It is always interesting to hear from people who have actually USED what you are looking at. I am not in the market yet, but find it informative to check these things out! :lol:

I live in Oahu so shipping cost is a major factor in any decision. At this point, purchasing a long arm (17" or bigger) was not an option. I am very lucky that my husband is a very handy guy. I purchased machine frame plans online from www.buildaquiltframe.com and Scott built it for me. He did a great job! The only thing I would have done differently is build the frame at least 10-feet instead of the 8-feet we decided on. To put on it, we purchased a Janome 1600p. I chose that model because we have a local rep who can service it and it had the auto-threader and the thread cutter on it. I am very happy with this set-up and am busy learning how to use it.

I *think* I found the spot I was looking for - she has a Brother 1500 and does queen sized quilts. She's very active in the homequiltingsystems group (I really think there needs to be a 9" machine quilting group!) Anyhoo... She advises that if you are going to do a queen sized quilt to only do designs 3 1/2" or smaller - she also does some great continuous curve designs as well - by breaking it down logically. So look at the design you want to do and break it down... like for a feather - you can do the top half first... advance then do the bottom of the feathers etc. You would probably do that anyway if you had a longer armed machine.

So here is Jane in Austin - she does queen sized quilts on her frame/9" machine.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569619766yrjyhJ[url]
She breaks down the quilting space and does it in sections.

So it can be done as you learn what you can and can not do with your frame and machine - having said that if money were not an issue a lot of people do move up to a larger throated machine in time.

I just wanted to share that inspirational link. If there is a will, there is a way. Not everyone can or wants to afford an expensive long arm - granted if one were to fall in your lap in that affordable range I'm sure a 9" machine owner would jump on it :wink:


mamagus - question about space...
With my superquilter proflex frame I have 10' poles. You get your poles on your own at the hardware store and they come in 10' sections. Space is all relative. I have it set up in my craft room right now - my craft room is 10'6" long... yeah. It's tight but it sort of fits. I can take it down and put it back up when needed. Granted right now it has been up since I am still learning on mine. I figure if I take it down I won't have those 30 minute spots here or there that I stand in front of it and move my machine around to practice my rhythm. Eventually I'm sure I will take it down when I'm not using it.

What I like abou my sq proflex (besides it can grow with you when you want to upgrade to a larger throated machine) is that you can go to a fencing supply store and buy longer poles if you wanted to... so say later on down the road you get your 18" Tin Lizzie at an awesome price somewhere (yay for Craigslist and the local newspaper, right?) and you want to set it up to 14' wide you can order new end cap thingermajobbers and make a second set of poles - same if you wanted to go in the other direction - say set up 5' sections if you know you are only going to be doing oodles of baby quilts or something. As long as you cut those poles properly (they need to be exact or within reason exact if you know what I mean) then you can have another set of poles...

Oh and SuperQuilter is out of Canada - I'm not sure if shipping will be cheaper for you than it was for me because of that.
Give them a looksee. It is a beautiful well made frame - and the carriage is smooth as silk. They recently did a wheel/carriage upgrade to my understanding.

Oh - another thought. If you are planning on buying a new 9" machine you might be able to get a Bailey or other cheaper *long* arm machine for only a few hundred dollars more. A Juki will normally run you about $1000 but a Bailey 13" will run you $1500 roughly. Is it worth another $500 for an extra 4"? I can't be the one to make that choice.

Quilting machines and frame combos come up in Craigslist somewhat often enough that if you start looking you might happen upon a combo that will fit your budget - that also includes the 9" machine/frame combos. A lot of people buy machines and then they upgrade to a larger throated machine or they stop quilting all together and then they sell their old one for a fraction of what it will cost new. You might have to drive a few hours away to get it and borrow someone's mini van to move it in lol but you can save a lot of dough that way... keep an eye on Craigslist.... even post a wanted to buy ad near your area - I did and had about a dozen people respond to my ad! I've had a wide range of machine sizes offered to me from 9" to a 28" one.

I'm very excited for you - I'm new to frame quilting but it is fascinating to say the least. Look for a used one to save on dough or look at SuperQuilter.

I also have the Inspira frame with Viking Mega Quilter. along with the problems of the small throat space, the thread keeps breaking. Do you have this problem-have you been able to fix it?