A question for Bailey machine users that use it as a 'sit down' machine
 

For those of you who have the Bailey 15 or the bailey 17 and use it as a 'sit down to a table and quilt' machine....

Can you quilt a queen or king without dividing the quilt?

I have a queen bridal quilt that I'm doing for my granddaughter's wedding in May. I have a bernina with a 6 1/2 inch throat from the needle to the machine itself. So I'm going to have to quilt it in sections. It calls for a mitered corner and that would be difficult.

I'm thinking that a Bailey might be the answer, if I don't have to deal with sectioning the quilt. But I don't want to spend the money if it doesn't help me out and I still have to quilt in sections.

TIA

i don't have one, but i've seen many posts where folks have quilted a queen on a 9.5" throat, so i'm pretty sure you can do it with 15-17"

I quilted queen size on my 9.5 Juki before I got my frame. So I'm sure one that size would work.

7.5 inch harp for me. It's a little difficult. Can't wait to try it on my 12 inch harp industrial machine, it will make it easy-peasy!

I have a Bailey Pro 15 and it sits in a table my husband built. And so far I have done a 70" x 80" quilt on it with no issues. I have a 100" x 100" quilt to do on it in a couple of weeks. I don't anticipate any issues with that either.

My table is 40" x 61" so I don't have it hanging off and straining to keep it up on the table.

So glad to hear that Chasing Hawk. I ordered one yesterday and will be using it with a table. I hope you don't mind but I have a few questions:

Do you have any problems drawing the bottom thread up to the top of the quilt?

What thread/needle size do you use?

Also, was there a big learning curve? I've free motioned several quilts on my domestic machine with no problems except the narrow throat. I have a queen for my granddaughter's wedding shower that I want to do on the new Bailey and am hoping I can learn to control it in time to be able to do that quilt. I really don't want to send it out for quilting because I want it to be entirely from me.

Thanks for any help you can give me. :)

Hi Dray,
No issues at all with bringing the bottom thread up.
Mr. Bailey recommends Coats and Clark Dual duty thread. He sends a spool of it with the machine.
And the needles are Organ..size 16 Titanium Needles

I am self taught, for me the learning curve isn't to bad. I have to learn to slow it down and take my time..lol
The foot pedal has a hair trigger, so be careful of that. I have learned not to step on it like I do my sewing machine I use
to make my quilt tops on.
Did you order the table with the machine? If the machine sits in a table there is no need for a stitch regulator.

Yes, I did order the table with it. I didn't order the stitch regulator. I had seen in some earlier posts where there was a discussion about whether the stitch regulator was a 'speed' regulator vs. controlling length of stitches. Since I'd be using the foot pedal, I thought I didn't need it, if it was for speed.

Chuck told me that I could use other needle brands but that they prefered the Organ size 16 needle. I live in a rural area and would only be able to buy from them through online ordering, so it was good to know that I could use other needles brands. But I'm wondering...when I quilt on my Bernina and use a finer thread I use a size 75 or 80 in my machine...and a 90 with the Coats/Clark brand. So I was wondering about being able to use a fine thread as well as a finer needle.

Thanks for the heads up about the hair-trigger pedal. I'll be getting mine in about 2 weeks, they said and I'm planning to practice on some small things like potholders and placemats until I learn to control it. I bought it for that bridal quilt. It is sooo big that I didn't think that, even if I section, it would be anything but intimidating...want it to be a special one for my grandbaby's wedding shower.