Originally Posted by
kcferrel
I am seeking feedback and thoughts on purchasing a longarm. I am considering the Babylock Crown Jewel and frame. I attended HMQS last week and have made an offer.
My arguments for: I have the interest and passion for Fmq and I have the room in my house. I am fairly new to quilting, around 2 years. I have taken many hours of workshops in quilting the quilt and i am getting competent.
<than 2="" years)
How difficult is it to start a longarm quilting business?
I am afraid that if I start taking in outside work I may burn out and be left with a large investment.
I have been looking for a used long arm but honestly, this set up new cost less than most of the used machines I have found. Thoughts? Ideas? Gotchas?
i would need to take in quilting to offset the cost of the machine, or I could rent time to other quilters?
thank you, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience in this form.
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You say that you have interest and passion for Fmq but I missed it if you said you had practice and experience.
Several of us do just fine without a long arm set up. I have the space commitment of one corner of my bedroom for my sewing machine and a bakers rack full of quilt tops and UFO's in our "junk room". I will not go into debt. If I can't pay cash for it, it doesn't come home.
I got a little frame last year, and I found out that I hated it. It took up way more room than I thought it would, it was hard to load the quilt on correctly, change the bobbin... Just seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth and it was frustrating and not fun one bit. I am glad I hadn't invested much in it, because it was dragged to the garage after about a week. I splurged ($50) on a Pfaff that I love and I don't get frustrated with it at all, only beautiful results!
Some would say to do "whatever it takes" to get a long arm: Layaway, payments, sell the kids, throw out the dining room table, sell the small house and get a larger house or add a room for long arms, etc, etc, etc... but my motto is "USE what you have" and be the best at it!