Do you own a Husqvarna Vikeing Mega Quilter & frame, and what do you think of it. I have an opportunity to by one hardly used and need your input. Thanks!

I no longer quilt on mine, but it is a great machine. The only drawback is that it has a small quilting area. You do have to oil this machine and clean out the bobbin area a lot. It really loves oil.

I have both. Unfortunately I had to take the frame down. Children returned home from college and I had it set up in one of their rooms. I do use the machine for free motion quilting without the frame and love it. I look forward to setting it up again someday in the not so distant future. I have so many pantograms for it.

I have the Pfaff version of the same machine. Like stated before, the quilting area is on the small side. But at 9", it is larger than most home sewing machines. It is a very nice and reliable machine, great for beginning frame quilting. And I've had absolutely no problems with mine. I just recently upgraded to a used Tin Lizzie 18 and I will be selling my Pfaff setup soon, because of the small quilting area.

Our LQS is a Husqvarna dealer and has this set-up in a room they will rent out for $50 if you have taken the introductory lesson. Our guild quilts several charity quilts there every month. The system is a good one to begin on because it doesn't take up as much room and you can learn all the basics on it. We usually do a meander or a simple edge to edge pantograph. It usually takes us about an hour to get a 72" X 96" quilt loaded and another 2-3 hours to quilt it. Towards the bottom, when the rolled quilted part is getting thick, you only have about 4 or 5 inches deep to quilt. We usually can get two passes before refilling the bobbin. The machine is usually great for tension but has a slightly different way of threading and you need to make certain the bobbin is fully snapped in. We did add a leader and ender to pin or baste our quilt to as without, we couldn't get to the very bottom row of the quilt. I'm glad that I have been able to use this machine set-up as I've decided that I am not as in love with this type of quilting as I though I'd be and I no longer want to buy my own.I have been a slow learner but I'm sure that if I did it more frequently that this would change. I hope you can try one before buying.

Thanks for the responses. It gives me some things to consider before purchasing. The asking price of this unit is $1800. Is that reasonable - what do you think?

That seems to be a very good price as it is way less than half price (at least in Canada).

The price seems a bit high to me. You should be able to purchase this setup used for about $1,500. If you want to wait a few weeks, I'll be selling my identical Pfaff setup for $1,400. I say identical, because both the Viking and the Pfaff 9" machines are made by Janome as their 1600P machine. They all have just slightly different plastic covers.