sabob

I purchased a Cutie Frame recently after moving house..... I previously had an Innova longarm on a 12 foot frame but it wouldn't fit into the new home. I have used the Cutie once. I found the handles position troublesome especially when doing ruler work. As you move towards you to stitch you almost need an arm extension to maintain hold on the ruler and/or stand sideways to allow the handles to move the machine forward so that was a problem for me. My back felt twisted. If you tilt the handles upward, you will have less depth to move your machine and this will limit your quilting space even more. Tipping upor down doesn't solve the coming forward problem. The fame is 4 foot long but you can expect to only have about 36 -38 inches of real sewing space so that is limiting ,but I guess you figure that in when you are space challenge and looking at this option. I also did not like having to keep repositioning the quilt as I felt I lost continuity and my curves suffered greatly. And for me, the clamping system was onerous. The clamps themselves can be a challenge if you have arthritis- quite tight and feel like they might break (but they didn't). If you have lots of piecing on your quilt it feels like you are stretching your seams when you clamp. I used the Cutie with my Janome M7- the machine was terrific and I did also purchase a Sure Stitch Elite and can honestly say the stitching consistency was good. Packing it away is not quite as easy as the videos showed. The videos show the frame being put away but not the carriage. You will need to find somewhere safe for both. If like me you put the Sure Stitch on, you will need to provide the encoders with significant protection when storing. All up...I think if you are just starting out this could be a good launching pad and I am the first to acknowledge that it is difficult to go from a longarm to this system. For me, if it had been say another 18 inches wider, had an improved clamping system (dare I say it- more like Handi Quilter), and had over the top/front handles, I would have adapted well. It seems the available options in Australia are far more limited sadly as I really like the Grace quality. I don't find domestic quilting satisfactory for me either so I am going to reconfigure my furniture and sacrifice other things (walking space and storage LOL) that are not as precious so I can purchase a smaller longarm. I would suggest trying to test drive with a real quilt (ie bigger than 48 inches wide) rather than the sample of a small less than 48 inch quilt that you might see in a showroom or at a show. I don't think I can get a refund for mine so I am disappointed.