Beginner Longarm Training Retreats
|
About our training facility, from Tom and Carrie Dugan.
When we decided to sell these wonderful machines, we also wanted to provide and include training classes for our
customers. We did not want to see our customers struggle with the beginner problems. We wanted our customers
to learn and be comfortable with their machines. We wanted to provide a nice, comfortable place for them to come
and learn. After lots of planning and searching, we found and created that place. We hope you will take advantage
of the retreat, the training and the extras that we include in your longarm package purchase.
Our Goal, Many happy quilters!
|
Are you considering the purchase of an Industrial longarm quilting machine?
Do you want extensive hands on quilting instruction, included with the purchase of your machine?
We offer 2-3 full days of instruction and training, included with your purchase of an Industrial longarm quilting machine.
We are located in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston and just 20 minutes from the Houston, IAH, Bush Intercontinental Airport.
We have had lots of nice quilters join us in our 2-3 day retreats and training, from all over the US, Mexico, Canada and England... You
will meet lots of nice quilters at future retreats from around the globe. We have had quilters from Florida, California, Indiana,
Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Oregon, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana, New
Mexico, Arizona, Washington, Georgia, Canada, Mexico, England, and of course Texas.
If you are flying in, and want to meet and share a rental car, please let me know. I will put you in contact with another retreater.
If you are flying in, and want to take a cab to our facility, you will want to call Blue Van or Super Shuttle. http://supershuttle.com.
They charge a $17.00, flat rate, trip charge. Versus a $25 - $45 cab fare.
Are you wondering what you might do in the evenings after your longarm training, ends each day?
-We have a quilting library with hundreds of quilt books for you to read.
-There are lots of longarm quilting DVD's to watch.
-We have 2 DSM available for you to piece quilt tops in the evening, if you want.
-Cutting boards, rotary cutters, iron, etc., are also available.
-Plenty of Dry Erase Boards, for each girl to practice quilting designs on.
The retreat - lodging facilitiy, is a new, 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. It also offers a new kitchen with all of the amenities of home. You will
have full access to the kitchen and appliances. Eat out or fix a quick meal here. We do not have a food service license, nor do we plan
to get one. We do not supply any meals for you. You are on your own for meals. Call for details and more info.
The lodging facilites, are for females only. We do have plenty of space for RV's. There are several nice hotels, within 3 miles, if you
would like for your husband to take the classes with you.
Check out the list of hotels close. www.QuiltFrog.com/hotelsclose.html
***Please review the Retreat Schedule below***
|
You will have a machine and frame to use for the entire retreat. You will not be sharing a machine or frame during the retreat. If you
would like to bring your own machine with you, and put it on one of our frames, you can do that.
|
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat Information
If you purchase an Industrial Longarm Machine from us, your Beginner Longarm Training Retreat and overnight accommodations are
included.
There is a $50.00 Supply Fee for the retreat. We will supply the Comprehensive Longarm Training Manual, machines, frames, thread,
batting, fabric, needles, pantos, rulers, stencils, pins, templates and other things you will use during class.
We supply all paper products, soaps and things needed for your overnight accommodations.
If you already have a longarm quilting machine, and you want to come here and take, the Beginner Longarm Training Retreat.
The fee is $600.00.
You will have a machine to use the entire time, you will not have to share a machine. Overnight accommodations are free to you.
All fabric, batting, thread, bobbins, needles, paper products are included.
For your convenience, you can check in the day before the Beginner Longarm Training Retreat starts. You can check out the day after it
is over.
Please Note - We limit the class size to 4 or 5 quilters. Tom and I are active and hands on teachers, in each class. You will have a lot
of "one on one" time. You will not struggle, you will not stand in line to get your questions answered.
If you would like to bring your machine with you to class. You can. We will put your machine on one of our frames. You can use your
machine, all 3 days, and we can help you trouble shoot it, if you are having problems.
|
What to bring for lodging and overnight accomodations:
All linens, pillows, towels, etc are provided. You may want to bring your own favorite pillow.
Bring toiletries, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.
Bring comfy clothes and shoes. You will be on your feet for 3 days.
Bring Medications, and a list of those you take, with an emergency contact.
Food - see info below about meals.
All paper products are supplied. Tissue, paper towels, napkins and toilet paper.
|
Important information about the retreat facility.
This is a No Frills, Dormitory, retreat, type set up.
There is no charge for you to stay in our retreat facility.
We provide a brand new 3 bedroom mobile home,
2 twin beds in each bedroom. 3 full, bathrooms, available.
We provide a brand new kitchen, stocked with new appliances for you to use.
We have a nice common living room area, with comfy chairs and couch.
There are hundreds of quilt books, to keep you busy in the evenings.
We have tables with sewing machines, for you to piece on, if you choose.
There is no maid service offered.
There is no maid available, to make the beds, fluff the pillows, make coffee,
wash the dishes, load the dishwasher, etc.
We provide the retreat facility, you are on your own, for the simple tasks of daily living.
Cooking, making beds, making coffee, loading the dishwasher, etc, is up to the girls at the retreat.
If you prefer a hotel, where these things are included, we totally understand.
There are many nice hotels available, within 3 miles.
We can give you a list to choose from. Please ask for directions, or click on this link.
www.QuiltFrog.com/hotelsclose.html
|
Beginner Retreat
We are now scheduling the Beginner, Longarm retreats, once or twice a month, throughout the year.
Lodging Facility
We offer a "no frills" dormitory, style set up. Our retreat facility is a new, 3 bedroom mobile home, it has new, Serta twin beds. You
may share a bedroom, with another quilter. You may share a bathroom with one or two quilters.
Our lodging facility is for females only.
We do have plenty of space available for self contained, RV's.
I can give you information, on several nice hotels within 3 miles, if you would be more comfortable, staying in a hotel.
Kitchen Facility
The new kitchen, offers all the amenities of home. Full size fridge, freezer, oven, stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer, dryer, etc. We
supply dinner ware, glass ware, silver ware, cook ware, toaster, coffee pot, etc. You are welcome to bring food to cook or heat up for
your meals.
Food and Meal Service. Please note and understand:
Our focus is Longarm Quilting.
We do not have a food service license.
We do not plan to get one.
We can not supply any food for you, during the retreat.
We can and do supply you with the facilities to cook and prepare your own meals. You can bring your own food. We can give you easy
directions, to a few grocery stores, 1 - 2 miles away, for you to purchase your own food, to prepare during the retreat. Or to Wally World,
3 miles away. Or directions, to 20+ restaurants, 1-5 miles away.
We are a Non-Smoking facility. We don't allow smoking in any of the buildings. We do have outside, designated smoking areas, away
from the buildings, for you.
Please call me to schedule your longarm quilting retreat. We look forward to your call, and look forward to spending time and sharing
quilting techniques, with you, at a retreat soon.
We are booking the quilting retreats, please call to reserve your spot.
CarrieDugan@QuiltFrog.com
281-793-1777
|
Beginner Retreat Schedule
This is the planned schedule, for the 3 days of the beginners retreat. We try to stick to this schedule.
Please make every effort to be available, at the times listed.
Weather, lightening, thunder storms may alter our scheduled times on the machines. We may have to change and adjust the
training schedule..
Please understand.
Day One Schedule 9:00am - 6:00pm
9:00am Get acquainted.
Review of retreat schedule
Introduction to Longarm Quilting
Introduction to Thread. Thread tension and thread breakage, will be covered in detail Lots of info.
Introduction to loading your quilt, will be covered in detail. Lots of info.
Market and Quilt business info. Starting your quilt business, will be covered in detail. Lots of info.
Beginner Longarm Quilting info will be covered in detail.
Question and answer time. Bring all of your questions.
12:30am Beginner Loading demo
Beginner overall quilting demo
12:30 Lunch
1:00 pm
Load your quilt.
Basic longarm quilting instruction continued.
Overall freehand feather techniques will be taught. You will be great at feathers!
Quilt overall quilt sampler.
5:30 pm Review, question and answer time.
6:00pm Supervised Longarm instruction is over for the day.
6:00pm - 12:00 midnight:
You are on your own for dinner. You can go to area restaurants.
You can fix your own dinners in the retreat facility.
You can read any of the hundreds of quilt books, in the Lily Pad.
You can piece tops, using our sewing machines.
You can pin or baste your quilts to the leaders, for the next days training.
Review your practice quilts and notes, make list of questions for the next day.
You should get a good nights sleep
Day Two Schedule 9:00am - 6:00pm
9:00am Intro to Pantograph quilting.
What to look for in picking out pantos.
How to pick the right panto.
Where to find free pantos,
How to draw and/or make your own pantos.
Load and Quilt your 1st pantograph
Take a lunch break, when you desire.
Finish your pantograph quilt.
Sweatshirt Jacket demo.
Time saving and quick quilting tips demo
Timing and trouble shooting demos
6:00pm Supervised Longarm instruction is over for the day.
6:00pm -12:00 midnight:
You are on your own for dinner. You can go to area restaurants.
You can fix your own dinners in the retreat facility.
You can read any of the hundreds of quilt books, in the Lily Pad.
You can piece tops, using our sewing machines.
You can pin or baste your quilts to the leaders, for the next days training.
Review your practice quilts and notes, make list of questions for the next day.
You should get a good nights sleep
Day Three Schedule 9:00am - 6:00pm
9:00am How Do I Quilt This?
Instruction and Demos of Beginner Custom Longarm Quilting Techniques.
Carrie will have several quilt tops to review for custom quilting.
Everyone will participate in the discussion.
We will use plastic overlays and dry erase pens to try out nice quilting designs.
We will use stencils, paper designs, design books, and lots of other items to decide how to quilt it.
Demos of rulers, stencils, insets and custom freehand techniques
10:30am - 4:00pm Quilt your Beginner Custom quilt sampler, using rulers, stencils, insets and freehand techniques
Take Lunch when you are ready.
Complete any unfinished projects.
Get individual demos and/or questions answered
4:00 - 5:00pm Show and Tell, Review, and question and answer time.
5:00 - 6:00pm Check out.
Retreat Facility Check In:
You can check in the day before your retreat, 3;00 - 5:00pm, please call with questions.
You can check in the first day of your retreat as early as 8:00am.
Retreat Facility Check Out:
We understand that some have airline flights and departure times and other issues to consider. We
understand that some of you are driving long distances. If you need to stay over the last night of the
retreat, please call for additional night lodging info. We can and will accommodate you. We don't want anyone driving long
distances, especially after a full day of longarm training. Remember, lodging during your retreat is free. Call with questions.
***Important, Please Note***
If you are not available to start and or attend the beginners instruction at the times listed above, you may miss out on some of the
instruction. We will make every effort to get you caught up, during off times. However, out of consideration to the other students, we
will not spend class time, repeating the things you missed. Please make every effort to be available at the times, instruction is
being taught. Thank you for your understanding
***Important, Please Note ***
- We do not have a commercial drivers license, we do not plan to get one.
- We can not provide Airport Transportation service.
- We can not provide taxi service, to area stores or restaurants.
- We can put you in contact with other girls flying in, to share car etc.
- IAH - Bush Intercontinental airport, is 10 miles from our facility.
- Hobby Airport, is 40 miles south of our facility.
From Constance, my mom and I bought a total machine and frame package from Carrie and Tom. They delivered it, set it up and
gave basic into, on how to load it and do basic longarm quilting. Our Free beginner training retreat, would be two weeks later. We
thought we would try to quilt a few practice pieces. We struggled. Let me assure you, learning the correct way to load your quilt and
get everything straight, it priceless. There were 5 girls at our Beginner Training Classes. Tom and Carrie, were attentive, and
available, and provided hands on help to each girl. After our 3 days of training, we were very happy, they taught us so much about
our longarm quilting machine, and everything that it can do. The longarm training was free. with our package. It was worth
$1,000.00+.
From Alice. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed and appreciated the weekend training retreat. I feel like I learned so much
about what is available for quilting, and certainly how to do it. It gave me a chance to experiment with some different methods that I
probably wouldn't have tried on my own. I appreciate your patience as I learned, and your desire to make us better quilters. Most
importantly, I now know that "I can" and have the courage to try.
From Lisa, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. I am so glad you offered these beginner classes, with my Fun Quilter!! I did great!! I
learned a lot!! Lodging facility was clean and comfortable. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
From Mary. WOW, is all I can say!!! Thank you, so much for giving me this retreat, with my machine. I learned so much. I am so
happy and ready to practice what I learned. My training was priceless, I know I would have struggled without training.
From Linda. Thank you, for the Beginner Training retreat, you included. You were so organized, I appreciated that.. You were very
patient with all of us. I truly appreciated, that you chose to use our individual problems and mistakes, as examples and learning
tools for everyone. Meeting and learning with the other girls was priceless.
From Sharon. Clean and comfortable retreat accommodations!! Excellent classes and instruction!! I will be back for Advanced
classes!!
From Pam. You have the patience of Job!! I thought after my 100th question, I would get kicked out. LOL.
From Jackie. Thank you for the training retreat. It was way more than I had expected. You made everything seem so easy. I now
love pantos!! Thank you for your patiences with all of us. I met some very nice ladies at the retreat, we are going to keep in contact.
From Lewis. Thank you for the training you gave to my wife. Thank you for letting me attend with her, at no charge. We both,
learned a lot. We appreciated your patience, with our "New Owner Status". This was very nice for us. Good luck to you, you have a
great set up for new quilters.
From Shelly. Wowie Zowie, everything was wonderful. I hope I retain one tenth of the stuff I learned. (Glad I took notes and
pictures). Facility was fantastic, training was wonderful, loved meeting and sharing with the other girls at the retreat. Can't wait for
"Our Class Reunion"
From Brenda. Thank you for the extra time you put in to get me trained. I am sorry I was not able to attend the beginner retreat. I
really appreciate you adding extra days, so I could learn about my Nolting. And thank you so much, for the follow up, repeat class
you gave me. I appreciate you, and I think I am doing good now.
From Mark. Thank you Tom. Thank you, for spending time with me, and getting me ready, to set up Marcia's, Nolting frame and
machine when we got home. Your tips and directions, were great!. Set up was a breeze, your customer service is very nice.
Powered by: TexasQuiltMachines.com
All prices, specials, and offers, subject to change without notice.
Copyright© TexasQuiltMachines.com,LLC 2003 - 2008,
Copyright©QuiltFrog.com Webpage designs2004-2008
All rights reserved. Material on these pages may not be
reproduced in any form without expressed written permission.
|
Here are the retreat dates and the quilters signed up.
Check to see if your name appears on the date you have signed up. If your name is not there, call me.
If there is an opening in a month you would like to come, please call me to sign up.
Carrie 281-793-1777
|
June 7, 8, 9, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Dianne, Texas
2) Janet Z. Texas
3) Paula, Texas
4) Alice, Texas
July 26, 27, 28, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Paula, Alabama, TL
2) Phyllis, Ft Worth, TL
3) Lynn, Texas, Nolting
4) New Jersey
5)
July 12, 13, 14, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Baton Rouge, LA, TL
2) Baton Rouge, LA, TL
3) Hazel M, MO, ABM
4) Bertha, OK , HV
5)
June 28, 29, 30 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Virginia, Texas, TL
2) Joanne, Texas, TL
3) Pam, Texas, HV
4) Kelly, Texas, ABM
5) Grace, Oklahoma, ABM
July 8, 9, 10, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Pattie, Texas, TL
2) Alma, Texas, TL
3) Beverly, Texas, ABM
4)
August 9, 10, 11, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Jean, Dallas, TL
2) Betty, Dallas, TL
3)
4)
August 9, 10, 11, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Jean, Dallas, TL
2) Betty, Dallas, TL
3) Patti, Dallas, VH
4) Kathy, Dallas, TL
5) Geraldine, ABM
** November 6, 7, 8, 2008**
Beginner Training Retreat, for those flying in to
the Quilt Festival, here in Houston.
1) Linda, Alaska
2) Sue, Amarillo, Tx
3)
4)
5)
August 23, 24, 25, 2008
Beginner Longarm Training Retreat
1) Valerie, Tucson, TL
2) Sally, Tucson, TL
3) Tommie, Nebraska, ABM
4) Diane, Nebraska, ABM
5) Jeatte, Iowa, Nolting
September and October dates will
be posted soon. Check back or call.