Seeking Qnique advice
 

Greetings everyone. I just went to a quilt show here in IL today and I'm all excited about purchasing a longarm/midarm machine. I have been quilting on and off for many years, but recently I find myself with more time for this hobby. I'm looking for a larger throat space and frame so I can finish my quilts myself.

What I've settled on is the Q'nique 14+ with a frame, but it seems too good to be true. A local dealer was there, so I feel like I'll have support, but he just moved and his website and Facebook page are out of date. That makes me nervous. These days, I think, your on-line presence is your first contact with your customers. Even the Grace company website is questionable. They have 2 sites with different information. Anyway, back to the point.

I make Q size quilts on down. They offer a combo with the machine and their SR2 frame, which they say fits up to a Q. When you look at max quilt area you can work up to 88". My large lap quilts approach that but I haven't gone over yet. I'm a little worried I would go over.

The other combo deal they're offering is the 14+ with a 10' frame and a light bar. That sounds very appealing. It can handle up to a K and the max quilt area is 106". I wouldn't have to be nervous about that! The other thing that appeals to me is the light bar. It's separate from the frame, so it can be moved. I have been wanting better lighting over my cutting area, so this might do dual duty.

So, thoughts? Any advice on the frames and machine are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Melanie

I don't know anyone who has a Q'nique, so can't comment on that. As far as the frame goes, though, if you think you might, someday, maybe, possibly make a king quilt, get the bigger frame.

Lights over the frame are wonderful, as they make it easier to see the entire quilt while working. My DH put a flourescent shop light over my frame. I love it! My set up is in my garage, so the beauty factor for the lights was not an important issue, compared to price. However, the cost to purchase and put them up ourselves was minor compared to buying the overhead lights made specifically for over quilting frames. And my lights don't move.

I hope that helps. I think Q'nique has been discussed on QB, so maybe if you do a search for it, you will find people who own one who can help you.

I would check with kathyquilts.com They developed the BlockRockIt that the Grace Company builds for them. It is the same machine as the Q'Niue. They have a frame built just for the BRI. Their support is great. I bought my BRI from them 3 years ago and love it. They have a Facebook page and a yahoo group. The yahoo group has people experienced on the machine and they are always willing to help and answer questions.

Grace has been a very reputable company for a lot of years. And I know you'll get lots of great support with the BlockRockIt (same machine as the Q'nique). Lynn and Kathy Barlow of Kathy Quilts have great service and instructional videos and they're just a phone call away. They are the one and only BlockRockIt dealer.

I would check out the brother dream fabric frame made by the grace co. for brother. it is neat and takes up little space and you can do all sizes, Brother also has a 15inch machine I assume also made by the grace co. that they make in conjunction with the frame, very similar to the qnique

I don't know this brand, but you also need at least 6" space at each end of the quilt for changing bobbins etc, so add that to the length of the quilt for the frame size. I began with only an 8ft and bought a kit to lengthen to 10 ft, and have no end of trouble with stitching when the wheels cross those joins, was never told I could get 10 ft poles. Different brand altogether but this info might help you.

There's a really good Facebook group for the BlockRockIt where the Qnique is part of the discussions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/blockrockit/. You might consider joining if you are on FB.

Michelle

I wouldn't worry so much about online support. I have an Innova, and their phone support is MARVELOUS, but the web site is not usually very helpful. With a longarm, I think it's much more important to know that you can actually talk to a technician when you have a problem.

I have a friend who bought the Blockrocket. She really likes it BUT there seems to be a common problem with the computer part that runs it. She has no local dealer support. She just had to pack the whole thing up )totally at their cost for everything) and send it back to the factory. They have been great but that is till a huge hassle. She made 4 quilts on it when this happened.

She has 2 friends with this machine and they have not had that problem. They both love this machine. I am not sure how big their frames are.

She is sorry she did not buy the Qnique one instead as their is a dealer in this area. Local dealer support is a great help.

I also have an Innova so I can't speak of the machine but i can speak of the frame. I think the dealer is being overly optimistic on the size quilt you can do on those frames. As Gay mentioned you need room at the side of your frame for bobbin changes and to oil the bobbin race. You also need some room to put your side clamps on and test tension. I have a 10ft frame and I most definitely can NOT do a 106" wide quilt on it. My absolute maximum is 102" and I don't like going that wide because I don't have any room at the side to test tension, put on side clamps etc. And that is working from the front. It would be impossible to do a panto on a quilt that large. So I would say the dealers claim that you can do 88" wide quilts on the other frame is very suspicious. This makes me wonder what else are they stretching the truth on??

If you mostly do queen size quilts (which is also mostly what I do) don't get anything smaller than a 10 ft frame. If I had the room when I got my LA I would have gone with a 12 foot frame. But as it is the room I have just barely accommodates the 10 ft frame and leaves me room to walk all around it.

Thank you all, your comments are all very helpful. I didn't know about the Blockit and that's very appealing. I think I'll talk to this local dealer and see if he will match any of her offers. Otherwise, Kathy will have another sale on the books! :) I have to talk to my hubby some more and if we can swing the larger frame; I think I'll be happier with it in the end. I'll put up a post when the deal is done.

Major caveat! I'm not familiar with either the Q'nique or the BlockRockit other than the ads in magazines. But I do have a Gammill Classic Pro, 14' frame and bought used. I often quilt queen size quilts and don't think you can reasonably do that without having to quilt in sections on a frame smaller than a 10' one. Also, Gammill has a really blah website! And their "chat room" is not anything to brag about. But I do find that the dealer is VERY responsive to my calls for help when I have a tension, etc problem and will send me to the factory tech support if there's anything they can't walk me though. So I agree with others that the webpage and FB are not the most important issue with presence of the company. Good luck--I love quilting I think even more than I do piecing!

Leah Day just recently started posting and doing tutorials on her Qnique...you might check out her blog/page.

I bought my Q'nique almost 2 years ago after seeing a BRI demo at a quilt show and trying it out myself. I searched online and found both Q'nique and BRI are manufactured by The Grace Company. I located a local dealer and bought my Q'nique from the store. However, the dealer support was very disappointing so I ended up working directly with The Grace Company. The employees there have been very supportive, and it turned out a couple problems were due to computer boards which have been replaced with newer models. I enjoy using my Q'nique very much.

Prior to this, I had a short arm machine before I used Bailey (17 inches) for three years. I decided to upgrade to Q'nique. No regrets there.

A 14 in throat opening seems very small to me. If possible I would get a 22 in. or atleast 18. I agree it would be nice to get a 10 or even 12 foot frame.

The 14-inch throat space works perfectly since I am vertically challenged :D The short arm machine I had before was 9 inches and that was quite challenging to use, but with creative dovetailing, it worked fine. The frame I have is 10 foot and it works great for me.

I don't know this machine but my advise applies to all. I would buy the largest throat space I can afford. If you buy 14" throat you will not have enough room to complete a panoto pattern (as an example). The reason is; the more you advance the quilt on the frame the less room you will have for quilting space. Talk to you dealer about this so you will better understand what I am referring to.

I have a 12' frame and it will handle a King quilt, but I am at the very end of my leaders. If the quilt is any larger, it will not fit. That is something to consider when you choose the length of your frame. If you will n-e-v-e-r quilt anything bigger than a Queen, it is a great size. Many people like their smaller machines.

Long story short, I purchased the largest frame that would fit in my house and the widest throat I could physically handle. (My throat is 26"). Good luck with your decision and happy quilting. Just remember, practice, practice, practice to get control of the machine. There is a learning curve. Don't give up.

In November 2016, three of us bought the BlockRockit with SR2 frame from Kathy's Quilts while at a show in Tucson AZ. Within a very short period of time, two had computer board failures. The Grace Company which makes the machine (same as Q'nique) had the machines picked up, repaired and returned immediately, at their expense. I was naturally worried maybe we'd bought lemons. In many discussions with both the Grace Company and Kathy's Quilts, my concerns have been resolved. Their customer service is exemplary and I'd buy another one at any time. Don't let the inexpensive price deter you. I love my machine/setup and hate to have to leave it until I come back from Oregon in the fall to use!

First of all, Gracie company has a great reputation and they promote the qnique. I was checking them out after watching Leah Day's website. She used to say she'd never quilt on anything other than a domestic but every Sunday she is now doing tutorials on this machine. Hers is a sit down, mine would be too when I can afford to buy it. The machine can be made for a sit down or a stand up frame. Check out Leah's Day site or you tube she's been doing.

I've had a Qnique for about a year. I really like it. I bought it through Kens sewing center (not local), because their price was lower than directly from Grace. I've just gone directly to Grace when I've had a question. They are wonderful to work with and readily available by phone. Not having a local dealer has not been a problem at all. I highly recommend the Qnique.

Solomae
Cuddlecatquiltworks.etsy.com

Ok, I'm doing it!! I'm so excited, except now the prep work begins. I have to clean the basement and make room, but that area has been a work in progress that I've been putting off for years.

I am buying the Q'nique 14+ with the SR2 frame. I'm on the shorter side, I don't make very large quilts, and this will fit in my space just right. It does have upgrade options if I ever get really crazy with this, and I could get a larger frame one day. Or upgrade to a whole new machine if this is a serious relationship! :-)

I found Sewing Machines Plus online, they're in CA, but they're a Q'nique dealer and they're having a 10% off sale right now with free shipping. That beat the price of the Blockit, even when I added on leaders.

Thanks so much for all your advice. It was VERY helpful in making this decision. My next post will probably be about getting started and the best online places to learn! :-)