Originally Posted by
Charlee
I had the Pfaff 1200 as well. It was on a 10 ft Grace frame with Cruise Control....and I fought that machine everytime I used it....could not get it to hold the tension, constantly broke thread, and the harp space, while being 9 inches, wasn't big enough to do more than a large lap quilt without having to dismount, turn, and remount the quilt. Was more work than it was worth to do the same thing I can do with my 15-91.
I have a handquilting frame that I can use to pin quilts or hand quilt with, so that's all good...
I sold the Pfaff and bought the spousal unit a beater of a pickup truck that he loves! Smartest thing I've done in awhile, he doesn't say word one about my machines now!!
Well that does sound smart!
My Grand Quilter has never given me a lick of trouble with the tension or anything else. I have always used King Tut quilting thread top and bottom, but I don't think it would care what I used - a very dependable machine! I can certainly see why you had a problem, though! I can't even imagine trying to quilt a large quilt with a 9" harp space when the machine is sitting on a frame and you are rolling the quilt! I have only used mine on the table with me pushing and tugging and positioning the fabric, which is really pretty easy because you don't have a big roll in the way!
Even the HQ16 is too small at times. I can do up to a 108" quilt on that frame and any length, but the larger the quilt the smaller your quilting space becomes! If I had it to do over again, I'd get at least an 18" head!
Nancy