Husqvarna Viking Mega Quilter and Inspira Frame
 

I just bought a Husqvarna Viking Mega Quilter and Inspira Frame off craigslist.com. Paid $600. It can be set up as 5 ft or 10 ft. I hope I did good. Merry Christmas to me. Any tips or advice is appreciated.

I had this setup. If it's the 18X8 megaquilter, it is actually a Tin Lizzie LS with different decals. there is a yahoo group for this machine. When you set the frame up, make sure that you have room to walk on both sides. It does not have a dead bar, so you will need to raise the take up bar as you quilt. You need to get to both sides of the machine to do this. Also, you will loose about 8" on each side, because of the carriage, so if you are thinking of setting it up at the 5' size, you will only have a bit over 3' of quilting room.

Hope you test drove this machine. Buying a sewing machine is just like buying a car. Good Luck..

I ran the machine. It appeared in good working order.

This sounds like the set-up I have but my machine is the Pfaff 1200 Hobby Quilter which is suppose to be the same as the Viking Mega Quilter. Mine is not the 18 x 8 machine but the smaller mid-arm machine. If yours is that size no matter because it is a good machine and just the machine alone is I would say well worth what you paid for the whole set-up. The machine itself seems to sell for anywhere from $500/$600 on up on ebay and that does not take into account the shipping and the fact that you cannot try it out before buying (or the fact that it could be damaged in shipping is not packed properly). They are sturdy machines and can sew at something like 1200 or 1600 stitches. They can do needle up/down, cut the thread, and straight stitch very well. I know mine drinks oil so you have to make sure you keep up with that so it sews well. Hopefull you got the manual and some feet with it. Personally for the money you paid, I think you did well.

It came with a stitch regulator too. We haven't had time to set it up yet. I spent yesterday after noon reorganizing my sewing room to make room for it.

My 1st quilt machine was the Viking Mega Quilter 9" but on a Grace Frame as I wasn't impressed with a metal Inspira frame at the time. Loved the machine, never had issues with the tension but the throat space made it hard to quilt those larger blocks. Added a PCQuilter robotics system to it and their MaxThroat to give me more throat space but never could get the MaxThroat to work correctly. PCQuilter has issues too but that may have just been my system as others find it works great for them. Moved up to another machine with an 18 inch throat but now I wish I had kept the MegaQuilter for regular sewing as I'm now looking for another simple machine to sit on the cutting table to add the binding onto the quilts as it would give me more room to work on.

Again, the MegaQuilter was great for me and of course I have their Designer 1 (combo embroidery) machine I do all my piecing with these days.

I feel you got a great deal if the machine and frame are in great working condition.

May I Ask How the Mega Quilter Worked For You
 

I'm in a similar situation with purchasing a used Mega Quilter with frame. I've seen so many mixed reviews on whether or not it's a good machine and frame system. How did it work out for you? Thanks in advance for the response.

I bought the Pfaff Hobby Grand Quilter and the Inspira frame back in 2006 and have probably quilted close to 300 quilts with it. I wouldn't trade it for anything. It also does like oil and it prefers a 50 wt. thread such as aurifil and I have quilted a few really large quilts. 88"x95" is probably the largest I've done. It was a trick because you only have so much room in the throat for rolling up on. My go to size is appx 72"x85" and I always load by pinning the long side to the leaders. I use pantographs (because I am lousy as free motion quilting) that are about 4" wide, which allows me to quilt the whole quilt with out having to adjust things. Be patient and practice and I think you will really enjoy it!

This is an older started thread post but I am really glad that I still get the updates when someone new posts a reply. Thanks Oofta for chiming in here. It was great to read about your experience and techniques with this set up and your recommendations for thread. I wondered if you have the stitch regulator on your setup or do you just wing it with your pantographs?