Student Feedback
Quilting at
Here's what graduated students have to say about our training in their own words!
I am proud to say I was the first graduate from Carmen’s Long-arm Mastery program. And, I enjoyed every moment of my learning. I remember being at my first class and looking at the whole set-up. I was in such awe of this large, powerful machine. I didn’t think I’d ever get comfortable using it. Yet, Carmen proved to be incredibly knowledgeable, and most of all, a patient teacher. She explained things slowly and repeated as much as I needed. She had lesson plans and reference cards for my use. She also had reference materials for purchase. The studio itself is inspiring, surrounded by fabrics, completed projects, books, all quilting related. The environment is comfortable, well-lit, and a pleasure to work in. So I learned in a very relaxed, tension free environment with a very patient teacher. There was nothing missing, nor anything I would change. I will be a long-arm quilter as long as I can do it! Thanks Carmen for giving this skill to me!
Janet Keymetian
Longarming became an option for me when I attempted to quilt on my home sewing machine. The experience was so frustrating that I nearly gave up quilting--after a glass of wine, I came to my senses! The cost of having a professional longarm quilter do the kind of custom quilting I wanted is best described as shocking.
Enter, Carmen! Armed with a comprehensive curriculum, good humor and a pastoral setting, I found that learning at age 53 is exciting and rewarding.
The 13 week LongArm Mastery course allowed me ample time to explore all aspects of longarm quilting; including machine adjustment for specialty threads, alternative quilt set up and quilting options to address nearly every application. The four-hour block of time is ideal for learning new techniques at a comfortable pace.
Now, my quilts can truly be my own creations and at a fraction of the cost of “sending them out.”
Deborah Jett McVay
In April 2005 I took the Longarm Competency Course with Carmen and I found it to be a very positive experience. Not only did Carmen show a lot of patience with an inexperienced person, but she was able to instill confidence in me after just the first session!. When I began this class, I had only had minimal exposure to a long arm machine - a few minutes of use at a quilt show. That short introduction made me really want to learn to use one.
I’ve been sewing for more than twenty years and quilting for about ten. The few quilts I have made I sent out to be quilted and I felt as if the job was only half finished. I wanted to be the one to say I sewed and quilted a piece. With this class, you can learn the skills to start to quilt your own work on the longarm machine. Each class left me eager to do more and to learn more. No matter how tired I was after working a full day and then being in class for four hours, I went home and spent time practicing because I wanted to learn this skill. I found Carmen to be always ready to answer questions, even if I felt as if it was a stupid one that I had asked many times. She was always right there ready to help if needed, yet she allowed me enough space so that I did not feel she was hovering over me. I would recommend this class to anyone interested in learning how to use a longarm quilting machine.
Mary Schwarzenberger