There's lots of topics about what kind of machine to buy, what features to look out for and even where to buy them.

I don't remember seeing any topics about WHEN people decided to buy a long arm machine. So here it is!

WHEN did you decide to buy a LA?
Like HOW LONG were you involved in making quilts before you decided you NEEDED a LA?
Did you get tired of paying to have someone else quilt your quilts?
Did you want to start up a business to make money at it?
How long did it actually take to make the purchase? months? years?

Thanks

i finished my daughter's HUGE dragonfly quilt and went to the lqs to find out what to do next...i knew it was way too big to do myself...i had no idea how...and i was running out of time (wedding gift)
the lqs ladies gave me a business card and said..."call John, he will take good care of you-and your quilt."
so i called John...and he did take good care of me, and did an absolutely fabulous job on the quilt!...when i dropped it off he told me..."I charge 2 1/2 cents per square inch" i just said...ok...not even realizing what that meant.
when i went to pick up the quilt and was handed a $385 bill i about had a heart attack!
i decided right then and there i had (2) choices...i could go buy my own long-arm and learn to quilt my own quilts or i could stop making quilts!
since i didn't want to stop making quilts i went for the purchase. it took me 3 months between that 'moment' and my new long-arm arriving at my home.

I decided I wanted one before I learned to quilt. I have been sewing for years and always wanted to learn to quilt. Any sewing machine that is so big that it needs its own apartment is freaking AWESOME!
Im tired of fighting the quilts with my machine and have thought many times that my husband could build me some kind of table that would turn my machine into a long arm.....lol
I will buy one when my youngest graduates college.....she is only 6, so I will be saving for a very long time.

Hi, Decided it was time to buy a longarm when my quilts were getting bigger and my sewing machine was not. I enjoyed quilting on my machine but the big quilts were a hassel. Also, in the back of my mind I was thinking of starting a business when I retired. Also, I want to pay for the machine while I was still working. So I jumped in and have never looked back - except in awe at how I quilted on my sewing machine.

My house just isn't big enough for any kind of long arm, but the minute I saw an HQ Sweet Sixteen and had a short demo on it, I put the deposit on it the following day

I never knew this kind of set up existed (and it didn't really, because what I tried was a prototype). I was already OK with FMQing, so not fased about still pushing a quilt under the needle, but all that space was/is delicious. I had to raid my savings, big time, but I haven't regretted it.

I was inspired by all the beautiful LA quilts I had seen at shows, on the internet and here on this board. Green Fairy had a very strong influence on me, but it will be years of LAing before I will be in her league, if I ever get there.

I first started considering in early 2009. I found a not so local QS that had an HQ16 set up that they offered training and rental time but because the shop was 1 1/2 hour drive for me rental time wasn't really a viable option. I just wanted to get a feel for what it was like so I took their training class in summer 2009.

I have been quilting since early 90's. At that point all I had done was hand quilting and only wallhangings and child size on my Bernina.

Researched on the net and found a dealer for Innova at a local quilt show in September 2009. At that point I knew I wanted one just couldn't bring myself to make the investment. Test drove the Innova at the quilt show and was totally sold on it.

I have only paid to have one quilt professionally LAed. Of course I chose Green Fairy to do it. Glad I got in before her waiting list got to be one year long!

I took delivery of my Innova in July 2010. So basically I saved, researched, dwelled on it and obssessed about it for a year.

Eventually I would like to make money at it. I am thinking a supplement to my retirement. In the mean time I do the beginners discount for people and don't make much money at all but it is enough to pay for thread and I am earning experience at the machine. I let potential customers know I am a total beginner and show them samples and they still entrust me with their quilts! That makes me feel good and I do my best. I think I will only get better with more time, more quilts and more experience.

a year or so of quilting on the DSM, I got a PC Quilter and Juki with a frame as well. Turns out that the Juki's 9" throat is not really big enough to do the quilting I wanted to do. Also, the PC Quilter is terrific, but my confidence increased and I found I wanted to do more free motion. So for a few years now, I've been dreaming of a real long arm. I've tried a few at fairs and talked to lots of folks. I've been dreaming of the purchase and have not decided on a brand. However, I recently took early retirement and money is now tight. Guess I'll be dreaming a while longer :cry:

I got my longarm five years ago. I bought a Nolting 24 2ISKN. I tried our every brand on the market at the time. and I just felt that the Nolting was best for me. It does have a stitch regulator, but I don't use it very often. My table is 12 feet long. I chose the Nolting because of its reputation for reliability and ease of use and because it is manufactured in America. I did buy it with the intention of doing customer quilts and I started doing that about a year after I bought the machine.

I started with the original HandiQuilter frame and an old Pfaff sewing machine and outgrew that set-up in about two months. I sold that and bought the Super Quilter frame and used my old Juki on it. I outgrew that in about six months. Bless my husband's heart, he suggested that maybe I get a big long arm. In retrospect, I wish I would have had the confidence to just buy the Nolting right away instead of all the step ups. I would have saved a bunch of bucks. When I finally agreed to get the big machine, it took me about six months to really make the committment. I don't regret it a bit. I was able to quilt seven quilts last week and I enjoyed every minute of the quilting.
I hope this anwers your questions.

in 2008 when I went to the Quilt festival in Houston, saw the awesome quilting they can do, tried a couple, dreamed about it for a year.I was working 50-70 hrs a week at the time and knew I would never have time to learn to use it, then in 2009 we had a major hurricane (IKE) that put my company out of work for several months so I figured I had plenty time to learn so I bought a 15" Bailey. I love it but wish there were a shortcut for practice!

We started quilting all together in 1994. Hand quilting/and a La or 2. I had more than 10 quilts of my own on hand before I purchase my machine. I knew I would have a business, I had the love of quilting in my blood.
I had a Mom who pushed me and my sister with piecing quilts... she was dying and she had many quilts she wanted done in her last 18 mo. We worked all day long between treatments. My sister moved in with Mom, and they decided then, we needed a LA.
But, we couldn't spend our Mom's money and couldn't afford it. My DS looked into the best machine and we dreamed awhile.
Our Mom passed away and the inheritance was enough for each of us to purchase our first Gammills in 2004.

Thankful to have it purchased for us, in a sad way.

Then 2009, I had to make the choice, to upgrade to a Statler, computerized.

I remember when I purchased the first machiine, I was an OUTLAW LAQ because I had a stitch regulated machine. Because I wasn't regulating the machine made me less of a LA.

Times haven't changed, I somehow feel that many think I'm not a LA Quilter or less talented than another LAQ because I use a computer.

Well the art will continue to change.

I did take out an equity loan for my Statler. I'm so thankful for my Mom and Sister as they have helped me a long the way with this huge purchase.

So maybe I should sign off.
Outlaw LAQ

WHEN did you decide to buy a LA? after quilting for 1 year.

Like HOW LONG were you involved in making quilts before you decided you NEEDED a LA? i knew from my first quilt that i wanted one.


Did you get tired of paying to have someone else quilt your quilts? i've never allowed any one to do work on my quilts. i like to have control over the entire artistic process. otherwise its not a quilt made by me its a joint project.


Did you want to start up a business to make money at it? i've always sold my art and had a business long before i had my quilting setup.


How long did it actually take to make the purchase? months? years? within 12 months of my learning to quilt.

My DML taught me how to quilt back in the early 80's and I've been addicted since. We always hand quilted everything. In 1985 I was in a quilt shop picking up fabric and the owner was quilting on a LA and I hated it. To me she was just making a comforter. She was just running a pattern from the top to the bottom in rows. So I was not interested in that kind of quilting at all. About 5 years ago my LQS got in a LA, the lady wanted to show it to me, I told her no thanks because I didn't think that was quilting. She started showing me what she could do and I was blown away. I couldn't afford the setup they had but started quilting on my dsm and loved it. Last year I purchased a Mega Quilter with a 9" throat. It didn't take long to figure out it wasn't big enough. Great to learn on. So I've been saving like mad and will be getting a LA this fall. Can't wait.

WOW WOW WOW those are awesome stories!!!! Some sad and some happy.

Thank you so much! $385 for a quilt - OUCH!

I'm glad to read that some knew right from the start that they'd like to long arm quilt. I'm reading that starting on a smaller machine and stair stepping to a larger one is almost like a waste of time and money.

I've been quilting a short time but the desire to get into long arming is almost as strong as piecing...practice, practice, practice. OBTW - room would not be an issue.

Thanks again! Can't wait to hear more stories...

I'm with Ckcowl, I had 3 quilts that had to be quilted asap...took them to be quilted, Fiance' picked them up for me and couldn't believe how much it cost...so him being who he is, did some calculations and said that I needed a longarm if I was going to continue on making quilts...Now I'm not saying that Longarm quilting isn't worth every penny they charge, because believe me now owning a longarm I see the work involved to quilting a quilt...so my hats off to all the longarm owners who do this for a living...especially when you receive a quilt that is less than perfectly square and the quilt owner wants you to make miracles......

I quilted on my home machine for about 5 years before we considered buying a long arm. My husband got on the agenda, and before I knew it we made the purchase! We looked at long arm sewing machines only a month or 2 before making the purchase. I had no previous experience with long arm machines.

I have bad back I cannot sit/stand for long periods of time and decided that I needed something that would hold the weight of the quilt so i was just time to buy one. I love it and cannot wait to get my machine back from the Dr's to get back quilting!

I've been quilting about a year and right now I'm on the fence. I really enjoy FMQ, but dislike wrestling all that fabric. My dealer has a floor model, so I'm trying to decide.

Thank you quilters for all your opinions and stories.

Now I know I'm not thinking 'wrong'! :)

I'll keep saving, keep learning and keep test driving.

But I won't hurry ...

My husband is a quilter too and he pieced a beautiful quilt that he asked the local LA person to finish for him, it was a fabulous job of quilting but totally took away from the quilt design. All you see when you look at the quilt is the quilting and not the piecing. We both feel that the two components should complement each other. We also wanted to be able to fully complete out projects ourselves. We spent about 6 months looking around and checking out machines and finally bought one (HQ Avante) last November. We now do classes for customers to learn how to operate the machine and they can then rent time on her to complete their own projects. We will never make a fortune but we hope we are passing on skills, enthusiasm and opportunity to other quilters for a reasonable cost so that they too can fully complete their projects.

I don't have a longarm, but I did have a midarm, & love it! After wrestling with quilts on my machine, I started bugging DH for a frame, & finally got one over a year ago! We have a small house & it's in the third bedroom, set up in crib size, which is perfect for me, as I haven't done & don't plan to do, many big bed quilts. I love my frame (Grace Mini Pinn) & I would tell anyone wanting a frame, check some of these out, even set up in the crib size, cause you can do big quilts in sections, then just sew them together! Quilting is so much easier on a frame!

My dh purchased my millenium for me several months ago...I am to afraid to use it..hehehhe...I have done a couple practice things on it but just not confident...I am going to MQX in April and hope to learn enough to feel like I can put a quilt on and do it...my stepson's wedding quilt is waiting to be quilted and I need it by May...after spending 20K don't want to turn around and take a quilt to the laq...heheheh..blessings

Too expensive here - it won't happen.

I had been quilting for about ten years, was retired, had the space to hold a long-arm and we decided that, given that I was spending so much time and energy on my hobby, that it would be worthwhile to get the Gammill I had been drooling over. I don't quilt professionally, although I do the occasional quilt as a favor for a friend or for a charitable cause. I've never been sorry I bought it although the learning curve was lots longer than I thought it would be.

I decided to buy one about 20 years ago I just have never had the money to do it yet. :lol:

I decided the 1st time I went to a quilt show and got my hands on one! I started with a B-line frame (mine was a table top model) with a Juki and an add on stitch regulator. Pretty quickly I upgraded to an HQ16, but I JUMPED at the chance to purchase a gently used Gammill Classic Plus (the plus is the stitch regulator). I think I'm done! (upgrading..NOT QUILTING! what a silly thought!)

I loved piecing tops and hated hand quilting. It just took too long and the one top I'd started hand quilitng and HAD to get finished I finally sent to someone else for completion. It cost me a almost $400 just for that.
After reading about long arm quilting and watching countless online videos for over a year, I decided to check out the machines at various quilt shows. It definitely pays to actually "drive" one just to see if it feels right for you.
I also checked out the financing packages each company offered. I got mine at no interest and payments spread out over several years.
That said, I also had first purchased a mid arm and after a couple of quilts quickly decided I wanted more throat space. I felt very frustrated at the lack of "play" area with the mid arm. My Tin Lizzie 18LS has 18" throat space and that's just right for me. I don't quilt for money but I do help out some friends and do few charity quilts but mostly I do my own stuff. Haven't regretted it once. Just love owning my own long arm and practice, practice, practice so I get better all the time.
Good luck in your search.

I have been piecing quilts for over 30 yrs.many yrs of tying and hand quilting.that resulted in 2 carpal tunnel surgeries.my boyfriend and I bought an old farmhouse with 5 bedrooms about 4 yrs ago.my daughter and I split a long arm then-no regrets.we both love quilting-this was the 1st house big enough to have a long arm.I have fibro,ruptured discs in my neck so a longarm is great.when I hurt I don't quilt.when I feel better I can quilt easily.I do not miss sitting on the floor and pinning binding,etc that was too hard on my neck and I have a hard time getting up from the floor.

Started looking and researching 6 months after I learned to piece.
I ordered my LA 9 months after I learned to piece a quilt and had it a month later.

Had a quilt ruined by a LA quilter and decided I wanted more control (she had tension issues and rather than stop, she forged on).

Had my first customer quilt on the frame 1 week after I got my LA. I love to quilt and can't make quilts fast enough to keep my LA busy...plus the $ from LA quilting for others gives me $ to buy more thread and material! I would rather do the quilting then any other part of the process!

When I discovered that it cost as much to have them quilted as it did to buy the supplies to make one I knew I'd be purchasing a LA....LOL! My mother was an avid quilter (in her day it was the old fashioned way with scissors and cardboard templates and hand tieing or hand quillting) and when she passed I used some of my inheritance to buy my HQ 16 because I wanted something that I would have forever and I knew that she would be smiling from above whenever I used it.

I learned to quilt on a longarm that was in my local quilt shop. A year later, I needed to rent time on the machine and was informed that I had to go through the classes again, no way was that happening. I bought a used Grace frame with a Janome 1600P. That turned out to be too small a quilting area for me so I bought a Tin Lizzie 18LS. Now I can quilt whatever I want in my own home. My DH gave up his study so I could keep 'Liz' set up at 10 ' length. Bless him. I couldn't afford to buy the Gammill, but the Tin Lizzie is very reliable and well built. This is all I will ever need. Of course my Bernina 440QE, 830, and several Featherweights keep Liz company so she doesn't get lonely when I am at work.

I decided after 4 years and many, many quilts done by LAs that I had actually brought a LA twice! I now have one (Jewel-BabyLock) and am happy with my purchase (although I have not used it). I feel kinda scared to use it. I have it setup and ready to go & I just dust it off every week. I went with Jewel BabyLock because of the service I could get in the area where I am living and the area where I will be retiring. That was a factor. I don't want to send it off to be maintained or repair. In both areas, I have at least 2.3 service places. Kay sold it to me at the Houston Show and she is offers classes in St Louis at least 5/6 times this year. Another +!!! This September I will be going there for classes. Don't get me wrong I have taken numerous classes but still do not feel comfortable. Classes and repair/maintenance schedules were very important to me!

Thank you everyone for all the information. I would love to have a Long Arm. The final sinch being the "greenfairy" Dear Jane quilt. Have you see that? I have never seen anything so beautiful. I showed it to my DH and he said, you should have a long arm. (Of course he has no idea what he is saying $$$$$) But I do think I will start the research process using the tips from this thread.

Thanks, for the info, I'm looking for one but just don't know.

I had been quilting for about 6 years, and I would either hand quilt (which I love, but it takes FOREVER) or wrestle the quilt in my DSM, which I absolutely HATED. I really wanted a LA but couldn't justify the cost for my hobby. Sadly, my mom passed away and I inherited some money. I decided to purchase a LA and did my research online and test drove several machines at a quilt show. Within about 3 months I purchased my APQS Lenni at a quilt show, which was offering a great deal. I love my Lenni, and I am glad I went for an 18" machine right away. That was 2 years ago, I am quilting up a storm (everyone got a quilt for Christmas). I can do Pantographs and ruler work, some stencils, but freehand is not happening for me. I am going to the MQX show in RI and taking some classes to help me learn more. I only quilt my own quilts so far, except for some charity quilts. Good luck!

I decided I NEEDED a longarm when no matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep the puckers out of the back of the quilt when quilting on my DSM. (Never sent one to a longarm to get it finished.) That was about 5 years after I started quilting. Then it took me over a year to figure out how I could afford one and to convince my husband that it was OK to put it in the formal living room. I wish I'd done it sooner - I love it!! I'm ready to upgrade to a larger machine and will probably do that at the end of this year.

Great information - thanks ladies

When you go hunting for a longarm, check out Renae Haddadin's article on Shopping for a Longarm at http://www.quiltsonthecorner.com/inc/sdetail/1349

You "buy" it (it is free) and it will give you answers to questions you never knew to ask - at least I didn't! It is not slanted to any particular brand name, but gives you things to ask about every machine out there.

I love my Innova and wouldn't switch brands for anything, but that doesn't mean it would be just as perfect for you. Drive every longarm you can get your hands on...and drive it for a while, not just a couple of minutes. I have found many other longarm machines really stress my shoulders or drive like a truck, but others have no problem with them. Find what is right for you and make sure you have 24/7/365 tech service - nice to be able to call at 3 am when you are having a problem!

How do I "buy" it? I click on the link you provided and read a small article.

Try going to www.quiltsonthecorner.com and put Shopping for a Longarm Article in the little search box on the top right. It will bring up a page that has a "buy" button, cost is $0.00. Sorry for the confusion!

WHEN did you decide to buy a LA?

I made the decision to invest in a mid-arm early last year after I did my 1st couple free motion projects on my little White Jeans Machine which I have been using for all my sewing needs for many many years. Before that I spent the Winter doing a lot of internet reading, watching you-tube videos, information boards, and looking at used prices compared to new & definitely bought used as it seemed like a lot of $$ to spend on my hobby. But my hand quilting days are coming to an end w/arthritis setting in enough to make it not so much fun to hand quilt anymore without lots of pain and I refuse to pay someone else to do quilting for me so I know machine quilting is something I need to teach myself to do. But I do bed quilts, not a lot of wall hangings & little quilts. I ended up w/a Juki w/a 9"throat to drop into my sewing table for my piecing machine and any future attempts at free motion quilting at my sewing table... ; and a Brother 1500 9"throat on a New Joy Gold Frame. After getting comfortable w/the Brother on the frame doing lots of charity quilts for our guild, I kept my eyes open for any bargains on a 15"-20" LA as it seemed to be in my future - but I still balked at the spending that kind of money. About two months ago I found an excellent deal on a Tin Lizzie Eighteen w/a solid 12' frame & I am now a happy camper for quite a long time I think. At 18" it still seems quite large to me, & I haven't quite gotten to the point of feeling comfortable doing much free motion, but I love working w/pantographs.

Like HOW LONG were you involved in making quilts before you decided you NEEDED a LA?

I have been working away at making quilts since I was a pre-teen - self taught - so I'm one of those going on well over 40 years. No one in my family did it, I just got myself into sewing, knitting & crocheting doll clothes, my own clothes, then making quilts. Long before all the tools available these days, which took me a long time to even start using. I used cardboard templates, scissors and hand cut individual pieces -(tho rotary cutters & the 24" mats have been around for many years for strip cutting :); hand pieced & appliqued a lot of my quilts tho simple patchwork was done on my current domestic machine; and always hand quilted them myself either in a lap hoop in front of the fireplace & TV or rolled onto a floor frame my Dad found at an estate sale about 10 yrs ago. SO it's not like I've turned out hundreds of quilts, but lots of them have been in local & state shows & are all still around.


Did you get tired of paying to have someone else quilt your quilts?
Did you want to start up a business to make money at it?
How long did it actually take to make the purchase? months? years?

Personally I have a problem paying someone else to do my quilting, to me that is just part of the process & I do enjoy each part of the process. Of course quilting has never been something I spent major $$ on either. My stash began as leftovers from clothing projects, etc...& I don't tend to pay quilt shop prices for any of my fabrics. I don't intend to start up a business, but I've had quite a few of our guild ladies ask me to let them know when I'm ready to do some quilting for them, they'll gladly pay me the going rate to take care of their closets full of quilt tops as they don't like the quilting part of the process themselves and we are pretty far removed from a lot of LA'ers. So I think I will be taking in some outside quilts to do as I don't turn out that many quilts myself and it will give me something to always be working on on the frame, but will keep the numbers severely limited so that I continue to enjoy the process - not get bogged into rushes & timelines, etc....If I want I cay justify the expense that way also, it wouldn't take that long to basically cover the cost of my investment - and at this point it isn't necessary anyway. This is something I enjoy doing, I have the room, I'm making the time these days, I've raised my kids, it's my turn to spend my time doing what I enjoy doing while I still can!