Straight Stitch on a Frame
 

If you have or had a straight stitch machine such as the Juki TL2010, Janome 1600, Baby Jane, etc and put it on a frame, could you please share your Pros and Cons list? Thank you in advance.

I had a Viking mega quilter and now a brother 1500 on a frame. For me the pros are- no basting, just load on frame, takes me less time to quilt using pantos, it's fun. Cons - 9inch throat is limited quilting space, only about 5 - 6 inches,have to roll quilt more often, can't do a lot of custom quilting (maybe others are able to, not yet in my skill set). I use pantos so this is not a problem for me. I have one of the machines as a table top quilter for when I want to do custom.

I have a Pfaff Grandquilter on a frame and it definitely makes the quilting process go quicker. I have not mastered FMQ custom designs, but mostly do a simple meander and some basic straight quilting and can quilt a lap size in a couple of hours. I need to learn how to do more detailed designs.

i have a juki tl98q on a hinterberg stretch frame. the ONLY drawback is the short harp. by the end of the quilt, you only get about 4" distance for the pattern. otherwise, it's terrific!

I have two straight stitch only machines. Babylock Jane and Juki TL98 QE, both have 9" throats. I quilt on those with no room for a frame.

Besides short arm space threading is a hassle since you have to move the machine to the end of the frame.
Bobbin replacing is a big hassle also. These machines are not made for a lomg arm frame.
Mine was set up by a profressional and I have a stitch regulator and a lazer light on mine.
My rods are big around also so even less space. I havent used it in over a year.
I have the Baby Lock Jane and what a hassle to thread and hate the under the machine bobbin case.

Do you prefer one over the other?

I have the Janome 1600DB on a grace GMQ Pro. I do mostly meandering or pantograph. I do not FMQ so this is set up is really handy. I can load the sandwich in a relatively short time. If I have to stop, I can leave it without having to worry about the quilt sandwich wrinkling. I don't have the strain of moving material around my small DSM which is also a Janome. On the con side, I wish I had a larger throat because there are a limited number of pretty 4 inch panto patterns. I compensate for the throat space by only meandering 4 inches so the designs aren't larger at the beginning of the quilt than they are at the end. Since I enjoy the piecing more than the quilting, this system works well for me.

I had the Janome 1600DB on a New Joy frame and was pretty dissatisfied. I was very limited in my quilt design choices due to the small harp space, as others have said you end up with only 4 inches. I ended up procuring a Hint frame and a Singer 201 that had been stretched to 18".

I had my Juki TL98E on a handiquilter frame. I eventually threw the frame away. I find the harp to narrow for quilting bed size quilts - which is most of what I do. You are really restricted in what design you can quilt since by the end yhou only have 4-5 inches that you can work with.