This is a good reminder because I didn't realize the issues some have had on here with different brands of threads in different machines. I ordered about five 5,000 yard spools of Isacord thread in neutrals intending to use it on the long arm eventually as well as my domestic (with thread stand). Now I just hope that whatever I end up buying likes Isacord!!!

I can't be a longarm quilter. My arms are too short. :D

Bwaa haaa haaa haaaa!!! (ducking the stuff you guys are throwing at me right now....)

Check out the Homesteader at http://www.thequiltingsolution.com/ I have one of their older machines and I have received great customer service, prompt and easy to deal with. I managed to get mine second hand, but most everybody that gets one doesn't sell it or trades it in for a newer one. I think in the last 5 years I have seen a total of 5 on the different forums for sale. That sold me more than the other people raving about the machine.
Good luck on your search!

Oh wow, tell me more about your Homesteader?!!! I'm looking on the site now - I gotta say, being a vintage machine collector the way they styled this is pretty appealing to my taste!!! This is kind of like the bigger lighter weight Bailey's - only thing I don't like about that Bailey is the 700 spm - any idea how fast this guy is?

Stick to your guns on the king sized frame... Last spring I purchased a Hinterberg stretch frame and a refurbished Viking Voyager 17 inch. The Nolting company purchased Hinterberg and had a deal, might still be going on, for the combo for $4000.00. I was like you and had a small budget and didn't want to finance. What I wanted was the Babyloc Pearl with the Crown Jewel. However the $18,000.00 price tag on that combo with the computerized stitching system was more than I paid for my car and just couldn't justify it. I did compromise a bit but at this price point I could play around with it and see what features are a true *must* when I upgrade.

What I like about the Hinterberg is that I can make the poles any size I want.. right now I only have room for a queen sized but when I'm ready to expand my sewing studio I can always purchase new poles at any size. However, I find the wooden frame is harder to raise and lower the quilt as the metal frames were that I had researched. Also, the refurbished machine is old and heavy (at almost 80 pounds). The newer ones are lighter. You sound like you have a large area to keep it.. I put my frame up when I gather a hand full of quilt tops and then take it down so that I can put up my cutting and ironing tables. So I need help lifting the machine when I need to take it down. The wooden frame also tends to bounce a bit so following templates is a bit more difficult.

Overall I like the set up but would much prefer the Babyloc that I had played with at the quilting store...
Good luck in your search!

Kim

I was at a quilter friend's home last Friday night for the first time and I got to see her sewimg/quilting space. She bought a Sunshine 16 (you can google this) in 2008 and is happy with it. The cost is very reasonable. It is a no frills machine. I recently bought a Bailey pro 17E package (includes machine, stitch regulator and frame) for under $5,000.00. Love it now that the learning curve is done.

The new Juki Virtuoso is coming out in January. It has an 18x10 throat space, stitch regulator, good lighting etc. The frame is really nice too, with the extra take up bar so you don't have to adjust the quilt as you roll it. My dealer said it will be 12500 with a computerized system. Unfortunately, I can't remember how much of the cost is the computer and how much is the machine, but it's probably comparable with the Homesteader. I know it's more than the amount you wanted to spend though, so it might not work for you either.

I hope you find the right machine for you!

If you don't have room for a frame, also consider a sit down model. I just got a Tin Lizzie sit down, which I admit is a little over your limit however if you or someone you know is good with wood and tools, you can make a set in table for a Bailey. It's a shame they don't sell one yet. They would open up a market. There are women in the Bailey yahoogroup that retrofitted a table/desk for setting their Baileys inside.

I love my Lizzie sit down. I used to have a Bailey on a frame (and before that it was a Voyager which was ridiculously heavy) but I didn't really care for standing at a frame - or the massive space it consumed in my craft room... so the sit down was the way for me.

You could totally make a table for your Bailey or even get a Sunshine 16 which does come with a table option. I chose to not get the Sunshine only because I didn't like the weird side rails on the table it came with. It was only after I got my Lizzie that I was like duh. I should have asked the Sunshine person if they could not put those silly side rails on the table. That would have been enough to get me to drive out and look at it... Too late now. I do like my Lizzie a lot :D

This is really good to know - I would eventually like a Juki for my regular piecing and small project free motion machine - and I saw that the long arm Juki just came out but that was my concern, price. If it's really in that price range then I'm doubly interested!!!

Hi Pumpkin, I have responded to you in your private messages, but wanted to add that when I bought my first machine. a Tin Lizzie, there were only 2 other LAer's in my area. There are now 7 of us so the competition is much greater. Also, because I am in a rual area of Va. quilters to not hesitate to mail their quilts off to someone on E-bay,etc. This too cuts down on you customer base. I have stayed busy because I have a very fast turn around. I do not hoard 30 or 40 quilts at a time. I limit it to 5. But once I get your quilt I get it back to you in a day or two. My customers think I am a great business person but actually it is just a personality trait. I lack the gene that enables you to postpone "stuff". There is the fact that I don't sleep also!!!!!