newestnana

I agree with all that has been said above. I rent time on the HQ Avante at my LQS, having taken the class first. I've done three fairly large quilts on it, with reasonably good results and varying amounts of frustration (two of the experiences went smoothly. the third did not). Smaller quilts I do at home on my Janome 6600, due to cost of renting, convenience, and the ability to quilt for smaller periods of time (and therefore maybe do some special designs).

Typically it takes me a day at the LA to do a quilt, start to finish. Not being experienced it takes me quite a while to load the machine, even though I purchased a set of leaders so that I could do at least that part at home. I doubt if I really have saved much over using a professional longarmer, but there is certainly a lot of satisfaction in having done it myself.

The biggest negative for me is that I feel constrained by time...must do the whole quilt in one day. It's exhausting, probably because I'm not very relaxed. I would love to try more intricate designs (have stuck to overall designs...loops (with a few extras here and there), mostly swirls (my circles look more like rounded squares). Nevertheless, I think the quilts are pretty, and in one case I actually turn the quilt over on my bed so that I can see the quilt pattern, done in variegated thread, rather than the busy pieced side.

BTW the rental cost is $15/hour. Oh, and yes there is typically someone there to help out when I get into trouble (which happens!). However, you might have to wait for the help, and the clock is ticking.

I'm sure it would be better if I did it more often so that I'd remember the things like how to wind a bobbin, thread the machine (neither is obvious), and so on.