i hope this helps tin lizzie owners:

the tin lizzie 18 SL is a mechanical machine. a regular repairman can fix it. it has no computer parts unless you upgrade it. it can be lifted right off the trolley and removed from the frame (it weighs a TON) and wrapped up and good to go. i clean mine out myself the same way i do my computerized machines. that is, remove the dust and lint, take out the bobbin casing, etc. and i have never had to do anything else.

i'm lucky to have a repairman who comes to the house and does a thorough cleaning at the same time as my other machines, about once every 16 months. he removes it as i said and works on an old desk. he takes it further apart than i do and cleans deeper, but so far, no problems with the timing or anything. after i got the motion down, i found i preferred the manual stitching better that the regulated, but that's me.

there's a yahoo! group that anyone can join specifically for the tin lizzie. you can lurk and read questions and answers or sign up and be able to ask your own questions. you can request answers by email, which i prefer because they can be more detailed and you can ask further questions and have back and forth discussions without hogging the forum. when i first got mine i learned a lot from that group.

http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/groups/original/

I went to a long arm conference/ quilt show once. It was great. They had all the machines set up form all the different companies and you could test drive them. Seems like for the investment you would absolutely want to try it out first.

Please be aware that machines move and feel different. Don't avoid the shows just because there's lots of ladies that want to play on the machines. And don't just compare by way of an article. It's too big of an investment.

One more thing.... just because a machine has a big throat, doesn't mean you will use all that space to quilt. Your arms are only so long, and it is much much harder to quilt further away from you. Part of what you will find when you are 'test driving' machines is your comfort zone for quilting. You will not want to be standing on tip toes to reach the farthest areas.

And speaking of tip toes....the hydraulic lift is a BACK SAVER!! By adjusting the height to fit you, and occasionally adjusting up and down just an inch or two as you work, your back will feel much better. LA quilting is very physical work.

I have a baby lock jewel and i love it the only thing i wish it had was a thread cutter. it is a 18" got it for christmas. iam trying to do free hand.

Karen, you're right.

Folks that have them...does height play a big difference in them do you think? I saw one person commenting that such and such brand wouldn't be good for someone taller than 5'4. I'm 5'6".

I will have to get my butt to Santa Clara and the State Fair in the summer. I went to the State Fair this year, but didn't see them.

When I retired and started to quilt, I quilted a couple by hand, then I tried quilting by regular machine,never again.I started looking for a quilting machine. I purchased a Mega Quilter with the frame.Not long after I started having trouble. The machine is difficult to thread with a quilt on the frame.The maching leaves jump stitches and you can only quilt 3 to 4 inches before you have to roll the quilt. I guess that was fine for me then but now I guess I have graduated because now I am looking for a long arm to quilt larger areas and designs. Yes I am sorry I purchased the mega quilter.

Try these:

The comment I hear over and over is be aware of how the sides of the quilt are tensioned to the frame. Some frames seem to have really ungainly attachments, and it takes a very long time to get those sides hooked on. Other frames have figured out the problem, and getting the side tensions attached is very easy.

These are from a quick google search - "Compare long arm and mid arm quilting machines"

It is organized by Home Machine, Midarm, Longarm, ;Three videos about machine ... online and then get together over coffee to compare quilting notes! .... Crazy Quilt Embroidery: Crazy quilting is the type of embroidery I do the most of ...
www.squidoo.com/sewing-machines

We do the research so you don't
have to. Sewing Machine Reviews
www.consumersearch.com/sewing-machines

I have also been considering a quilting machine. this is very helpful and intersting.I have quite a few quilt shops near me but not mid or long arm machines to try out.

excellent point, shelley. i'm only 5'2" and the 18" is about my limit. any further would definitely be wasted on me. this is true from both sides. about the hydraulic lift, that really bumps up the price even though it's a great option. i've gotten used to manually lifting and what i never had i can't miss. (i can wish, though) altogether i'm happy with what i have and don't plan to ever go higher in quality/performance. it does what it's supposed to. as a professional, you neeeed it every day. or you'd have real back problems.