hazeljane

I LOVE my Juki. I use it for piecing and have it on a GMQ frame. I can't say enough good things about it. One of the best things for me is that it is completely mechanical, and can be oiled. There is nearly nothing to break on this machine. No computer, no plastic parts. If you keep her oiled, she will run forever.

I do take her on and off the frame, and I wish I had two of her. Actually, now I want a long arm, and I am seriously considering stretching another Juki. She rules as far as I am concerned.

The stitch regulator is touchy at first. But Grace is a truly amazing company to work with, and so far have solved all of my issues with a 5 minute or less phone call.

I bought my whole rig at Sew-Vac and they were also wonderful to work with. The only thing I would add to your list is leaders- I bought leaders from Kathy Quilts, and they are holding up fine.

Test drive, but if you want a quilting workhorse, the Juki is your girl.

ksea

Kathy's Quilt is where I got the packaged deal price and the leaders are included in the deal. They also have free shipping so that is a plus.

Ginaky

I have the Juki TL98Q and love it. I have it on the Little Gracie II frame. I'm in the process of setting up QBOT on it now--just waiting for one of the axis wires to come in to finish setting it up.

ksea

Sorry to sound stupid but what is QBOT?

Ginaky

You don't sound stupid at all--we all have to learn! You don't find things out if you don't ask questions. It is an automatic (robotic) system for the quilting machine. You load your quilting design with a SD card, tell it where to stitch and it does it for you. You can still do free motion quilting, this is just an addition to the capabilities.

ksea

Thanks for that, I don't know why I sometimes hesitate to ask questions, everyone on this board is so great at answering or pointing you in the direction or even finding links to answers of just about anything that is asked. It would be awesome to have a machine that does this, is it real expensive to set up?

kristen0112

Have you looked at the Bailey's Home Quilter's? I just got a 17 inch, machine, a Grace Pro GMQ frame with a stitch regulator for about $3900, I did purchase a classroom machine it had about 10 hours of use on it and was refrub. before sent to me so I saved a little bit of money. They also have a 13 in and 15 in models for less money. The upside of these machines so I have been told is that they don't require the $20 a spool thread regular sewing machine thread will work on it.

Emma S

My goodness hug that man! That would earn him at lease a year of his favorite things.

ksea

I have not because they are over what I have to spend. I know that DH would okay the extra but I want him to be able to buy a motorcycle in the spring and it would make money too tight for that.

Ginaky

I managed to get the Qbot for less than half price as it has been replaced by a newer system. However, I will say that it still cost more than my machine, frame and Sure Stitch! I couldn't pass it up for the price, though, and it can be used when and if I ever upgrade my Juki to a bigger machine. That was a big selling point for me.