I finally started quilting on my frame....then quit!
 

I have a Grace frame which I know I could love more! I have a Kenmore machine that runs smoothly which is what I put on my frame. I put my quilt on & started to quilt. Having lots of fun & really getting my groove on but what is sooooo frustrating is the small throat. It really bugged me that I could only quilt in such a small area that I quit! Is it that I haven't figured it out yet? Meaning, when I start to quilt a straight line, I can only go about 4", so do you stop, re-roll the quilt, then carry on along the line? That seems like a lot of wasted time. Or am I not going about this the right way?
Now I'm not a "quitter" so I unpinned my quilt & sat back down at my Janome. I really want to get this quilt done so I'm doing mostly straight line quilting with the odd curve thrown in. Obviously, I would be ecstatic with another machine with a larger throat, so Gracie & I could play forever! Maybe some day I'll find a good deal in my part of the world.
Maureen

I also have a Grace frame and I use my Janome Horizon, which has an 11 inch throat. That makes it easier, but you still have limited area in which to quilt. I think it will just take practice....

That's the big negative about using a small throat machine on a frame. It's not worth the frustration, really.

I have a gracie frame with a 1600p on it and yes that is what you do. you
go a little bit stop and roll up and start again. i dont like the little space either
but it sure looks nice when a person is done. dont give up. it takes time to
do but i enjoy it.

Are you trying to quilt a line running down the length of it? If so, you might want to just turn the quilt so that you can make one, long pass. If you need to do lines going the other way as well, then you can turn the quilt again and go the other way. Cross hatching though with diagonal lines? Probably not going to happen easily :'(

a few years ago I bought a Gracie frame, the small one to learn on and see if I liked it. I also only had my Kenmore at that time and tried putting that on it and was so frustrated at how small of a space you could go that I took my machine off and haven't touched it since. I'm thinking about now putting my Viking Mega quilter on it and trying. I know that it still will be limited but not as much. the good thing is that since it'll only hold up a lap quilt or crib quilt there won't be that much rolled up to take up even more space as I advance down the quilt.

I have a Bernina frame and sew with a Bernina Aurora, which has a small throat. Once I get my quilt loaded, I have approx. 4.5" of space to quilt. I have done 3 bed size quilts and a baby quilt on it. Yes, you have to stop more often and roll the quilt to get to the next space. But I find it fun and relaxing. I wouldn't do 'stitch-in-the ditch' with it because all I'd be doing is rolling the quilt! But it's fun to meander and/or draw things like stars and flowers.

I just FMQ a large stipple with my Juki TL98QE on dining table w/ a plexiglass extension table. No room for a frame. This set up works very well for me.

I just put my juki on a phaff frame and still haven't tried yet but hope it works good so I do not give up.

I suggest with a machine that size, you need to plan your quilting to match the throat. So rather than loading a quilt and hoping to do long straight lines top to bottom, plan a meander or small motif that you can do across the quilt about 4" wide. Then move to the next area.

However, I'm probably not the best one to ask, because I did the exact same thing. Made a frame, loaded my machine, quilted 2 quilts, and abandoned it completely. The even smaller area that you have at the end of the quilt (after you've rolled it and now have most of a quilt taking up your 4" throat) was really disappointing for me. I have a long arm now.