I have learned not to stress over should I or shouldn't I when the decision is not life changing. Guilt over having something I want and able to get it is silly.

Well it certainly isn’t a life changing decision but for our family it is a big $ decision. I always enjoy these decisions more if I spend some time researching and making a pros and cons list. Once I’ve done this I’m almost always satisfied with the decision, be it a car, a solar system, longarm. I know what the advantages and more importantly disadvantages are. When the disadvantages show up I’m prepared for them and not disappointed. Also it’s fun learning about new things.

Since we retired and decided to stay in our house, we’ve had to make a lot of these big ticket ( for us) decisions. Our windows were very overdue for replacement ( some wouldn’t open) , the car had 200000 miles on it, solar panels were purchased, we wanted to do a ‘big’ vacation. All these took a lot of time. I’m glad I’m done for now. I actually found planning for vacations was very very fun. We never plan day to day, just generalities for that.

I bought a mid arm on the 4x6 frame a couple of years ago. Trying the machines out at a quilt show was very important. Most vendors had only small samples on which to try out their sit-down machines. When one vendor let me try to do a little practice on a larger quilt, my mind was quickly made up for the standing, framed version. I still have to baste the quilt and move it side-to-side if the quilt is larger than the frame window, but for me it is still worth the investment. I've only completed about 10-12 quilts on it, and most of my quilting patterns have been pretty basic. But I'm moving out into using rulers and trying designs that aren't edge to edge. I'm not sure whether I will try to get a larger frame (our new house has the space in the basement) and computer assist, but I do want back handles so I can try some pantographs. Still happy with my decision!

I think the point of this thread was to alert folks to an eBook to help them understand the things to consider when thinking you might want a longarm, not to debate whether or not to get one.

I am enjoying hearing the pros and cons that other people are posting, though. No offense meant, mkc. I always thought that I wanted a long arm, but did not have enough room in my tiny house. Then we moved to a much larger house, but by that time, I had heard about the learning curve and realized that I hate getting new technology, such as cell phones or new computers, so the chances of me learning how to use the long arm are practically nil. That is why I decided against it. But I still want to read this book.

Actually. I thought the debate was helpful. Hearing pros and cons and how people came to their decision was great. There is no wrong decision on this, just your decision, which is different for everyone.

Although I think I would like a longarm, I quilted a quilt on a friend's longarm, and decided it wasn't for me, but I did get a 20" sit down Bailey and really love it and the fact that it's quite affordable.