Quilting Question
 

Hey ya'all

This might be a dumb question, but I was wondering. Do people rent "time" out on their longarm machines? Is this something that is done? Or is it strictly you send the longarmmer your quilt and they quilt it for you for a fee? It would be wonderful if I had a freind that had a machine they would let me use sometime. Although I do not :(

I apologize if this is a dumb question, but I was curious.

Thanks in advance :)

Not a dumb question at all. There is a place in my town that has a longarm for rent. You are required to take a lesson or two first, which you pay for, and the owner hovers while you're quilting, just in case there's a problem of some kind. After the first quilt, it's cheaper than sending it out to be quilted by check.

Ask around, see if anyone knows of a place in your area. :thumbup:

There are places that will rent out a longarm, but keep in mind that running one is not to everyone's taste. It can be physically demanding, and it takes practice to turn out a quality product. Some people love it (like me!), some people hate it. But you'll never know where you fall unless you try! Hope you can find a place near you.

Andi

I was thinking it might be a good way to learn if you like the process or not, before committing to a longarm of your own. There was a thread here a couple of days ago, a woman had purchased a longarm system and discovered she does not like the quilting process at all. She prefers piecing. However, because of the amount of money she spent, she's uncomfortable telling her husband, so she forces herself to use it. I felt so bad for her.

Our LQS and the local LA dealer both rent time on there machines.

I've never heard of an individual long arm quilter renting time on his/her machine. Some quilt shops, however, have a long arm you can rent. The one where I live required 12 hours of instruction/class time before you could fly solo on it.

These are all wonderful answers! Ill have to make some calls to the quilt shops :)

the one I went to was a sewing & vac store. It was worth the investment to take the lesson before you decide if LA quilting is for you.

There's a local sew & vac shop that rents time, but even that gets expensive. You have to take 3-4 'certification' classes before you can use the machine, and they never let you use it on your own; when you're renting time on the machine you're also "renting time" from a store employee. (And it's just one person, so she has to be available.) They charge $40/hr with a 3 hour minimum. So each quilt, if you can get it done in one 3 hour session, costs you $120 to quilt. Ouch!

Certainly much, much cheaper than buying your own LA machine, but not inexpensive. I have managed to FMQ a king-size quilt on my domestic machine so at this point I haven't been motivated to rent any long arm time.

I did get to PLAY with that machine during a break in a class they were teaching, and I thought it was a lot of fun and I think I could get pretty good at it. But at $120 a whack....I could buy a lot of nice fabric for $120!

Various non-professional longarm owners on the board, including myself, have posted asking about the pros and cons of renting time on their longarms. The majority opinion seemed to be that it would be a bad idea, because of the need for business liability insurance, risk of having strangers in your home, risk that your machine might be damaged by a novice, etc. In my area I am not aware of any shops that rent time on their longarms, but the shop where I bought my Innova in Ephrata WA did rent time.

I am not actually convinced that you would save much, if any, on the cost of getting your quilts done, or that you would be happy with the finished product, until you become very proficient at loading and quilting, and that takes some time - time that you are paying for in rental and instruction fees.

Some do. I wouldn't. I spent a lot of $ taking classes on quilting and also on how to maintain my APQS Millenium, personally, I would not feel comfortable renting it out to someone who is inexperienced.

Same in my area, there are shops that do, one gal in my guild that does. It is not inexpensive with the required classes and the time required once you add mounting the quilt onto the machine. you have to have the endurance also to be able to do all this in one visit most likely. I just would feel rushed to get it done and don't think I would enjoy the experience. That said, I have a laundry basket full of tops that need to be quilted.

I know the one around here that rents only requires one all-day class for $125, but then you are "certified" to rent their machine. I don't know what the hourly rate is, but I was fortunate to be able to get my own. That's how I learned at my old LQS. They did the same thing, where they had a class and then would let you rent time on their second LA. The owners and staff were always around to help if there were any problems and assist in loading and rolling.

I definitely feel that it is a good idea to rent first if possible, before purchasing one, to see if you like to LA. I like to do my quilts from beginning to end and have never sent one to a quilter. It was not a matter of cost, just a matter of saying that the quilt is all mine. However, that is just me. That said, I would not let someone come use my own personal machine due to all the issues mentioned by others.

I never tried a LAQ because I found quilting on my Bernina straining on my back and I'm sitting in a very expensive office chair for support.

I'm the same way. Although I look at what a real longarm artist can do and I know someday I want that done to something for myself, to keep!

I did take several DSM FMQ classes from several different teachers, including Diane Gaudynski. I enjoyed the teachers, but I didn't enjoy pushing the fabric under the needle. I felt it in my arms, rather than my back. That was another reason I fell in love with LA after trying it at the LQS.

Have you looked at buying extra back support?

We also have some very dedicated LA'ers in my area who don't do custom quilting but feel their niche is to fill the LA void and do overall quilting at a less expensive price. I only learned about them through word of mouth. They want people referred to them so there is some level of expectation ... and much less hassle.

Ask around if someone does this in your area.

you should try a laq because you would not be wrestling with the quilt I found it was alot easier on laq.

before I purchased my machine 10 years ago I took a 'certification class' at a shop which was $50- I learned the machine, cleaning, winding bobbins, threading, checking tension, loading the quilt- did a practice quilt...at the end of the class I received a certificate stating I had been (trained) to use the machine- then I had the opportunity to rent time on the machine for $20 an hour- the owner being present to help if there were any problems- after I purchased my machine I too offered the same deal to people who would rather finish their quilt instead of paying me to do it for them- off & on over the years I have had people take advantage of that opportunity...9 times out of 10 after the class and perhaps doing one of their own they decide they would rather just pay me to quilt for them instead- they find out it is actually work. they always still have the opportunity to do their own though-if they choose to do so.

Our LQS has a longarm that they rent time on. They do require you to take a lesson on setting up and using, the nice thing is they are always there to help if needed.

Many quilt shops in our area rent machines too. If nothing else, it's a great way to get a feel for what quilting would be like on a longarm.