Any experience with renting time on a longarm quilting machine?
 

I have two questions.

First: I've been teaching myself how to FMQ on my domestic machine. I am currently working on a twin-sized quilt and having difficulties wrestling with it. I've looked online and found a few places where you can go and train in on using a longarm machine and then pay by the hour to complete quilts. If you've rented before, how did you like it?

Second: If a sitdown longarm machine was available to you to rent, think you would try it?
I know I'll never purchase a longarm machine on a large quilting frame but I've recently seen the new Janome sitdown longarm and would love to have one. To help defray the high price I was toying with the idea of renting out time on it.

The way I started was visiting a shop that offered a certification class then rented time, I took the class & rented time to quilt a couple quilts then decided to buy my own. Over the years I have had a few people come in, take the class, maybe come back & quilt a quilt (9 out of 10) have decided they would rather pay me to quilt for them instead of doing it themselves. I have a couple people who once or twice a year come over & quilt a couple quilts. The others enjoyed the class & doing a practice quilt but decided it wasn't their interest, or it was too much like work & they understand why it costs what it does to pay for the quilting. It is a great way to try it out & see if it is something you would want to invest in... Better than investing only to find you do not like doing it

I also think it's a great idea. If you have the opportunity, I would try both types of machines. I was doing FMQ on my domestic machine and was doing sort of OK, but when I tried the long arm at the shop I was in heaven. I know this isn't the case for everyone, but for me moving the machine was much more intuitive than moving the fabric. It's a different motion, so see which one works better for you.

When I was quilting in competition, I never had a problem with quilting any of the quilts for myslef or for customers on my Bernina 1530. I certainly would give anything a try. I don't understand these LA on a tiny table. I would think you be constantly be adjusting the suspenders. I just had excellent support on my left side and support for the quilt behind the machine. Good luck in you exploration and just be sure to have fun. This is a hobby after all.

I just like the freedom of using the long arm on the frame versus the table it just reminds me of using my DSM when I use the table type, but that's just me you have to do what is best for you.

Are you saying you would want to rent time on your machine at home? I have done this with my HQ16 BUT only to friends who I know personally. It is a big learning curve for them and you have to babysit them for a long time. One friend got so stressed out she said she would be happy to pay me from then on to quilt her quilts...lol.

Thank you for all the great feedback. I'm definitely going to try renting time on a LA. I don't think owning one would ever be in my future. I still work full time so I don't think I could ever justify the expense of one. It great that people offer to rent their's. Thank you again.

Yes, when I was thinking about renting time on the LA it gave me the idea maybe someone would be interested in time on a sit down LA. Maybe then I could justify buying one. I would definitely rent time if someone in our area had a sit down available but so far I've only found the LA rentals. I decided to join a forum to find out what others think. This is great to hear from experienced quilters.

I hadn't thought about people coming to use a sit down machine without knowing how to FMQ - silly me! I just assumed people would come who at least FMQ on their domestic machines. You gave me more to consider. Thank you.

If you rent time on your machine, as a business, you will need to worry about things like liability insurance, will you have to collect sales tax, etc. etc. etc. That alone would turn me off.

Also, I think it might be tough on your sewing machine to have others using it. I sew with several women for volunteer work, and some of them are really hard on their machines.

I so agree with Paper Princess:I was doing FMQ on my domestic machine and was doing sort of OK, but when I tried the long arm at the shop I was in heaven."
I too have quilted on my sewing machine. But it is hard and does takes some strength to move the larger quilts around. The longarm is a much easier way to quilt and if it is possible to find one to take classes on and rent it is so worth your time.

I've been thinking of taking a class and renting time on a machine also. I really enjoy piecing, but quilting even a twin size on my machine, SITD, was torture! Wall hangings, table runners - no big deal. Maybe I just need more experience and better technique (I'm sure I do),but not seeing the whole quilt at one time so I can judge where I'm at was difficult. Here's my question. How much can I save (if any) by renting time on a machine as compared to having someone quilt for me. Nothing fancy, just the basic stuff.

Just wanted to emphasize my earlier comment: for me, the motion of a long arm on a frame, where you move the 'pencil' is different from the motion of a sit down machine, where you move the 'paper'. Renting time on a long arm on a frame may not give you a feel for using a sit down.

That, of course really depends on you. A difficult question to answer. I have a friend who took the class, came in to rent time, and started really, really dense, time consuming quilting, I questioned her about it in the beginning but she really didn't understand what I was ( getting at) until 4 hours into it she didn't have half of her quilt done, she tied up my machine for a week. In the end she was happy with her quilt, willing to pay, and said, ' now I see what you meant' ... She also knew I could have had it done in about 1/3 of the time. She was happy with the experience but paid more to rent time, do her own than it would have cost for me to do it. Most of the people who come in to rent time do it because they want the satisfaction of making their quilt start to finish on their own, not because they are trying to save money. A couple do save money, they just load up, do large, all over easy quilting, done in an hour, got it done. Everyone is different.