This is Lucky.

Lucky is an APQS long arm quilting machine that has been living with me since May 2005.

You may think that naming a piece of machinery is a little odd. However, it is tradition in the long-arming industry to name your machine. Other quilters have come up with names like: the obvious, Millie, Glinda (the Good Witch), Polly-Ester, Lucy (after Lucille Ball), and Patience. If you are interested in reading about some other names for long arm machines and the stories behind them, have a look at the APQS site by clicking here: http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=2046#pid15359

I named my machine Lucky because it has a 13 foot table. Standard sizes are 12 foot and 14 foot when it comes to table length. I wanted the largest table I could get and 14 foot was just too long for the room that I was going to use without taking out a wall and doing some major renovations. I thought 12 foot would be too small and I would be sacrificing something I would regret later. The dealer suggested that I go with a custom table length and I ended up with a 13 foot table. ………………hence, Lucky 13 came to mind and the name stuck.

For me, naming things that are not human is not unusual. I named my Ford Explorer Suvy because she is an SUV. Last April, when the price of gas rose to levels equaling the price of gold, I bought a Honda Civic and named her, Maggie, because she is the colour of magnesium. I named my Singer sewing machine, Zip because he only had two speeds–very, very fast and stop. Zip was replaced by Heidi on April 17, 1999. Heidi is my Bernina sewing machine (of Swiss origin) and her and I have logged many happy hours together. Naming the items we spend a great deal of time with gives them personality.

Have you noticed the trend? The things that “challenge” me the most have male personalities and those objects that provide trouble-free service are female. Hmmmmmmmm.

The quilt on the frame shown in the picture with Lucky is the raffle quilt from the PieceMakers Quilt Guild. This is just a sneak peek. I will post more pictures of the completed quilt after Lucky and I finish working on it.