Pagzz

I have a 26" APQS Millenium and I don't use all the throat space. I don't feel like I have control to do a good job when my arms are stretched out. I mean I do almost all if not all quilting close to the front of the frame.

I think you will love your machine. 20 inches is a lot of space.

As for borders - until you are comfortable doing them in all different directions, just turn the quilt. Here is a link to videos http://forum.apqs.com/index.php?/topic/16352-turning-a-quilt-video-series/

APQS has an active forum and you might get good comparisons there http://forum.apqs.com/

quiltingshorttimer

I have a 28" Gammill (older model) and find that I love the bigger space when doing side borders and some types of FMQ--when I am doing custom work on a specific block (and I typically have 12" blocks) I will usually role the quilt top so that I'm able to sit on my drafting stool and work toward the front to get better control (espcially when I'm doing micro fill and using those handles) so I think you will be ok with what you plan--you may end up rolling the quilt to get the borders on side done but that works fine. I think you'll find that you won't have any more stops/starts on the long arm than you do with the sit-down--it all depends on the type of quilting you are doing on a particular quilt--for instance, it you do continuous curves you would just leave the needle down and roll the quilt and start up again.

jmoore

Kwiltr, I recently played with the Freddie (which I think is the same size as Lucey) at an APQS show and they had it on a Bliss track system which seemed very smooth and easy to move. Maybe you could consider that in your purchase of the larger size ...otherwise, Lenni gives you a couple of inches that your Sweet 16 didn't have.

Judylee2

Goos morning, Kwiltr, Welcome to longarming! To answer your question about continous design, relax and just let your design flow from side to side, leaving uneaven bottom edge. When you roll your quilt leave you machine in the needle down position. Then fill in the design going back and forth, like a typewriter. For me it makes thing so much easier to leave the needle down, stops some of the thread breaks and keeps me focused on where I left off. When you head back to the left, the uneven edge of the previous row allows you to fill in without an obvious line straight across the quilt, making everything mesh todether as one design. I hope this made sense to you ! Feel free to PM me with any questions and I will help where I can! ENJOY!

Farm Quilter

I have an 18" Innova (back when I bought it my options were 18" and 26") and a 12" block on point requires me to do some rolling back and forth to complete a block - do the top half first, roll do the bottom, move over and do the bottom, roll, do the top, move over. Or I create a design that makes it easy to do the top half of all of the blocks before I roll, then do all the bottoms. I generally do custom quilting, so I am used to lots of starts and stops (with tied and buried ends). Innova now has a 22" that I would love to have, just for the ease of borders, but I have found that it is just as easy to do the top border, middle and bottom border, then rotate the quilt on the frame to do the side borders - no stopping and very easy. Have a blast dancing with your new longarm!!

Christine-

Great decision! I use pantos on my quilts, I have yet to get brave enough to do a custom design. I'm chicken, what can I say?

Jeananne

I am looking into getting a machine with a deeper throat in the future, right now I'm quilting with a JukiTL2010 (9 inch throat), I would love to have at least an 18 inch throat machine. I'm going to follow this thread... Congrats on your new machine!

Kwiltr

I am getting the Bliss system with the Lenni. My sweet 16 is a Sitdown not on a frame, so I can't compare those machines. The Lucey cost is too much for me, so that isn't an option.

Kwiltr

Thanks everyone for your insight. I didn't know I could leave the needle down and advance or reverse the quilt! Makes sense that it's possible. Also had heard it mentioned that turning the quilt is possible, so thanks for the links on how to do that!

Any other tips would be welcomed. What's everyone's preference, floating the top or not? Pros/cons?

Prism99

A lot of people float their quilts successfully. I find that I do better without floating. It depends somewhat on the batting too. Floating is especially unsatisfactory for me with a high-loft batting. I just got some new clamps that may allow me to get good results from floating the top; they are the ones from Grace Company:
http://www.graceframe.com/site/quilt-clips