peggymunday

Be careful with these machines, the Martelli Lacresta Longarm Quilting Machine is a wonderful concept, but I was warned by a dealer in Memphis that the company is in China and it's hard to get someone to work on them or respond with help. She advised that a Gammill is the best choice (well, duh!) and it's American made and easy to get repairs. I too, would love to have a Gammill, it's always been my dream machine, but had seen that same video you saw and was amazed. I called the supposed dealer in Memphis who sells Martelli Lacresta (not now I don't think) and just wanted a little info. Either way, I couldn't afford that or a Gammill for now, so I searched Craigslist and found a wonderful machine - a WOW quilting machine and table. It's a "stretched" Singer 201 and I love this machine. It can be a bit picky with tension and threads, but I think a lot of that is my inexperience. It doesn't have a stitch regulator, but I'm getting better at that, too. The price was great, only $800, and came with machine and 12ft table. The machine has an 18" throat, so it has plenty of range before having to roll the quilt. The company sells them new for about $3700, and centrally located in Coweta, OK. It's an excellent starter machine. The company's website is http://www.wowquilts.com/machines.htm I have pics of my machine on my blog http://peggymunday.blogspot.com/ just scroll down to the Sept 22 post to see the pics. (Need to add some posts, gee, where does the time go....)
Good luck on your quest, just check out the machine you choose thoroughly. Search online to find everything you can on it, and you should be okay. There's alot of good machines out there, new and used, it just depends on how much you can afford.