when should you bring your quilt to the long arm quilter
 

if you are doing straight line or sigzag stich for quilting what size of quilt does it make sense to bring it to a long arm quilter I use a machine with a 6 or 7 inch throat. I like doing my own thing but I see other people bring it to the long arm people plus I cannot to FMQ.

A lot of depends on the pricing in your area. For me, I just can't justify the several hundred dollars I am used to. Some of my new quilting ladies since I've moved have marvelous affordable quilters.

The other criteria I use is when you just aren't satisfied with what you can do yourself. I have done queen and even King sized quilts on my vintage machine but I don't want to do that anymore. I would usually do a basic grid of some sort on the bed/center of the quilt and then something fancier on the borders where I could work it. My fancy dancy modern machine with the extra large through has died and is no longer an available option.

I'm still hoping/planning on getting a long arm for myself. I am productive enough and have a backlog of 20+ tops all with backings and bindings, everything done but the quilting. I'd rather put in my money to a system I can afford than to someone else's skills -- but it is tempting!

The FMQ comes with practice. Nothing wrong with getting some sheets and/or blankets from the thrift store for practice on dog sized projects (basically crib sized) especially if you can find a rescue group that wants them. If you have the option, I'd recommend buying a roll of the batting you like/want to do FMQ on and use that but a lot of it is just practice practice practice and eye/hand coordination.

well, I rather eat dirt than do quilting on my sit down if it is bigger than a table topper. I do have a long arm. Which I did get as a retirement gift to myself. I have straight line quilted up to a queen-sized quilt on a sit down. It was a pain handling all the bulk and weight. I also do not like to do the basting to prepare the quilt. Some people love to quilt at their sit-down. I would advise starting out with a smaller quilt and see how you like it. You could also rent out time on a long arm if you want and see how you like that. I now quilt most of my quilts myself on my longarm but pay if I really want fancy quilting for a special quilt. Works for me. Oh, and you do need to practice if you want to quilt free motion, it takes a while.

I send anything larger than a twin size to a longarmer. My skills just aren't that good for anything too large. I get frustrated. I have improved though- I started quilting for 10 minutes a day and it really has helped. My longarmer is very good and her prices are great.
I've never had an interest in owning a longarm. I'd much rather send them out.

it make since to invest in yourself

Take it to a long arm quilter whenever you want. It all depends on what YOU are comfortable doing on your own.

I thoroughly agree!

Even if I wanted to, there's no way my shoulders and neck would allow me to quilt anything larger than a baby or small throw. Too much tugging and arranging of the sandwich needed.

Where I live, the cost of quilting is $.02 for standard panto or simple design. It goes up, of course, for more complicated designs and custom quilting.

I do my best to quilt my own work but............if a quilt is a gift for someone special, I send it out. If the quilt is for me and large, I send it out. If the quilt is small, or for donation, I do channeling or crosshatch and occasionally free motion. I make too many quilts per year to send them all to a long arm quilter. Purchase a long arm machine? Not a chance! First small condo and no space for those monster sized machines. I have watched a friend purchase, learn the techniques, the technology, and learn how to charge appropriately for those who ask for her to do their quilts. I am not interested in that learning curve at this point in life. I limit myself to 4 - 6 quilts per year that go to the long arm quilter. I want to support her business but I also want to support my budget. ;)

I have a Juki 2200 QVP Mini with a large throat. I quilted a king sized quilt on it last year without problems. I do my own quilting and enjoy doing FMQ so I've never used anyone else to do my quilting.

When should you . . .? When you don't want to or can't quilt it yourself and are willing and can afford to have someone else do it.

The thing that got me into quilting was looking at a photo of the stitching on a quilt and thinking, 'That's insane. I'm doing that.'

So the real point of pleasure for me is to do it myself. In the end, I haven't done much hand quilting because of back trouble that severely limits my ability to sit. Machine piecing, with it's short periods of sitting and standing, is what is accessible to me right now, so that's what I mostly do. Heaven to me would be sitting for as long as I wanted to, hand stitching.

I agree with SusieQOH. I want to complete the quilts myself from start to finish...but when I have tried on my machine, I get frustrated with anything larger than a wall hanging. I've tried using the larger decorative stitches (I call them winding road stitches) for machine quilting and still get frustrated. It's just not worth my frustration.

Though I must admit to having a stash of finished quilt tops that I haven't sent to the longarm quilter because the pricing around here is a bit much in my opinion.

If I win the lottery, my first purchase would be a house with a big enough room to then buy a long arm machine! LOL

I prefer piecing. Traditional quilts -to me- are utilitarian. Quilting is my creative outlet. (If you love traditional you can skip my opinion.) Flimsies are easier to store than finished quilts. When there’s a destination for a finished quilt it’ll get quilted. Physically, lap size is my limit. Larger go to long arm.

Art quilts————-that’s a totally different discussion as the quilting is part of the design. And I’m in my zone-creative element.

Are we having fun yet? I worked to survive, not for fun. Utilitarian quilting is work.