Abunchofus

Looking for insight from those who have owned longarm machines.

I am a complete newbie when it comes to a longarm.

I think that I’ve narrowed the choice down to either the HandiQuilter Amara or the Grace Q’Nique 21X Elite.

Has anyone owned either and could share your experience with the machine or company?

A bit of history - I attended Houston International Quilt Festival recently. Took two classes on stationary longarm machines. One on a HandiQuilter Amara and the other on a Bernina Q20 ST.

this was my first experience on a longarm. All other experience has been quilting on my domestic machine.

spent some time on the show floor playing with a Grace Q’Nique 21X Elite.

also played for a few minutes on a few others.


while I would probably love the Bernina Q20 it’s far more expensive than the others I will not be getting the computer assisted quilting at this time but it is something I may want to add in the future.

I am not quilting for business. I am only looking to quilt quits for my family and possibly donating.


I think I’ve narrowed it down to a HandiQuilter Amara 20 or a Grace Q’Nique 21X Elite.

I don’t think either company has a dealer within 30 minutes of us There are two HandiQuilter dealers 60 minutes and 90 minutes from us A Juki dealer 3 hours from us


talking with the Grace rep at the festival, it seems all of their maintenance is easily done by the owner and it does not need to be taken in yearly for maintenance. Also seems that it can be set up by the owner.

the HandiQuilter rep implied their machines should be taken in once a year for cleaning / maintenance or pay to have a local dealer come out to your home to service the machine and that setting one up is dideoxycytidine and they highly recommend having a rep set it up.

a Bernina rep mentioned that some of their maintenance and repairs can be done by the owner where she stated some other companies that is not the case. She mentioned some companies you void the warranty if you do much of anything yourself. I do not mind doing my own maintenance or replacing any parts if necessary.

the Grace rep has given us a good package deal which would include some extras saving a decent bit above the HandiQuilter but how do the machines compare when it comes to durability, how do the companies compare in customer service, etc…

Has anyone used or owned either a Grace or a HandiQuilter? - feedback? like it - hate it - what would you do different?

would love to hear any experience or input anyone has to offer