judylg

I do feel you have to really give this some long and hard thought. They are so pricey. Someone asked me once if I wanted one, it would be wonderful to have, but then my past time would owe me. I am happy with what I do and when I do it. Now maybe after I get my current quilt done, it is 96 by 96, going to be a handful for me and my machine, I may have a change in thought. Have fun with whatever you choose.

Belkocm

Thanks for the input. I think I have it narrowed down to the Innova or APQS. I have bee on every website, collected all tge literature/promotional stuff, test driven everything except the APQS and I am just trying to schedule a time with one of the "local" (anyone less than 2 hours from my home) dealers.
We are empty nesters and the husband has allowed me to take over the living room ( in fact I can have the house except his den and our bedroom) so I have the space. I figure this will be my new car payment for the next few years since I am writing the last payment on my car this week, so that is checked off my list.
Thanks for all the great input!

dunster

I also have an Innova, with the basic stitch regulator. If I were doing longarming as a business I would like to have the AutoPilot computerized system, but for my own quilting I prefer to do free motion. I am very glad I purchased the Innova.

Spice

I have a Nolting with a 14' table. Love it. The one thing you must consider is the service of your machine. How close is the person that will be servicing your machine or doing repairs. If someone has to come a distance they usually charge for their time on the road and that can be expensive. Check and see who else near by has long arms and try as many as you can. If there are several with the same type of machine you can schedule maintenance and share some of the cost of travel if it is a distance. Another feature I have with mine is a hydrolic height regulator. My daughter-in-law and I share the machine and we need to adjust the height. Much easier than doing manually.
Another place to check on the web is longarm university. If you type in long arm quilting machines several will come up.

Happy shopping

bigredharley

I am going with the BabyLock Crown Jewel. Just need a little more time to put the cash together since they don't finance that much. By this time next year I'll be living in my rec room with it!

ro

Have you looked into a sweet16 handi quilter. At $5,000 its really nice machine. f you love to free-motion machine quilt but struggle to fit your project in a small throat space, you’re going to love the HQ Sweet16. Sixteen inches of throat space gives you room to quilt even a king-size quilt. The smooth surface of the included table allows your project to glide under the needle. The powerful motor handles quilting with ease and stitches up to 1500 stitches-per-minute. Choose your three favorite top speed settings, on the easy-to-use color touch screen and let the machine remember them. Just thought I'd give an option. Sorry I forgot to mention. They come in. Set up machine. and "they" give you lessons.

mighty

Just purchased my 2nd longarm a Baby lock Crown jewel, pearl frame, quilt motion, and creative touch. I love it.

cedarvalleyquilts

Try out as many different models as you can to see which setup works best for you...which is easiest to manuever, weight of the machine, etc. Make sure you will have enough room in your house to fit the table size you want. Check into service and warranty...if you have a problem, how easy will it be to get help either on the phone or from a dealer?

With all that info, we decided on Nolting machines, first with a Fun Quilter and then a 24 Pro Series. Would highly recommend the machines AND the service the Nolting has. Top notch in our book. www.nolting.com

Christine

TexasSunshine

We first bought a used Voyager 17 and had a lot of problems with it, mostly user error, I'm sure. It was on a Hinterberg frame. We finally traded it just the machine for a Nolting Fun Quilter (it fits on the Hinterberg frame) and have been very pleased with it. We have good support system and enjoy quilting with it. LA quilting is so different from sewing, piecing, quilting and it takes patience and a lot of practice.

topstitch

I up graded to a Nolting after a very unpleasant experince with with both the Tin Lizzie machine and the Tin Lizzie Company. The Nolting on a good metal frame is as good as it gets for me. I tried them all out on the second go round and it came down to the Nolting and the Innovia. I decided on the Nolting because there was a pretty good difference in price and not much difference in anything else in the comparison of the 2 machines. I am a very satisfied customer.