Maybe you can do what I did when I lost my husband. I went on ebay to see how much the radial arm saw should be sold for. Instead bought a book, instead: "Everything you need to know about your radial arm saw" - this was the best thing I ever did. I now have a woodshop with every kind of saw imagineable, a planer, several routers "everything." I have now learned woodworking and spend my time between quilts and wood!!

I look at it this way. I can use my walking foot and a 'wavy' stitch and produce some pretty nice looking results on my DSM. I am "getting there" with some half decent meandering on my DSM on kid-sized quilts. For those larger or special quilts, well, you can get a lot of professional quilting done for what it would cost for your own long arm setup. :)

Oh, and someone mentioned renting time on a machine. That is another option if you really yearn to DIY. And you can certainly rent a lot of time for what it would cost to buy your own.

We gave up living in a stick-frame house to live in a 36' motorhome. It has been the best decision for us as we can travel all over the country, see new sights AND check out many quilt shops along the way ! I have a Viking Topaz machine and am very content to sit at my 24' x 30" dining room table and create. (I made my 1st king size quilt on it ) No way I'll ever have room for a long arm but I am HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY ! :)

Thank you for the modern-day parable. Definitely needed in our culture. Too much touted as "have to have". Found that is not so in many different things. Thanks for reminding me.

Your comments made me smile~ and made me thankful that I get to live in an age of technolgy that I can reach out to people all over the world and sip a cup of coffee and "chat" over life with ya'll.

How wonderful your comments are---I was inspired looking at the quilt in the link AFQSinc posted ( http://godutchbaby.blogspot.com/2011...by-sherry.html). I'm going to take some classes to hone my skills and am excited about what I can do next :-) Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Which Innova did you buy?

I tried every single longarm machine at the Knoxville AQS show (two years in a row) and fell in love the Innova machines.

Some day. Some day ........ :)

Meanwhile, I love my Husqvarna 875Q. I've had two sewing machines: the first was a 1966 Elna Supermatic that I still have to sew "rough" stuff like fixing my DH's heavy-duty sailing gear.

No truer words were ever spoken, be content with what God has given us !

very well said.... love the lesson and the thought...

being content with what I have....

I am still sewing on my Singer floor display I bought in 1986, I can honestly say the only time it was in the shop was because I wasn't smart enough to realize my needle had a barb in it! I also have my mothers sewing machine and 3 other used machines I have bought as back ups. I know 1 works for sure as I took it in to have it looked over but haven't used it or another of the others yet. I love my little work horse. But I'm sure one day I'll use one of the others...someday. :D

Such a great reminder, mcook03! I often refuse to try more expensive options because I don't want to become discontent with the cheaper option.

However, I did break down and get a longarm almost 2 years ago. I hope to use it for additional income now and when I get ready to retire...which will be no time soon. :thumbdown: Before that I learned on this board to turn my sewing machine a 1/4 turn counter-clockwise to give me more room for my right hand and built a "table" to give me a smooth surface. Here is a link to my post 3 years ago: http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...le-t52581.html. There are other ways to make the flat surface including using foam insulation board or plexiglass. Maybe this will help while you are waiting for "oneday". :thumbup: