[QUOTE=Darcyshannon;8132209]Thank you all, I drove out to test it and the woman selling it would not let me look at the bobbin when it was making clunking noises and laying down a nest of top thread on back of sandwich. Needless to say, I was disappointed but she did save me money because I think I would have wanted it if I had enjoyed the experience.
I am sad to hear that you had a bad experience with your HQSS test drive. I have owned an HQSS Sit Down machine for several years and absolutely love it. Believe it or not, I previously owned an HQ Long Arm machine and sold it because I never got comfortable with it and was not pleased with the quality of my FMQ. If you already know how to FMQ on a DSM, wherein you move the sandwich to create your designs, then the learning curve is much less than having to adapt to long arm quilting that involves moving the needle rather than the quilt sandwich. Anyways, I am totally in love with my HQSS Sit Down and completely echo the comments made by QB member Coffeecozy. One does need to invest some time in learning how to manage tension .... on any quilting machine. One really nice thing about Handi Quilter is that they provide wonderful customer support. I have called their main headquarters in Utah on more than one occasion and an HQ educator has "walked me through" the problems I was experiencing. Their website is filled with education .... much of which is free, no cost. Though they do have DVDs and classes that you can purchase. i have learned a lot from Angela Walters classes that I purchased from from Craftsy. Her ruler-guided quilting classes are fabulous. I hope that my "pep talk" has encouraged you to keep an open mind about the HQSS Sit Down machine, as I think it is well worth the investment. Happy Quilting!
Nita