fish92241

Thanks for the rollup tip. I will try it on my next quilt. The quilt is now on the bed and everyone is saying it is beautiful. The imperfections are known only to me! The machine makes lovely flowers and leaves in each square and I am pleased with that. I also have the laser and have the Quilt Cad program which I haven't even opened.
The final count of boxes that came with my Gracie quilt frame was five, I think. Pretty overwhelming--but worth it now. The quilting really didn't take long at all with the three layers on rollers--no more pinning!! It makes our whole bedroom look great. I will send a picture as soon as I figure out how to do that.

omak

I have the big quilt frame and the babylock machine, but that machine is only for the frame. Since my frame is in the big house, and I spend a lot of time in the bunkhouse, sometimes, it is just easier to use another machine and free motion something, especially if it is a baby quilt or wallhanging ... it is nice to have the option of either.

sgardner

Just adding to this discussion- I didn't think Tim was picking on anyone, maybe because I have had the similiar "grueling" experience of trying to quilt without proper equipment and support. I learned to have my kids be right near me to help hold up the quilt and move the weight around as it goes through the machine as I guided it. Still, I always felt like I was "shoving" or "dragging" the quilt to get it to move right. When I did it all by myself on a larger quilt, it was exhausting and my arms and back felt tired by the end of the quilt. Even trying to do it on a big table didn't reduce the drag when I had to move a large section of the quilt. Maybe that's because of the tight space of the arm of my machine, the lack of any "slick surface" applied to the machine to reduce drag, etc., the mechanics of my really old machine, the wrong height of the table, etc. And, I tend to quilt only in straight lines, and not the stimpling or fancy curves that would just add to the amount of "shoving around" that you would have to do for something fancier. There are just too many variables in everyone's experience to say that Tim was trying to pick on any one person.
I can't find justification to refute his experience in any way.

Secondly, isn't the experience of quilting with poor equipment the whole reason for seeking a special machine and frame to support the quilt to get better results? Rather than holding up the quilt and shoving it through by sheer force of human effort, you get a frame that holds up the weight of the quilt, and holds up the quilting machine in a fashion that allows you to simply push it around to get the shape of the stitching you want. This whole thread is about which of the equipment that you can buy to do that does a better job, and I thank everyone who stuck to the thread's intent of discussing all those machines and what they like about them.

I too am considering machines and frames for quilting- thank you to everyone who contributed which set ups they had. Maybe the discussion of how to do a quilting business should be it's own thread, since many of you own these machines for your own pleasure (which I see nothing wrong with).