I have found a place near me that offers a long arm machine for rent after 4 hours of instruction. I will have to buy a zipper and other things. I know how long it takes me on a domestic to do FM and I am wondering how long it will take on a rented machine. I know that time varies according to ablility, but the prep classes and materials are almost $200.00 so I am wondering if I should invest the money and try. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Janet

HI Janet,

You know it is really different for each person...the design and skill level really determines that.

I would say for a queen size with different designs and such it would probably take a good 8-10 hours. If you are doing an all over type of design maybe 4-5??

Hard to say for sure.

I was just going to meander for the first one, as that is what I do on the domestic. Thanks for your posting!

also depends on how many times you have to roll

Janet, I have never done LA quilting but our own Charismah is the expert!!!!!!!! :D
Glad she chimed in.

I rent a LA to quilt my big quilts. I mainly do all over simple designs, loops, flowers and the such. I have my quilts on a zipper and ready to go when I get to the studio, from loading to unloading, it takes me about 3 hours to quilt a queen size.

Examples:
My Bargello is a 102" square. I quilted it with just wavy lines across, 2.5 hours.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-110136-1.htm

This quilt is 80" square, quilted it with loops and flowers in about 3 hours.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-114058-1.htm

My OBW is 54 or 55 inches, quilted with loops in less than an hour.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-111130-1.htm

From my experience, renting the LA has been a great investment, well worth my time and money. And just so you know, I don't consider myself fast at all, not do I consider my work that great, but it is the best I can do with what I have.So I'd say go for it :thumbup:

Can you guys explain what the deal is with the zippers? I'm a newb- why would you need a zipper on a quilt?

Somebody who knows more than me may be able to explain this better, but when you pin your quilt top to a zipper and your back to a zipper, it makes loading the quilt on the LA that much faster as you only need to zip the backing on the appropriate canvas/rod and roll that, then zip the top on the appropriate canvas/ rod and roll that and wallah, you are ready to quilt.
Hope this makes sense.

I actually was wondering the same thing but then figured if it was dealing with quilting and you never know. :)

Candi that's ridiculously clever! I never would have thought of that but of course it makes perfect sense now!

It takes me longer than 2-4 hours to do a queen size quilt. Of course, if you're doing a large meander and either use large stitches or set the machine really fast, maybe it could be done. But there again, I don't tend to hurry through just to get it done and out of the machine. But this is just my opinion and my way of doing things.

We do our community quilts on a mid arm set up and it is time consuming to get everything loaded if you aren't using zippers. I have helped my friend with a quilt on her older Gammil LA and it took us probably close to an hour to get a King sized loaded and another 4 hours to quilt it following a simple fairly open pantograph. After working on these set-ups I now understand why our LAer's charge what they do. LA quilting is not a quick or easy process and there is definately a lot of learning involved.

Zipping your queen quilt on and doing a simple meander will probably take no less than 3 and no more than 5 hours. Well worth your time and investment to learn if you are planning on continuing to do quilts on the LA. Your skills will become better and you'll want to do more complex designs so the time element will most likely not decrease and as Charisma stated will take a full day or more.--you gotta take breaks too :)

It all depends on what size longarm, and design. My longarm is 18" so I have to roll more often. I also have it set up in my house so can take breaks whenever I want, which is too often. I use Red Snappers to load and absolutely love them, I bought zippers but hadn't sewn them on yet when I discovered the Red Snappers, so will probably never use the zippers.

If I were renting a longarm I'm sure I could get a queen done in 4-6 hours.

Our local quilt shop has the Gammill Statler machine's with the computer. While I am loading the quilt, the staff scrolls through the designs, I pick one and then it is programmed to do the design. Loading takes the longest portion of time. I have done queen-sized quilts in 2.5 hours, king-sized in 3.5 hours.

It sounds like something I would like to do for special quilts! Thanks for the feedback.
Janet

If you live in NH or Norhtern Ma Bits and Pieces rents out their long arm http://www.bnpquilts.com/customquilting.html - theirs are a flat rate and they help you...I think I am going to do my King there...110.00 seems so much but...if I bought a King size quilt it would be that much or more...or so I told the hubby...

I just did my first quilt on a rented long arm. The quilt was 52 x 65. I did a pano and it took me 2 1/2 hours. That was because I was fairly slow since this was my first quilt. The machine was a Gammill and I loved it. I really expect to get faster with practice.
Sue

O.k now you have all got me wondering if there is a LA in my area to rent. I have taken all my quilts to a friend of mine and she does great work but only meanders. Someday (or so my hubby said) i will get my own LA so this would give me not only different designs but experience as well..:)

We rent out our LA and customers have done a queen size with all over meandering and simple designs in 4-6 hours. We do not use zippers but do have the gripper rods so loading is very fast. We do make sure that we are always on hand just in case something does not go to plan (some quilts have more personality than others! lol)
Good Luck you will have a fab time and I am sure that having a quilt that you have completely finished yourself will only add to the experience

Instead of using pins or clamps to position your quilt.

instead of using clamps or pins to position your quilt

I do it for my friend, (its her business) to help her out when I am not working at a day job. I would guess at least 4/5 hours, stopping time to load bobbins and rolling. It probably only takes 20-30- minutes per row to do the actual sewing part depending on how tight you have the meandor set up. She also has a statler computerized machine.

I have a long arm and personally I think 4 hours of training isn't long enough. Unless you are going to do it a lot I wouldn't invest the money it will take in supplies. In my opinion the owner should furnish the zipper etc. at a small charge.

I just did my first quilt on a rented LA, and it was almost queen size. It took my 4 hours and looked terrible. My advise is to start on a small quilt so that you don't feel overwhelmed, and can practice. Our shop has charity quilts that you can practice on. I wish I had done that first. In fact it's my plan to do that at least a couple of times before I do another one for me. They are smaller than lap size, and all I would have to pay for is the rental and thread. Well worth it for that learning curve.

Wow, 200. for a class, We only pay 90. here for 4 hours. O maybe your taking yours one on one. Ours are usually 2 to a class.

Is there a tutorial showing how to use a zipper on a longarm. I am not getting the visual.My imagination is not so great at the moment. LOL

It depends on the pattern, but I have quilted some with a panto in about 6 hours.

I use velcro on my headers

What are Red Snappers? I do Long Arm and have an HQ-16. Sometimes I pin if it is a small quilt and if it is a larger one I use a basting stitch and sew the backing and top on to the leaders.
The snappers may be something I may have to look in to.
Thanks
OzarksGma

It is a separating zipper like you have in a coat. You have a pair for each roller on the quilting frame. One half of each pair is sewn to the leader on the roller. You pin or baste the other halves to the top and bottom edge of your quilt backing. Now instead of pinning the backing onto the leaders you just zip it on - fast and easy, so it reduces loading time. (You can also zip the quilt top onto the top roller.)

Thank you!! Now I understand and I think I like that idea. You learn something new everyday.!!

Me, too. Haven't heard about the zipper part before?
Robin in TX

I went to Bits and Pits today...Love that store in Pelham, NH...I have decided to have them quilt my King size quilt...110.00 - I think it will be totally worth it...its a bit cheaper if I do it myself and rent it but I have decided just to let them do it this time. They also bind the quilts for 25-35 but I can do that myself.

Curious about Red Snappers too.

Here is a link, I love my Red Snappers!

http://quiltsonthecorner.com/red_snappers

I LOVE my Red Snappers! I can load a quilt in less than 15 minutes and unload in less than 5 minutes.

Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udj94FQ1juE

Thanks. I do plan on buying some.

It would be so nice to have $$$$$ bti hire it done. I also think I need to learn and try for myself. grrrrr..... Never did like trying new things. :) Wish you the best.

You have so many answers!!! Some I disagree with

1) Zippers -- our LQS rents out the machines. She sells you parts of a zipper. You take them home and BASTE with your DSM the zipper parts onto your quilt top and backing. Then when you go to the shop, it only takes minutes to zipe it onto the leaders. NO PINS!

2) Even when I first started out, it took me only 2-3 hours to do a LARGE meandering on a queen quilt.

Note: you should have someone there to help you when things go wrong. At home, I had no one to help me so I took a LONG time figuring out what the heck went wrong. I was in a quilt shop not long ago and the woman that worked there knew NOTHING about the machine and couldn't help the quilter. So make SURE someone that's knowledgeable is there to help you!