I test drove this machine yesterday, and I'm seriously considering purchasing it.
If you already own a Handiquilter machine, then are you happy with their customer service?
Have you had problems with your machine?
Are you happy with your purchase, or do you wish that you would have gotten a different machine?
I've been using my Elna 720 domestic machine to do free motion quilting. It has almost 9" of space to the right of the needle, and 4 1/2" of height below the throat. I've gotten pretty good at free motion quilting, and I enjoy it, so I want to be able to do bigger projects. I only have 6 x 6 feet of open floor space for a quilting machine, so my options are limited. The quilt shop owner believes that my 6 x 6 feet of unobstructed floor space will be big enough. The entire system is priced at $5995 right now with free shipping and 48 month interest free financing. My local dealer will deliver the machine and set it up for me. They will teach me how to use it, and they offer in home service, so obviously those are all big perks.
I'm used to moving the quilt, and not the machine, so my designs were wonky with the Simply16. There is definitely going to be a learning curve in getting used to the feel of the machine. It was very sensitive to my touch. I've never been much of an artist, so I hope that won't be an issue.
I'm doing this strictly for fun, and the washing machine hides most of the mistakes anyway.
Here are my thoughts on the HQ Simply 16 with the little foot frame based on my test drive yesterday. I have never used a long arm machine or frame before, so I have nothing else to compare it to. The Little Foot Frame will allow you to quilt any size quilt, but the frame takes up a small amount of space.
I really like the Little Foot Frame system, because it uses just 2 rails and no leader cloths. You make your quilt sandwich and baste it before you put it on the frame. There are some excellent videos on YouTube that demonstrate how this is done. Just search for "Handi Quilter Simply 16" The quilt is quickly and easily secured onto the frame with clamps, and then you un-clamp it and re-position it whenever you are ready to move on to another section. The finished quilt rolls up onto the rear pole, and it's secured with plastic C rings. They didn't have a big quilt on the frame yesterday, so I couldn't see how it looked with the quilt hanging off on either side of the frame.
This frame system will allow you to quilt in stages if you wanted to. For instance, you could quilt large designs all over the quilt, and then go back and fill in with smaller designs.
It has a stitch regulator and a manual mode. I wish that I could explain more about that, but I don't fully understand it myself yet!
It takes large M class bobbins and they are wound on a separate bobbin winder which comes with the machine. The bobbin is easily accessible in the front of the machine.
Accessories are available to purchase, and I'm sure that you can probably find those on the HQ website if you're interested.
Unfortunately, it does not have a thread cutter or a low bobbin sensor, which are two things that I would really like for it to have.
I hope that some of you can help me make this decision!
Jill
The quilt is secured to the 2 poles of the frame with clamps front and back. (Optional side clamps can be purchased.) The bulk of the completed quilt will naturally increase as you roll it up onto the rear pole, and you secure it to that pole with plastic C rings. Naturally the quilt bulk will take up space in the harp of the machine as you complete more and more of the quilt, which is precisely why you benefit from more height under the arm of the machine. But, you only have to deal with 1/2 of the quilt's bulk with the HQ little foot frame, because once you get to the mid point of a big quilt, then you can un-clamp it from the frame and turn it around. (That's why I would baste large quilts with stitch in the ditch so that it wouldn't be apt to pucker in the middle.)