Does anyone have a sit-down mid-arm quilting machine?
 

I started investigating the mid-arm sit-down machines and test drove a HQ Sweet 16 and a Tin Lizzie 18 today. I was wondering if anyone has some experience they care to share?

I would love to read some first hand reviews too.

Innova just came out with a sit-down machine. I would look at that too if I were in the market.

there are several threads regarding the sweet 16 with owners weighing in. someone recently posted a review of her new sweet 16. i didnt bookmark it but i am sure it can be found with a search of the board. i haven't seen much on this board about the tin lizzie sit down machine but there are plenty of threads regarding the mid arm sit down machines.

I purchased the Tin Lizzie sit down model last August. I love the machine! The only problem I had in the beginning was thread breakage but it was the cheap thread I was using. I purchased a few spools of the quilting thread sold by Connecting Thread and it was perfect so I ordered another 50 spools. I quilted an entire quilt without a single thread breakage once the tread arrived. I am currently quilting a quilt-as-you-go using batiks for the front and back and it's been perfect! I had problems with one donation lap quilt but realized when I changed machines that it was the cheap batting I had purchased, not the machine. I like the fact that when I have the space I can buy a conversion kit and the long rail frame to convert the machine from sit down to long rails. It seems to be a low-maintenance machine, never had to adjust the tension or anything. I have only quilted five quilts on it so far, but the difference from trying to quilt on my Bernina home machine to this made all the difference in the world! The first quilt I quilted was an oversized lap quilt and I was able to quilt the entire quilt in a single day. I started out using gardening gloves (with the little dots to help grip the fabric) but then I ordered a set of Martelli Grippers and I love these more than the gloves. These are round frames with knobs that you use to grip and move the fabric while quilting. My set came with two sizes of hoops and I can quilt longer without hand or arm fatigue.

I'll watch this thread becasue I am interested too.

I recently bought a sweet 16 handiquilter & love it! I've had no previous free motion quikting experience & I can already make 2 designs. Look under my threads and u will see where I did a review of sweet 16 :)

I just found the review and that was helpful. I had seen a blog where a lady had trouble with the legs. She said that WD-40 and a big whack with a big board did the trick for her.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Honestly, I am having troubles finding anything useful with the search function. So I pretty much gave up on it.

yes, I have an 18" sit-down, TinLizzie approximately 2 yrs. old. It is like brand new, only used about 6-7 times. I just don't use it enough to have it. It was $4500.00 new, I'm asking 2800.00. Interested??? Contact me at [email protected]

The Babylock Tiara is the same machine as the HQ SweetSixteen.

I've driven the SweetSixteen a couple of times and I drool over it but can't afford it. The SS gets great reviews just about anywhere you look.

APQS also makes the George sitdown machine. Then there is the Homesteader, the Sunshine, the WOW machines..... there are quite a few sitdown models by different companies.