Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18
 

I am checking out the Janome Quilt Maker Pro 18.
It just came out and am looking for some information

Is this what you are looking at? http://janome.com/qmp18 . If it just came out, you may not be able to find user feedback about it. Are you in the market for a frame quilting machine? If so, I am wondering why you would be interested in something that just came out versus the many tried-and-true setups that have been on the market for awhile.

Looks like an HQ Avante to me. I know the frame is the same one I have for my Avante.

Cari

Looks really nice. How much does it go for?

It goes for about $9K
I really like my Janome 8900 which is why I am checking out this longarm!

If Janome has not made longarms before, I would go with something else. I know Bernina had issues getting into longarms; they made some mistakes that already-established longarm manufacturers did not. Longarms are really different from domestic machines. There is a lot less risk purchasing a longarm that has been around long enough to get lots of user reviews.

To avoid buyer's remorse on a longarm, it is generally recommended to spend a year researching and trying out a wide variety of machines to figure out what you like best in your price range. You can lose a lot of money trying to resell a longarm that you end up not liking.

You might want to join the homequiltingsystems group on groups.yahoo.com for advice. This group is not as active as it used to be, but it's still pretty good.

The Janome long arms have been out for about two years.

Cari

It looks wonderful, and very tempting!

One thing that should be considered when purchasing a long arm is the throat size. The link says 9" x 18", but you will Not be able to quilt the full 18 inches of throat depth. I think you would actually get about 14" - 15" of quilt-able space. I have a HQ16 and the widest row I have ever been able to quilt is 12", but only on a baby/toddler quilt. The reason for that is the roller bars you attach the quilt to take up around 4-5" of the throat space,

Having said that, I would love to have 14" of quilt-able space!

Certainly the machine specs are identical to the Avante. The machine case design is slightly different as is the front handle/display unit, thread spools are at the head rather than the rear, but all that could just be "packaging".

I had looked at the frame photos and couldn't tell if it was the same or not - the front rails look different than the Studio frame (the difference in heights are greater on the Janome frame than the Studio).

If you look at the HQ Stitch machines that came out last year, they appear to be simply rebadged Janomes, so there is likely some collaboration going on between the 2 companies.

Michelle

Looking at the attachments and some accessories, Janome and HQ have to be working together on these machines. I guess they are going after the "name brand" market for those that are married to a specific brand of machine and won't buy one with a different name on it.

I like that they've now incorporated the front holder to hold the front rail out of the way when loading the quilt. HQ came up with an add on for older frames, and I wondered how long it would be before it was part of the frame.