Christine-

I tried out all the different brands at the Mid Atlantic quilt festival 6 years ago. I was most impressed by the Tin Lizzie and bought it. In 6 years it's been a work horse. I called tech support 2 times and they were great on the phone, walked me through the solutions and I was back in business.

I don't know what brand will speak to you but try going to a quilt show to try them all out.

pocoellie

Although I can do a fairly decent meander on my DSM, it is a struggle to quilt a large quilt, so I bought a 20" sit down Bailey(http://www.baileyssewingcenter.com/), would have preferred a frame but have no room for one. They are a family owned business and although it's not technically a "longarm", 20" is a heck of a lot more room than on my dsm. They have a pretty good reputation and a "reasonable" price and great customer service.

Peckish

My point of view is slightly different than everyone else's here.

I am a member of a fairly small group of quilters. Most of us have longarms. I have watched over the last 7-8 years how my friends have gradually all switched over to Innovas from Tin Lizzie, Voyager, Nolting, Husqvarna, and Grace. Only one of them went with Handiquilter, and we also have a single member with a Gammill who upgraded to the Statler.

Essentially, Innova is a favorite, and once these quilters buy one, they're very satisfied.

mamagrande

I learned on a Nolting mid arm when I worked at a LQS and when I retired I had so many top that is would be expensive to have someone else quilt them. So I bought and very old quilting machine on Craigslist for $1,000. after 2 years I had quilted several quilts but it only had a 9in throat and since I had learn on a 16" this would not work for much longer.

So I sold this machine for$900. also on Craigslist. I then continued to search on Craigstlist for another machine and found a used Handi Quilter 16 for $5,000. with a 10 ft table. I quilt for myself and for others and have had it for 5 years and I love working on "Harriet", we had a major repair recently but for $2,500, I could not have got another as good as this one. I do not have any regrets..

Nanny's dollface

Well I took the plunge last summer and purchased a Hanquilter Simply Sixteen on a 6 foot frame and have no regrets. Space was limited to the second floor loft area by a wall. No more aching neck and shoulders. My quilts are full sized and I have not had any issues. I love how I can quilt without tugging and pulling the quilt through a 5 inch throat! I did a king size quilt in the 5 inch throat and vowed I would never do that again on a domestic.
i purchased my Simply Sixteen with a 0% interest over 5 years comes out to $84 a month. Love it

Wanabee Quiltin

I have some regrets about my HQ Avante, it has way too many tension issues. I wish now I had bought a different brand. I love having a long arm though, I use mine as much as I can. A dealer is coming out soon and giving it a thorough going over. Be sure and check out all brands if you want to buy one.

ClairVoyantQuilter

I started on a sit down machine . . .Babylock Tiara. It was ok for small quilts, but a real bear to lug around a big quilt.

I’m on my fourth month with my Gammill and it quilts like a dream. The stitches are absolutely perfect no matter what weight thread I put in it. It’s made all the difference in the world, in how I quilt.

Daylesewblessed

I am enjoying this thread. I had been saving for a long-arm, but realistically, the only space in the house that could accommodate one is my husband's office. And it is occupied.

So, I have switched dreams. I started a sewing/quilting charity group in my church and am using my long-arm savings to fund the supplies. With my shopping at garage/estate sales, plus fabric donations, the long-arm fund will last a very long time.

Maybe some day a long-arm will be for me, but right now I am happy about the church group.

quiltingshorttimer

I used my inheritance from my Mom to purchase a 2006 Gammill Classic Plus in 2013. I'd rented time on a long arm prior to purchasing a machine, did lots of "homework" comparing machines, tried them out at big shows, etc. I also had been FMQ on my domestic but it was torture to my shoulders and sandwiching on the floor was too.

Couple of thoughts: I love quilting--I do customer quilts and wish I didn't so that I'd have more time to explore ideas on my own quilts, but not quite there yet. So yes, I can totally see owning one for just my own quilts! Remember that not every quilt has to be bedsize and you can have a ton of fun quilting smaller quilts.

If you do plan to quilt for others, I would suggest you consider computer guided as you'd be able to do more involved quilting for customers quicker--which means more earnings (without charging customers a ton) Mine is not computerized, and while I love to do custom quilting, most customers can't routinely pay for it.

the quilting Frame is super important--it impacts how easily it is to square up a quilt, how smoothly the machine moves; and your tension to some degree.

Plan on taking some classes at large quilt shows, if your area has a machine quilters guild do join, and reach out to other quilters--we generally are willing to share info and be supportive. Good luck!

lindaschipper

I put a Janome 1600P machine (around $1200) on a Grace SR-2 quilt frame (around $600) and this works for me. I only do baby, throw, twin sized quilts and table runners. The machine has an 11 inch throat. If I ever wanted to do a larger queen or king sized quilt I'd have to split it into two sections, quilt each and then sew these together as in a quilt as you go quilt. Find what you can afford and work with ...then go for it, even if you have to start small.