I recently bought an HQ 16 (comparable machine to Tin Lizzie), and I LOVE it! I had previously been quilting everything myself on my Viking Designer I, but justified buying the mid arm machine with these reasons:
1. I HATE basting quilts----no more of that now!
2. I could only quilt a block or design that was 7-9 " wide.
3. I had a huge backlog of quilt tops waiting to be quilted.
I also find that I am less intimidated about how to quilt and what quilt designs to use. I just load the quilt on my machine, and start quilting.
I have quilted some quilts with allover pantographs, and done some detailed free motion work. If you get a machine, check out longarmuniversity.com for some great videos and online instructions. Attached are pictures of a quilt made from an online class.
One of the best investments I ever made.
Online Longarm Mystery Quilt
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