand and have won awards for workmanship. But, it takes such a long time to quilt by hand and I feel my creativity has been somewhat limited. My husband jokingly calls me a “topper” because of the many unquilted tops that are piling up. Now with my HQ Sixteen, I am enjoying quilting all those tops and am finally a “quilter” not just a “topper.” Most importantly, I am beginning to explore, like my friend Maureen, the artistic side of quilting that only a quality machine like theHQ Sixteen can provide.

I own the following HQ machine: HQ Sixteen

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