Nammie to 7

If I had the room I would have a long arm machine. Just doesn't fit in my house. But that would be a whole new skill set to learn!

newbee3

it is easier to do fmq on a longarm and it does not bother my shoulders because I am not pushing the quilt around.
It has made my life better and yes I do think my quilting in better. I have a very old one bought second hand and it does not have any stitch regulator or any of the whistles and bells that come with most machines now days.

pocoellie

There are "long arm" machines that are a lot more affordable than a "true long arm", the Bailey machine is one, and when I have money and room, it will be the one I get. A lot of times, Bailey even offers free shipping/handling to the lower 48, and they have great customer service and prices. When I get mine, it will be for me, and not for quilting professionally.

joe'smom

I'm really enjoying reading about people's long arm experiences! I often wonder what it would be like to have a stand-up long arm machine, but both the money and space required put the idea firmly in the realm of fantasy for me.

lakekids

I agree with this statement from feline fanatic:
3. I hate making the quilt sandwich with a white hot passion. Frame quilting eliminates that step. YAY.

I currently do not have the space or the money to purchase a longarm but I hope one day that will change. I currently rent time on a longarm. I realize I cannot afford to pay enough rental time to get 'very good' at FMQ on the longarm. However, I can quilt a queen size quilt on the long arm in the time it takes me to pin baste the quilt for using my DSM.

Snooze2978

When I made my 1st quilt I sent it to a LAQ with the request of simple meandering and not to go over my embroidery designs. It came back with quilting over my designs. Decided if that's what's going to happen I might as well do it myself so I got my 1st quilt machine, a Viking MegaQuilter 9" on a Grace Pro frame. Added PCQ robotics, moved up to a retrofitted PCQ/MQR, then onto a Juki stretched 18" still using the same frame. I found I enjoy quilting since I acquired a program called ProQ Designer which allows me to layout all my patterns, tweak them to suit myself, etc. I enjoy custom quilting more so than E2E but that's just me. Since then I've moved up to a 26" Innova with a 12 foot frame and upgraded my MQR system to fit it. I don't quilt for anyone but myself. Is it worth it to me? Yes, as I have a finished product/gift made all by me. If I had to send out my quilts, I can only imagine how much it would cost with custom quilting. Sometimes I don't quilt for 6 months at a time but I still don't feel I wasted my money on it.

Also I live in a small town so finding a quilter nearby might be a problem so would have to add shipping to the cost of making a quilt. All my quilts are gifts too. I enjoy the process from start to finish in making a quilt and have the satisfaction of a job well done.......................even if its not perfect.............but then only I know that usually. Those that receive one of my quilts unbeknown to them that they're getting one do realize that I put a lot of myself and time into this gift. I do it because I want to and not for any other reason .............just because I enjoy doing it and seeing the surprised look on their face when they receive. That makes it all worthwhile to me.

Just my take on the subject.

joyce888

I went in with a friend and purchased my LA. After pricing a king-size custom quilt LA'd I figured I would have 1/6 of it paid for with just the one quilt and considering I was going to do at least 5 queen-size that same year; I knew it would pay for itself in no time.

Ask yourself: How many quilts do you make a year
What are the sizes you make the most
Would you want a computer and stitch regulator
Are you at an age where you have many years of quilting ahead
Are you prepared to pay for special supplies (quilting thread $10 to $20 per spool), bobbins, needles,
rulers, pantos, etc.
And most of all: Do you have the room for machine

This is everything I thought of before deciding to purchase.

sewwhat85

I have 2 long arm machines one is at my oldest daughters house and she only occasionally quilts for others. I have the newer machine it is a nolting 30 pro. I only quilt my own quilts or quilts for charity or occasionally for some one I love. not for money.

wesing

My wife and I realized early on that we would be spending a lot of money if we sent our quilts out to be quilted. Quilting on the DSM sounded like endless frustration and very little opportunity to improve our skills. We looked at our finances at the time and decided we could swing the 9" Pfaff on a frame, and it would pay for itself by not sending quilts out for quilting.

Fast forward several years. Our skills have improved, and the small throat space limits our options for quilting design. We looked at several machines and narrowed it down to two 18" machines: Juki and Babylock. We bought the BL and decided to consider quilting a few quilts for pay "sometime" in the future if our skills increased to the level that someone would actually pay us. This was not a decision that she or I made. We decided together whether we had the space and money for this significant outlay of cash. Quilting is something that we both enjoy. We don't live in an opulent house, drive expensive cars, or take lavish vacations. This worked for us, and we only considered the impact to our family when we made the decision.

ckcowl

WhenWhen I purchased my first long arm I had no intention of being ( a professional). I bought it because it cost me $385 to have my first large quilt quilted by someone else and I felt I could not remain a ( quilter) if I didn't learn to quilt them myself. And, I tend to make BIG quilts. I have quilted many on my domestic machine but didn't think I would keep making quilts ( which I really wanted to keep doing) .. So, I took a couple classes at a shop/dealer to learn to use a long arm, enjoyed it and figured it would pay for itself just saving me having to pay someone else.