Looking for a quilting machine. I know NOTHING. Please give advice.
 

I found this on Craigslist also. Does anyone have experience with this? I haven't even seen one of these in action so I'm completely in the dark. Thanks everyone for your help.

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This is a Baileys's Pro 15 long arm sewing machine with 10ft 4 "table from Susy Q Quilters ( they sell this combo for $ 3350.00)
does not have stitch regulator but you can get one for this at Baileys web site.
Included is also one 4 ft groovey board with 2 patterns on it, and 2 - 12in boards
This machine runs good and the frame is very sturdy.
Asking $1800.00 for all

Feature's of the Bailey's Home Quilter Pro 15
- 15 inch arm bed length from the machine housing to the needle
- Approximately 700 stitches per minute speed
- Quilting machine weighs approximately 30lbs.
- A laser stylist that enables the operator to easily follow quilting patterns
- On/off power switch on handle can also be used as a 'pulse' switch. This allows the user to cycle the needle to bring up threads or to set the needle in the up or down position.
- A 25 year warranty on drive components - Written warranty available

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Long Arm Quilting Machine - $2700

This is a used Voyager 17 Quilting machine on a Hinterberg Stretch Machine Quilting Frame. Great starter. Works well. She's upgrading to a Gammill. This machine was used to complete about 15 quilts. Lots of small stuff is included. Extra bobbins, bobbin winder, all books and cd's related to machine. This also has stitch regulator. This is setup in our house. We won't ship as too bulky and heavy. I will help dismantle.

I'm also thinking about a quilting machine so will be eagerly following this thread for advice. Thanks for posting, ArizonaKAT!

That seems to be a good price for the Voyager and frame. I spent almost $4000.00 for my set-up about 4 yrs. ago.
I notice the ad says they won't ship and too bulky and heavy tho. The Voyager weighs about 70 lbs, and the frame can be broken down. The bulky part they are refering to is probably the rails the machine sits on and you load your quilt on. Don't know if any of this info will be of any help to you.

I don't know anything about long arm machines either, but I would NOT consider spending so much money on anything without learning ALL there is to know about it. Please don't be in a rush to buy.

You really have to go look at the machines and stand in front and go through the motions of quilting before you make a decision. How smoothly does the head move? If it is too heavy for you, you will tire quickly and it takes hours, not minutes, to do a quilt of any size. How far do you have to stretch, are the handles too close together that can make it uncomfortable for you in the long run.Getting the feel of these machines is soooo important. We get so excited about buying a machine, we jump and are sorry later. I have my 18"longarm up for sale and I bought it thinking it would do everything I could possibly want to do. Now, I find I need a 26" to be able to do the quilts I have designed. Oh well, live and learn, I guess.

This might be the perfect machine for you, or it could be like throwing your money down the drain. It all depends on what you want and need, and at this point it sounds like you need to do more research and actually test drive several machines of different sizes and types. The main drawback is that the throat on this machine is only 15". Usually, when people say "longarm" they mean 18" or more, and 15" would be considered a shortarm. 15" looks like a lot at first, but as the quilt is rolled the space available for quilting will become smaller and smaller. Yet many people successfully quilt on a 15" and love it. Others are not satisfied until they get 26". To some extent it's a matter of how much money you are willing to spend, because bigger machines usually cost more. The best thing you could do would be to go to a big quilt show where the longarm companies are all displaying their machines. Test drive all of them. Here is an article that Renae Haddadin wrote about shopping for a longarm. To get the article you have to put it in your shopping basket, but it is free. http://www.quiltsonthecorner.com/inc/sdetail/1349. I may be biased, because I also bought the Innova, but I think there is a lot of useful information for anyone thinking about a longarm in the article.

Depending on how much you are wanting to spend, for less then $5000.00 check out www.quiltfrog.com or www.sewingmachinesplus.com. As they both offer Tin Lizzies 18 and Queen Quilters 18 packages with wooden frames. I purchsed mine from Sewingmachinesplus and love it. I am in KS and they are in CA but so far have no problems with anything and shipping was free. To me I al willing to pay a little more to know I have a new machine with a warrenty especially when its something so big and spendy as a long arm unless you know the person a used machine has come from. Just my opinion.

Besides reading all the info here do go to a quilt show where they have some vendors and try the machines out before purchasing. There is no other way to determine what make, model or size you would want.:)