Should I buy a Little Gracie quilting frame?
 

I found this ad on Craigslist for a Little Gracie quilting frame, and I have to say, I'm tempted.

http://louisville.craigslist.org/art/3892263885.html

Should I buy it? Anyone have one? What should I offer?

Thanks!

I don't have one, but I usually offer half price on used items, if they are in very good shape and complete. Find out what size machine base will fit on there, and how big a throat you can get for a machine with that size base. Generally you can freely move to quilt about half the space you have in the throat. Example: If the machine's throat is 24", you can expect to comfortably move the machine a foot, front to back. Sometimes you can move it more, but not when there is a lot of finished bulky quilt wrapped around the take up bar inside the throat (when you are nearing the end of the quilt). That's just a generalization, and much depends on the size of the quilt and the thickness of the batting, etc., but gives you an idea of the size of pattern you can expect to quilt. Always go for the biggest throat you can afford and accommodate, space-wise. If I were you, I'd certainly go see it, and take a tape measure, and maybe a machine of my own to put on there and try out. With a frame, stability is what's important. You want it to be absolutely level, and not vibrate. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the great info!

Half price would be the max I would offer. It's difficult to sell quilt frames, and you cannot be sure all of the parts are there, so I would probably offer $125-150. Here is a link to the parts list and instructions for the Little Gracie frame:
http://www.graceframe.com/site/pdf_i...ons_metric.pdf

I believe this frame is made for a domestic sewing machine. Probably a 9" throat would be the max size you could use. There is a Youtube video that shows how to set up the Little Gracie II:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE4aYb9QpZo

One concern I have is that the Little Gracie frame does not appear to be sold anymore on the Grace Company website. Plus the Little Gracie appears to be superseded by the Little Gracie II. These would be additional reasons not to offer too much money for the Craigslist frame, as it may be obsolete. (You could do more research and use all of these reasons for making the low offer.)

Edit: Found this thread that may be helpful:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...553059328.html

I would offer no more then $100 if it is complete. Prism99 gave some great info.

I wanted to say $100-125, but was too timid!!! :o

I just spoke to the owner-- who gave me a price of $400. Yikes! I can get a new one for $489 from Overstock. Oh well. She said it is in perfect shape.. but I just can't swing that. Thanks for the great advice and tips. I was thinking no more than $150 as well. Great minds think alike.

It's a shame the seller does not have realistic expectations.

As with anything else, overpriced for sale items will just sit and not sell, and eventually the owner will drop the price. Once it's reasonably priced it'll sell. Anything priced right sells.

So many want to sell used for the price of new. Would have to have all the parts and be in mint condition and probably not. Not $400.00.