Long arm quilting machines
 

Does anyone here own a long arm quilting machine and table? The lady who has been doing my quilting for many years recently passed away unexpectedly and I'm at a loss as to whether I should find another quilter or if I should finally give in and buy my own. With the money I've given to others to have my quilts quilted, I could have paid for my own machine by now.

It's very expensive though (for a hobby) but eventually I might be able to do quilting for others...

Just wanting some feedback from other long arm machine owners on their thoughts.

ps.. the machine I'm drooling over is a Baby Lock Crown Jewell ll

I love my long arm, it's a different brand. make sure you have enough room and see if there is a babylock dealer near you in case you need support or classes before you decide.

First off I have a LA and love it. Unfortunately for me I don't seem to have the time needed to just quilt tops, so they add up until I sit myself down ad finish them. LOL I would recommend you rent time on a machine first you may not even like using one. A friend had a LA and traded it in for s a sit down machine and she loves it, takes up no more room than her DM and she does everything on it. Good luck, have fun looking.

There is a quilt shop in town that has a Babylock dealer. She has a Crown Jewell ll set up that one can take a 5 hour class on it for $130 and then you can rent it by the hour. I'm going to do the class sometime here in the near future so I can learn how to use it. Then I will rent it to do my quilts for a while until I decide what to do. they only charge $12/hour to rent it (minimum of 3 hours)

I love quilting on the Crown Jewell ll! But there is so much more to
consider than just quilting when looking to purchase a LA:

Lessons on its use are good
Willingness to give up a goodly portion of your home to fit it in
Practice
A thorough understanding of the care and feeding of your new baby
Good lighting
Friends with LA's to help you with problems and give knowledgeable opinions
A not too distant dealer/repair person
Willingness to learn how to do adjustments and repairs yourself
Plenty of practice
Buy tons of threads of all colors and types ($$)
Buy tons of Pantos ($$), if that's what you want to do
LA rulers ($$)
Healthy knees and feet plus good floor mats (priceless)
The need and willingness to lose weight ("What dinner??)
More practice
The ability to say 'NO' nicely to every quilter within 100 miles who needs a quilt done

Is this helpful?
I get a lot of 'muscle memory' by practicing a new pattern on large sheets of paper before I get near the LA

Baloonatic covered everything and made good points. It is not as easy as it looks and takes a lot of time but I love doing it.

Perhaps you could offer to buy your quilters frame/outfit? The family probably doesn't have a clue what to do with it.

I definitely would recommend spending a day or more working on a LA before you decide to buy. After spending the day quilting a large King sized quilt on my friend's Gammil (with her help) I decided that LA'ing was much harder than I thought and that a LA would not be a good investment for me. I'm so glad that I did not spend $'s on a huge machine that I would regret.

Definitely take the class at your dealer, it will give you a good idea of what longarming is like. I was hooked once I took a class. But you also need to try more than one type of machine. Please try out other machines before you make a decision. The best place is a large quilt show where many of the large vendors are. You still may end up going back to the Baby Lock but at least you will have a better understanding of what all the different brands have to offer and maybe pick up a machine where you get more bang for the buck.

Lots of great advice here. I have a Babylock Crown Jewel and I love it. You might want to look at the Handyquilter longarms too. They are basically the same machine but marketed under a different name. Good luck with your decision and happy quilting!!!