Sew much fun with A-1

I think you'll agree that my husband enjoyed the day by the look on his face. We all did.

Today was our training with Jamie Wallen on how to set up and service an A-1 Professional Quilting Machine at the home of one of my new clients.

I took almost 200 photos today, but will only share a few (smile). There's a step by step process involved in uncrating and putting together both the table and the longarm machine. And you know me - I documented it well!

Since we won't always have Jamie with us (I really want to keep him) we will have photos of today to remind us of our step by step procedures until they become second nature to us as we set up and service more and more future A-1 longarm quilters.

Everything about this company is top notch as was evident today by observing how meticulous and well thought out things are even down to the details of the crating to assure quality control that the machine and table parts arrive undamaged in the shipping (no offense to those in the shipping industry, but we all know this is a potential nightmare of worrying if something gets damaged or lost).

Have to admit, it was rather lengthy before the fellows got to this point of removing the table top. First came the prying off of the crate, undoing the little chunks of wood that stabilized the polls, etc. Again, I took A LOT of photos so we'd remember how to do everything in the proper order once we begin setting up the machines ourselves.

The fellows really seemed to enjoy working together as they put mastered the rubics cube of the table assembly.

Finally the table was assembled, the poles attached, the carriage on the tracks and it was time to put the machine head on the table! In looking at this photo it sorta reminds me of the pride in holding your baby for the first time - the care that is taken in the handling to make sure everything is just so.

Before we knew it the day came to a close as the table was now fully assembled with the machine head fully functional. Tomorrow we return to our client's to began her maintenance training and her basic training on how to use the machine. It's truly very exciting to help "birth" a new longarm quilter. I just know that there will be so many joyous moments spent in this new studio turning out beautiful creations that will be loved and appreciated for generations to come.

We've only just begun! Oh the privelage of being able to walk this journey with new quilters as we have stepped out to this path of becoming A-1 dealers. I can already tell, it's going to be a great adventure!