Thanks for your post. I really don't have a desire for a Long Arm but am trying to learn to MQ.
I've seen beautiful quilts here on regular machines!

I am in the same boat! I am finishing up a queen size and I wrestled and wrested with it, trying to "stitch in the ditch". So I did very little and ended up tying it. When I went back to my machine, it was like it was frozen and wouldn't sew. I finally did get it to sew, but the stiches aren't right. I think I bruised it with my wrestling!!!! I have a Bernette ("made by Bernina"). Maybe we can only do "rag quilts"? Be interested to see what others write.

I am in the same boat! I am finishing up a queen size and I wrestled and wrested with it, trying to "stitch in the ditch". So I did very little and ended up tying it. When I went back to my machine, it was like it was frozen and wouldn't sew. I finally did get it to sew, but the stiches aren't right. I think I bruised it with my wrestling!!!! I have a Bernette ("made by Bernina"). Maybe we can only do "rag quilts"? Be interested to see what others write.

I don't have a Long arm and know I never will. Yes I'm :cry: crying and jealous of everyone who has one. Imake so many quilt tops for charity and My machine quilting sucks. I always have so many puckers. And would love to be able to send them out but impossible with the cost of doing that.
Have 2 special quilts I plan to hand quilt in hopes I live long enough to complete the. 1 each for my grand children. Started my grandson and its half way done. He's 10 and GD is 8. plan to pack them away for when they go off to college or marry. Figured if I'm not around they will still get something special grammy made just for them.

I don't have a long arm and likely never will because of the cost. I have a heck of a time doing a queen size quilt and no matter how hard I try I seem to end up tangled up in it. I roll it like everyone says but I still struggle. I'm going to keep on keeping on and maybe some day I'll get it figured out.

I am in the same position, BUT if you look in Nancy's Notions there is a quilting tool to help you, made by FLynn, I have one and it works great, of course mine was bought when they first came out and I paid more for it than it cost now. Hope this helps. :D

I just looked at this video last night and thought what a wonderful idea for us gals who do not have the luxury of a longarm. Take a look and see if this will work for you as you machine quilt. http://www.diynetwork.com/videos/sew...ions/3270.html

So... what is the tool?

I don't own a longarm and I FMQ with my old Bernina 1530! As long as you can lower or cover the feeddogs you can FMQ. It takes practice! :lol:

It's a John Flynn quilting frame to use with your regular sewing machine. Go to Nancysnotions.com and in there search bar type in John Flynn and it will come up with his quilting frame.

Count me as not having one either. I dream about it.

Someone here recently mentioned that they learned how to set one up for quilting and that it was labor and time intensive and now she doesn't know if she wants one or not.

Sounds like something I would do ... buy one and then not like the time and trouble to get the quilt on the frame?

I don't have one either and will not ever have one. First of all i don't have the room and second I could not afford it. I am sticking with hand quilting or using my regular sewing machine.

:roll: LA is not in my future. Have always wanted one. now is too late can not stand up that long and do not have the money for one.really love to hand quilt so that is what I will keep on doing.

I bought one a few years ago and if you have a very small throat on your machine you still have to undo everything and roll it every 3" or so. I gave it away. Now I have a new machine with a 10" throat and love it and FMQ on it. I too will never be able to afford a long arm. Our LQS rents time on one but I have never tried it.

I don't have a longarm either and probably won't ever have. I like letting my favorite quilter do the quilting for me. The problem is the price. I may have to start hand quilting to stay caught up with all the projects I have started.

I have (and love) a 1941 Singer cast iron model...and I just don't quilt my quilts a lot. I have never had problems even though I've only quilted them 8" apart when it says right there on the batting bag to quilt no more than 2" apart. I wash them when they need it, too....

Thanks, I just went and watched his demo...
http://www.flynnquilt.com/

It looks like a great alternative for those on tighter budgets. Very intriguing... and a well thought out design.

Don't watch the demo if you are sleepy, tho. His voice and background music are very soothing. I just came in from a 3 mile run, and had to fight closing my eyes!

My machine has 7 1/2 ". After I pin baste my quilts I roll from each side to the middle so it resembles a long hotdog bun. Then I quilt from the center, unrolling as I go. The last queen size I did I tried pinning the roll on the left side so it wouldn't unroll while I moved the quilt. Most of the quilts I do are queen size, so I'm getting better as I go. Trying more designs than just stictch in the ditch. (SID)

No you are not the only without a longarm.I have no desire to own and have no space for it either. I am first to admit the quilting done on the LAs is beautiful but I also think sometimes it detracts away from the actual piecing.

No you are not the only without a longarm.I have no desire to own and have no space for it either. I am first to admit the quilting done on the LAs is beautiful but I also think sometimes it detracts away from the actual piecing.

No you are not the only without a longarm.I have no desire to own and have no space for it either. I am first to admit the quilting done on the LAs is beautiful but I also think sometimes it detracts away from the actual piecing.

[quote=ruck9085]I have a Singer Quilting machine, which really is just a sewing machine with a ton of stitches and such. So, I read on here about y'all doing free motion quilting and machine quilting on your machines. Here's my question... Am I the only person left who not only does not own a long arm machine, but will never be able to afford one?
Okay, enough whining. My biggest problem is I hand quilt all my projects because I only make bed quilts. I've tried a few times to machine quilt, but it just doesn't work for me. For one thing the throat on my machine is like eight inches and I can not figure out how to roll up a queen sized quilt and stuff it into that small space. How on earth do you all quilt on your sewing machines?[/quote

No my dear you are not the only one that doesn't and probably won't ever own a LA machine. I do machine quilt on my Bernina. I just roll it tightly and go to the center of the quilt and work out, usually down first and then up and then out to the edge. It isn't easy but I manage to get it done somehow.

i will probably never own q longarm .I quilt my own smaller quilts and send out the larger ones which are usually a pantograph design, i have a Flynn frame, but my room got so messy that i had no room to use it. I'm going to practice on it very soon so i can start doing even my smaller quilts b/c it's too hard to get down on the floor to baste.

You know, you don't have to have a long arm to quilt on a frame. If you can get a frame, you can use your sewing machine. I did until I got my mid arm quilting machine. You can only quilt until you run out of throat space, then you have to take the quilt off, and start from the other end. It's more work I know, but it can be done.

I am in the same boat too. I will never have a long arm because my house is not big enough for one. I will either send them out or tie them or quilt as you go or make smaller ones. The Long arms are so expensive, even if I had the room.

No long arm here either. Do quilting on my Brother or Singer. It would be eaiser, but will never be able to afford one.

I use my Bernina 153 QE to quilt all my quilts. It's not easy. I start in the middle and work the right half of the quilt, then turn it around so that what was the left half is now the right. It's hard to maneuver a large quilt, and they get very heavy, but that's my only option. Luckily, I don't like a lot of heavy quilting on my pieces.

Well Ladies I learned to never say never, this is a true story. Some one I know just had one of her friends GIVE her a LA frame and machine, the lady was getting a divorice and couldn't take it with her so she just gave it away, so there is always hope.
I FM quilt on a small Brother with a 8" opening, it isn't easy but can be done if you take your time. I usually hand quilt the bigger ones, but the last queen size I did I made in long strips and quilted the strips then sewed them together it was really easy because the strips were only 16" wide.

I have a Singer Confidence Q and quilt Cal Kings on it all the time. You have to learn to puddle the fabric instead of rolling it. The center is the hardest, but once you get that done, it is fairly easy.

I also have done large quilts on my "regular" machine.
What might really help you is if you can create a large table space to the left and back of your machine. I found that without a lot ot table top room, the quilting process was so much more of a fight.

That will make it much more manageable. Then, roll up the quilt sandwich really as tightly as you can on the right (throat) side.

Many "teachers" suggest stay stitching in the ditch initially then go back and work on smaller areas. The "shifting of the backing and batting will be minimized. That has been helpful for me also.

Looking forward to seeing what other suggestions come forth.

I don't have a longarm and unless I get the best deal of the century, I won't get one. I found a lady who quilts at a very reasonable price and she does my quilting for me. I don't even have room for a longarm in my craft space.

I'll never be able to afford a long arm. Leah Day's site -
http://www.daystyledesigns.com/quiltingsetup.htm - has a good article on domestic machine quilting.

I was going to suggest the same, it's worked well for me. Start with a few smaller items and once you get the hang of it, go larger. :thumbup:

Ladies!! Wonderful news! You can build your own quilting frame and use your regular machine on the frame that can be moved any direction, 360 degrees! The plans are only around $20, and people have said that they have bought all the materials for the frame for under $200. I am just dreaming now, but hopefully I will actually build one of these one day!! I am a newbie, haven't even really made a single quilt -- but am working on a few!! Anyway, here is the website:
http://buildaquiltingframe.weebly.com/
I know that this is not the only one, but just thought I'd get you started! Good luck -- come back and post your thoughts about it! Thanks!!

No long arm either and none in the future for now. I cram and push and shove the quilt through my machine. It doesn't look perfect and it is hard work but it is quilted.

I'm the same as you - do all my quilting by hand - I still do 'free motion' just don't have the hassle of stuffing it through the machine - as for a long arm not interested I LOVE HAND QUILTING :D and just think if there is a power cut you can still carry on (with battery operated lights) that is one benefit I can think of - must be more? :D

I don't have a long arm but I do have a brothers Nouvelle 1500S that has a 12 inch throat for quilting. I roll half of the quilt and quilt the other half. I purchased it from All Brands for about $700. I am saving up now to but the table and frame where all I have to do is move the maching and not the quilt. Check it out on line at All Brands.com

Before I bought my machine I would quilt as you go, it was to hard rolling the quilt to fit in a regular machine. I felt like I was in a wrestling match but I did finally get the quilt finished.

There is one thing I have tried. Make the quilt in sections and then sew it all together when each section (ie. a row, or a 1/4 ot the quilt) has been finished. I rolled my long quilts up tight and pinned them You can machine quilt a section at a time. So I hope this gives you some options. Best of Luck

I don't have a LA, and to be honest, I don't want one, though I guess I could afford it. I don't make enough quilts to justify the room or the expense. I quilt my quilts with my regular home machine in sections, now having fun learning free motion quilting

You are absolutely NOT the only one without a long arm!!!! I hope someday I can get one, but it won't be anytime soon!