Originally Posted by
ksdot417
I have an Handiquilter Avante and love it. One of my friends who had a Sweet Sixteen tried the Avante and decided to buy one. She sold her old machine (after having the dealer service it) and the lady that bought it was thrilled. We had a dealer in the same town that I live in that I was not fond of so I actually bought mine in another city about 60 miles away. That was the best decision I ever made. They even gave me their cell phone number in case I had problems during the evening and told me I could call them up to 11 at night!
THAT is wonderful!!! I'm really geared towards a used machine right now but I'd love to get one from a dealer. That customer service is REALLY important to me. I'm kind of thinking right now, worst case scenario I buy what I can afford from WHOEVER, but if I can build a business without payments maybe I could save up to buy what I REALLY want. Ya know?
Originally Posted by
aunt eunice
My first machine was an old 24" LA. I purchased my Avante in June; online from Sewing Machines Plus; no HQ dealer less than 2 hrs from me. My husband put the frame together. Questions were easily answered by HQ in Utah. Ordered accessories after purchase, no problems. Innova-22 and A-1were on my short list. Both of them were considerably more expensive than my Avante. The 18" head is much easier to use than the 24"; I'm 5'5". I did pantos and custom on my old machine without a stitch regulator. Love my Avante! I've only quilted 16 tops so far this year, 14 pantos and 2 custom; but it's triple the amount I was able to do on my old machine. Hoping to add ProStitcher some time but it's not a necessity; I enjoy hand guided pantos and learning FMQ. I was accustomed to pushing around a heavy machine but the Avante is lightweight...easy to drive, smooth.
THIS is really great to know because I hadn't thought a whole lot about how hard it would be to do custom work on a huge machine. I have a feeling that's where I'm going with this, because that's what I love. I was thinking minimum I wanted 20" but now I'm not so sure. I think what I can AFFORD will be more like 16 or 18 inches, mid arm or the smallest long arm, but it's something to get me started. But I do see these HUGE Gammill's with 24" throats - knowing how heavy they are, it's gotta be awfully difficult to quilt detailed quilting in a space that large. Hmmm...this is really something to think about.