PhotoKevin

I was curious if anyone out there is familiar with this machine and whether or not you would recommend it to a newbie? I have an opportunity to purchase one that is in new condition. The seller says she has 10 hours at most on it. She is selling it due to health issues. Pros/cons????? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

MadQuilter

I have one and one of these days I will put her on the frame. The GQ is a straight-stitch machine only, forward and backward, very fast. She is a mechanical machine - no frills. Nice-size throat and nice table. Mine runs a lot louder than I anticipated. She drinks A LOT of oil. The feed dogs don't get dropped - there is a cover plate though. The bobbin is large but it is a little tricky to change the bobbin (the case is pretty far in) but there is a tool that helps hold it (not included). It takes a while to get the tension settings right but once you figure that out, she does well. I don't think she is very persnickety when it comes to thread but she does take a special size needle.

I'm not sure if I would buy her again but that is only because I would go for an HQ16 or something like that.

Are you aware that there is a yahoo group dedicated to the Grandquilter (and the like) machine?

ScubaK

It is a workhorse of a machine. It is only a straight stitch.
It depends on how much you are able to get one for.
K

Charlee

I have one. I'm not overly fond of it on the frame at least, haven't tried it off the frame. It IS a "strong" machine, it does drink lots of oil, and it's super fast. I've meandered a full size quilt in less than an afternoon. There's a learning curve that goes with it, but it's a good starter machine.

sandy l

I also have one of these and like the others have said, its a workhorse, but a good machine to start quilting with.

sandybeach

I also have one on a 10' frame. It works very well with pantograms (has a shelf that holds the pantograms and a laser light that you follow with). I purchased the whole set used for $1500.00. Have had it serviced a couple times in the past year. I don't do FMQ on it as I don't know how and don't want to spend the time learning right now. I would purchase a larger throat (15" - 18") if I could afford it because you will run out of room very quickly. My dealer said they don't like verigated thread. Kind of awkward to rethread because of the shelf. Otherwise it does the job and I don't have to quilt-by-credit-card.