I went to a LA's home for hands on instruction to load and quilt a quilt. It took almost two hours to get the quilt, batting and backing loaded on the machine. The quilter has been doing this for years and does good LA quilting but to go through all that for each quilt? I was bored and tired of it before I got to the stitching part. :? After going through that I am re thinking the OH I want one.

Conversely, how long does it take you to bat it and baste/pin it? It takes me about the same amount of time.

HaHa!!! Yes, when I got my short arm and frame I was surprised at how long it takes to load the quilt onto the frame. But then the fun comes with the quilting...without struggling with rolling and rolling and stuffing a quilt inside a domestic machine throat.

I think it's a great trade off. And after a few quilts you get so you can load one pretty quickly. Just another part of the process. And like others said, it doesn't take as long as pinning or basting.

Gads, that is a long time to set up for quilting. Unless you count the traditional things like: squaring up the quilt top, cutting and sewing the backing, cutting the batting to size. Then I can understand it all. These are things you would hopefully be doing anyway, no matter how the quilting is done.

Once the top is squared, the backing made and squared, and the batting cut the actual putting it all on the machine is really just a piece of cake [chocolate, of course!]

ali

After my first basting attempt on a quilt, I knew I wouldn't do that again on the floor or table top. I bought a no basting quilt frame and can have the quilt on that frame in less then 20 min. I baste on the frame instead of hand quilting for quilts larger then double bed size. For smaller quilt sizes I use Pinmoors to baste.

that's why a lot of LAs went ot zippered leaders, but you still have to pin or sew the pieces to the leaders, then you just zip them onto your frame.
unless I run into problems I can usually get one ready in about an hour
maybe knowing this will make the price more understandable to those looking for a quilter

It's all a matter of preference and perspective.

a) Take 2 hours to load a quilt on the frame and save time quilting it with a longarm. Total time for an all over design - 4 hours.
b) Take the time to pin it all together on the floor and quilt it on your DSM. Total time for an all over design - More than 1 day.
c) Take the time to load it on a hand quilting frame and hand quilt it. Total time for an all over design - More than a week.

No matter how you look at it, it is a much shorter time to finish quilting on a longarm. Me personally, I'll keep my frame and avoid all that pinning time.

It takes me less, 20 to 30 minutes. I float the top and batting, just lay them on the backing after the backing is loaded and rolled on the frame poles/leaders. I use a few pins to keep the top and batting straight on the backing, then sew around the edges to attach it. I do have to take a minute to straighten the top and batting with each advance of the quilt. :thumbup: :thumbup:

it is time consuming to load your quilt but there are new things on the market that help speed up the process. there are now zippered leads, you baste the top and backing to the leads then just zip them on....much faster! i have reached the point where it takes me about 45 minutes to load a queen/king quilt.
finding out more of the process helps show why it costs what it does to have a quilt quilted for you. :thumbup:

that is the part of longarming that i hate, if i could afford to pay someone to pin them on, i would quilt all day lol