Working the Long Arm

Yesterday I headed out to my parents house to start quilting Si's quilt on the longarm.  I figured maybe some of you might not know what I'm talking about, so I took a couple of pictures for a small explanation.

 This is looking down the length of the machine.  The quilt is layered; backing, batting and then top.  (I rolled the top on the wrong way so don't look too close)

 Now the main difference (other than size) between a long arm and a home machine is this: When quilting on a home machine you have to move the quilt to make the quilting designs.  On a long arm, you are moving the machine while the quilt stays in place.  You also get a much larger area to work on at a time with a long arm.  This is the HQ 18 - which I think means you get 18" of work space in which to quilt. 

A close up of the quilting in progress.

I am about half done with the quilt.  Set up does take some time, although it is still faster than pin basting.  Plus there was some chat time, lunch time and kid loving time.  Hoping to finish it either this weekend or next week.