I want to quilt my own
 

Since I like to quilt so much but really can't afford to have all my tops quilted( I have several done) do any of you own a small quilting machine to do your own? How expensive are they? How easy to operate?

You can quilt large quilts on your home machine quite easily. There is a learning curve and you may not be happy with your first few quilts, but practice does improve results. Check out Leah Day on YouTube...she does beautiful free motion quilting on her home machine.

I'm just learning to free motion quilt, but already I can see the improvement in my style after completing two quilts. It just takes time, but saves a LOT of money.

Mine is a Gammill, which is kinda pricey but I think there's several out there that are more reasonable like the Bailey and some of the others made by other companies. Google longarm quilting machines and you should come up with a lot of info. And there's also the option of going with a used system...lots of bang for the (not so much) buck. Good luck!

I just use my regular Brothers sewing machine. (7" throat). My BIL made a frame that allows the sewing machine to be moved over top of the quilt (almost like a long arm). The down side is that I can only quilt a strip of about 4-5 inches at a time... given the size of the throat of my sewing machine. So mostly I use a medium stippling or meandering. I am happy that for large quilts, I don't have to crawl on the floor to pin baste.

I only have a regular sewing machine too. I hand quilt everything with the outline stitch. I just bought stencils and am going to try to hand quilt using those in the borders of my latest quilt. Not sure how it will come out, but looking forward to trying. Will look into the quilting with my regular machine

I use my regular sewing machines (mechanical and computerized) for FMQ and I have a Brother 1500 with a 9" throat that I use exclusively for FMQ. I had the Inspria/Pfaff Grand Quilter set up for a while but it took up so much space, I finally sold it and now, when I have a big quilt, I put it on a big table and use my 1500. I have pretty good luck with the results.

I hand quilt most of mine if big i send them to my quilter

Bailey Home Quilters are mid size arm machines at mid-size price. I have had my 13" machine 4 years now.
You can get various types of frames, without spending a small fortune. Quilting space is enlarged by having a
machine with a larger throat area. Bailey makes several sizes.

http://www.baileyssewingcenter.com/h...l?src=overture

June in Cincinnati

I have done some nice size quilts on my dinky Brother Mechanical basic machine. The king size one was a stitch in the ditch. A little tough to pull it through that small space, but, it was on point and I started in the middle and worked out so it wasn't impossible. Do check out Leah Day. She also has a website with videos - she shows how she puddles her big quilts on her domestic machine.

I have a Juki TL 98QE and a BabyLock Jane, 9" throats and I can quilt any size quilt I want to. I bought a table for the Juki to sit in and having no extension table is no problem at all, Babylock Jane has an extension table.