fish92241

I have the same setup. I found the Janome too heavy to work well so got a Juki. I have lots of trouble with tension. I read that you need to be sure it is exactly level and I am trying. I also saw a tutorial where they "floated the top as well as the battng" (did not roll the bottom). I am going to try that. Thanks for starting this discussion.

lscho4jm

Just saw your name! I'm Linda Schopper.

Annaquilts

I have a Janome 6500, for about 13 yrs, and a longarm Innova 26 in. Having a regular machine on the frame would leave a very small opening. Have you considered dropping the feed dogs or if you already did NOT dropping the feed dogs? I have done many quilts on the Janome 6500 and still do small quilts but only as a sit down machine, not on a frame because I felt the opening would be way too small. I found quilting with the feed dogs UP worked better then with them down. Also use a 90/14 top stitch needle, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schmetz-T...&wl13=&veh=sem and thread like Aurafil. Also be sure not to outrun the machine or jerk it.

Please feel free to pm me. I find the Janome 6500 a bit of a thread snob and I went through a learning curve with using it for quilting. I used it exclusively for piecing and sit down quilting for nearly 10 yrs. I did many very large quilts on it like 10 ft x 10 ft. Yes, that is feet. They were all done in sit down mode, not on frame, but I think your issues might be more the machine then the frame.

sewnclog

Quilter 53 - you are right; I have a handi quilter frame (that I'd LOVE to get rid of;sell). I had that same issue; once you roll it up you really can't do anything but straight line stitching as there is no place to 'move' the machine. No room. A total waste of $500.00. Made me sad. Still in the original box!
Love my longarm though.

KnitnutBZ

I had a Juki also on a frame. You do have to be careful as you don't have much room. I kept bumping up to the sides. Maybe that's why I got so good at good old meandering because that's about all I coukd do without getting frustrated. I have a sweet 16 now.

acjacques

I used to mount a Janome1600P on a New Joy frame, which worked with crib size quilts. Last year I bought a Janome Artistic Design sit-down quilting machine with 18" of quilting space. It came with a table large enough to hold a king-size quilt. It works great; wish I had bought one sooner. I still have some of my quilts done by a professional quilter who uses a Gammill, but for all the charity quilts I make I use the Artistic Design quilter.

cindyb

Has anyone used the John Flynn system? Also, stretching the DM would be very interesting.

janjanq

I've been wondering about that too!

Stitchnripper

We have had a lot of discussions on the John Flynn frame. Try the search function.

purplefiend

Cindyb,
The John Flynn frame is a pain to use, too much juggling. My friend had one and she tried to convince me that I needed to buy it from her. She didn't like it.

I quilt my own quilts with domestic machines. The one I use the most is a Pfaff 4.2 with a 10" throat space(when she's not being a drama queen), Pfaff 1222e and Bernina 1031.
Sharon