I have longarmed for 10 years now and was interested in this discussion. Recently, I sat at a hq sweet sixteen sit down at a LQS and had so much fun "sitting" and pushing the fabric around, but I thought oh, dear, pushing a king. As a challenge, I would still like to try, but I do think it would be very hard on the shoulders. My hats off to the gals that can wrestle it. I shorted my batting on a huge quilt of mine the other day, after 10 years of this, lol. Thank heavens for zippered leaders. I removed it to zig zag on the batting needed. I was stressing and sweating. My husband held the rolled up side as maneuvered the end with the batting to get it done. Wow was it heavy with a flannel back.
Long story short. I think renting time is a great option. It is so much $ and time invested in my hobby business. Being the DIYer I am, I do love it, but..... Even if it seems like a lot of money to rent, it is still worth, and so much less investment and $ in your own. and, even if it seems about the same amount of $ as paying someone quilt it, you get the satisfaction of having done it yourself.
Pay to rent time to do a small quilt, that can have some warbles and mistakes. If it is a busy quilt, you won't notice. Like paying for entertainment. You will be surprised how quickly you get comfortable. And the owner will be there to help you. I always encourage customers and anyone to give it a try, and they nod and don't go for it. It is intimidating at first, but so much easier than you think! I think people say it is a steep learning curve cuz it is so different it is scary, but practice a at the rental place on a couple of baby quilts, it will be worth it.
I have offered so many friends to come over for free to try, so they can do their own. 0 takers to date, lol.
That big rack sure is great for kings, but boy did I love that cute HQ sweet sixteen.
Last edited by kerriy; 04-21-2012 at 05:08 AM.