Long arm quilter machine advice
 

Interested in HQ 18 Avante long arm machine. Need advice pro and con. Are they a good machine, easy to use. support, etc.

I have been speaking to my dealer about the Babylock Crown Jewel, which is I believe essentially the same machine. He recommended it over everything else he sells. I'm still weighing it against the Juki 18x10. Both get good reviews on the internet. Here is my thread asking for reviews: http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...p-t250271.html. Not much reply related to the CJ, but you can do a search on it and find a few things. I didn't search on the HQ, but you should be able to find some users with it also. Let us know what you decide. FWIW I am leaning toward the CJ right now because of local support.

I have the Avante and I love it. I was mostly worried about dealing with tension problems. Have had a few but were easy to take care of. My bobbin winder was not working properly at first, the thread was way to loose on the bobbin. It handled it! First quilt came out great. My dealer is over two hours away but always tells me to call if I have any questions. He had the boxes delivered to my house then drove down, moved all the boxes downstairs and set it up. I also got the Pro-Stitcher. My advice though is try different brands. I tried them all at the Chicago Quilt show and liked the way the Handi Quilter moved over more expensive ones.

HQ is a good, reliable company with excellent customer service. They can help trouble shoot over the phone when you can not get into the local dealer. I've had my HQ machine for 10 years and have found them to be very reliable and the company wonderful to deal with

I have a Crown Jewel which is the same as the Avante. I love it. It runs very smoothly and does beautiful stitches. I tried machines at shows for years before buying. I chose the Babylock over the Handiquilter because of the dealer. He is someone that came very highly recommended as a repairman.

Just got my Avante all set up and going to be playing with it this week. This is my second HQ machine... I have a Sweet Sixteen. I love HQ. You can use any thread and the tension is a breeze.

I have an HQ16 that I bought used4 years ago. It works like a champ. If the Avante is anything like it, you can't go wrong.

HQ Avante is a wonderful machine. Love the stitch quality, I have noticed in several quilt shops that this is the machine of choice for shop use...for quilting customers' quilts and I have taken some classes in shops on this machine. That helped me make my decision. Good luck!

I have an Avante, purchased in March 2013, which I am NOT very pleased with. One of the reasons I purchased it, over other brands, was the proximity of the quilting store selling them. I thought I needed, and wanted, that local support. Well, within 6 months of my purchase, that store stopped representing the company and now represent another manufacturer. The store who took over has very little experience with long arm machines, and are not able to offer hands on support.
As I am in Canada, the support from HQ themselves is also different than in the US. They won't ship to Canada, so any little thing I need - bobbins, bobbin case, stylus etc. etc - I have to order through the 'new' quilt shop, and then go there to pick it up.
I am not trying to convince you one way or the other. I would only suggest that you try using as many different machines as possible and then make your decision based on what feels right to you. If you feel you will want, and need hands-on support, then make sure you understand where and how you will get it.
Good luck in your decision.

I love my Avante. I've had it for just over 2 years now. Had an issue at one point (the machine does *not* like to be left turned on for an extended period while not in use), but they resolved my issues over the phone. I agree with those who say you want a local dealer for support - regardless of what machine you buy. My dealer is about 30 minutes away - not too bad, and since I'm in Canada like the person above me, I just order all my accessories through the dealer.