Originally Posted by Stummel
Sorry if this is a partcularly dumb question, but I just tried free motion quilting at a quilt show and it was a vendor of quilting frames. It was great.
Can someone explain the difference between those frames and a longarm machine? Is a LA just a large frame with the sewing machine bit included, whereas the frame is used with one's own machine or are there other differences?
Some frames are sold for use with domestic sewing machines. These frames are very different than the ones used with longarm machines. With a longarm, the sewing machine itself has a lot of space under the arm, plus it sits on a carriage that sits on the frame. You move the longarm around to do your quilting. With the frames sold for domestic sewing machines, you move the frame around to do your quilting.
I can't tell for sure from your description which kind of frame you tried out. I'm assuming it was for a domestic machine?