Longarm Choices - Looking towards the future (hopefully not too far though)
Hello everyone,
I am quite new to quilting (not yet a complete year), but I have found that in the time I have been quilting that it is something I would very much like to do possibly full time/as an extra service for a future at-home sewing/alterations business.
I have a Juki TL-2010q at present and while this is a dream machine that rivals my Pfaff 145 industrial, I already find myself wishing for more throat (harp) space when quilting my finished tops.
My freemotion quilting is still something to be improved on, but as a 6 foot tall man who carries most of my height in my torso, I don't feel like a sit down machine is the best option for me (owing mainly to the attempts I have made at making a suitable sewing space with my Juki).
I have begun looking at all the different longarm machines out there and wanted to know what people thought about the selection I have whittled down to;
JUKI QVP-2200 Virtuoso Pro
APQS Lenni
HQ Avante
Grace Q'nique 21
Gammill vision 2.0 (standard 18" head)
While I have heard nothing but praise for all of these machines (though the Q'nique was a bit more troublesome to find reviews for), my main issues lie in the fact that I live in Canada and have a very limited selection of dealers to work with.
The Juki would be from a local Montreal dealer whom I bought my TL-2010 from, great service, quick to answer questions, and techs are on call during normal business hours for support.
The Lenni, while giving a lot of good options and seems to be a genuine workhorse only has one Canadian dealer 4 provinces away (not ideal for support or testing needs).
The Avante has a dealer 15 minutes away (not going there) and another about 1.5 hours away and seems to be backed by HQ's US support staff.
The Gammill has a dealer about 6 hours away, not ideal, but not three days of travel far either.
While all the models listed have great reviews on their own manufacturers websites, not many reviews are out there on the wide internet to balance out the hand-picked "best of the best" ones that any self-respecting company would want to show.
So I come to you fellow quilters, give me your goods, bads, ugly and worse. If I am going to sink 15K+ into a machine, I want to know everything that could go right and wrong with it.
Thank you in advance!