*My HQ Story Winner: Larry Beauchamp
A quilt for my son. I am the one with the beard
When I was growing up the fourth seat at our dining table was my mother's quilt frame so I am not a stranger to quilting. Or to sewing, as our five daughters (and three sons) were growing up I had the assignment of making slacks and tops for them to wear to school. After they were grown and we came to Texas my wife was reintroduced to quilting while working for the 1980 Census. I watched her for a few years then it became an "anything she can do, I can do" challenge. I soon learned to LOVE piecing and HATE quilting! The tops piled up but not the quilts. When she retired from teaching about ten years ago we took the leap and bought a full fledged longarm machine....going to make some money and get our quilts finished. She soon found that it was too stressful to quilt for others so it became "our" machine. My tops would get finished "as soon as", etc. etc. Finally in self defense I purchased a larger DSM and an early design computer quilting product. Still didn't get much finished. Then a few years ago, after watching them work at our local show, I bought an HQ16 with PPF. Made my table and was ready to go. EXCEPT...I found that I did not have the eye, hand, brain coordination to do acceptable free motion, except for stippling. Also did fairly well with pantographs. Then came the ProStitcher! As a computer nerd and a semi-skilled quilter it was the answer for me. Now I do baby quilts for each of the two guilds I belong to, Storybook Quilts for one of them, Wedding quilts, Baby quilts, Christmas gifts, etc. for our 12 grand children and 10 great grandchildren.....and sometime I even get to do a quilt for my self! Oh, as for those daughters I sewed for four of them (we lost one to breast cancer) and a granddaughter are now quilters and all seven of us participate in a yearly challenge project of some kind. Since retiring I don't golf....we don't travel....I just HQ16!!!

I own the following HQ machines: HQ Sixteen, HQ Pro-Stitcher