Rose L

Echoemb,

I just received my Bailey last week but I put it on my Grace frame right away and have been working out all the bits and pieces about it. I've quilted one row across a quilt top so far. There is a bit of a learning curve as to how the machine is set up and then there is a longer learning curve as to how to make the machine sew what you want it to. It will take a good amount of practice. It is a little bit intimidating at first but the further you go the easier it gets as you learn to relax and work the machine in the patterns you want. I have only hand quilted in the past and it used to take me about 8 hours of hand stitching to do a ten inch block. I can do whole rows across the quilt now literally in minutes!

You can do free motion quilting, you can stencil your quilt top and follow the lines, you can place wood, plastic or paper roll patterns on the table at the back of the frame and follow them with a laser or pointer (depending on the brands that you buy). Really the sky and your own imagination are the only limits.

My advice is to buy the largest machine and frame that you can afford. I had my home sewing machine on my frame originally and it was pretty sad that I could only do designs that were 4" tall or less. My current frame limits my quilting space a little with the Bailey on the frame but I can still do 12" blocks on point so most quilting patterns will still work for me.

The Bailey it's self is all metal, no plastic. It only weighs 37#. It has a class 15 sewing mechanism so it takes the small bobbins. In spite of that it's super easy to get to the bobbin area for changing when you have a quilt on the frame. So far, I'm loving it and I only expect it to get better!

Rose L.

PS...the Bailey comes with a 25 year warranty!! Unheard of anywhere else.

Wendys Quilts

I have a Brother 1500S and won it on ebay for $700 and it included the handi quilter II frame. The machine has a 9" opening for me. This set up is great for me. Firstly because we didnt have the funds to buy anything more expensive. I do wish I had a more stable frame, but this one will work fine until I get the hang with quilting on a frame. I am loving my little setup though, perfect for what I need now.

Tamara

Thanks for all the input, I'm looking and asking questions now and this spring I'm going to go try some out I hope (live in small country area). I have my other house up for sell and hope to sell it around June at that time I may be able to put a little more money into something bigger, but I don't want to put thousands into it because I'm afraid I'll burn myself out and stop sewing so much like I've done in the past with other projects.