HQ Educator: Linda Matteotti


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Like so many other quilters, my HQ story begins after I purchased a short arm frame quilting system. I loved it, but after completing 22 quilts I was very frustrated with the narrow quilting space and wanted to move up to a larger machine. My husband agreed to go with me to Road to California to do some serious shopping. We looked at all the “big boys” before passing a Handi Quilter display. He said “What about this one?” I was reluctant to try it because I didn’t feel like it was a “real” long arm machine. He reminded me that we were there to try all of them. Well, it was love at first touch. It ran so smoothly and looked so clean and manageable that my decision was made.
After purchasing my HQ, time marched on and I was hungry for more education (we’re quilters, we love classes). I found the information about the U of HQ on the Internet and registered for the retreat in May of 2007. It was probably the best quilting experience I’ve ever had. From the moment I walked into the Handi Quilter headquarters, I had a wish to be part of the organization. But since they are in Salt Lake City and I am in Phoenix, that didn’t seem possible.
My background is many years of computer training at the Community College level and also many years of teaching quilting classes. As the retreat week passed, the studio educators began talking about an upcoming Educator program. The following January I got a phone call asking me to join that program. Since then it’s been a wonderful journey of teaching in shops all over the country and many trips to the headquarters in Salt Lake for more training. I’ve since given up my Community College job to devote my time to quilting and teaching. I can truly say that my Handi Quilter changed my life.

I own the following HQ machines: