New from Missouri
06-21-2020, 03:55 PM
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Maine
Posts: 1,263
Welcome from Maine, and am looking forward to the day when I can say I will be retiring soon. I always tell DH, with all my hobbies, I am only practicing for retirement, and quilting is definitely #1 on my list of hobbies.
I bought a Mega quilter two years ago on CL, and it is the small throat size, I only make lap/throw size or twin size quilts, so it works for me, and it was in my budget. I did extensive research prior to the purchase, and from what I found, value wise is 1200-$1500, depending on condition/maintence. The only trouble I had after running it awhile was the skipped stitches that turned out to be the sensor wheels, once I cleaned and oiled them, no trouble since. I brought it home, loaded the bobbin and threaded it with poly thread, and have never had any tension or other issues, knock on wood, LOL. I use Glide thread only, and have never had any problems. I have an external bobbin winder in the mail as we speak because I find winding a bobbin on it difficult with a quilt loaded on the machine. I never seem to preload enough bobbins prior to starting a quilt. Enjoy whichever machine you decide on, it is fun and I was never able to master FMQ on my sewing machine, so this to me has been a dream.
I bought a Mega quilter two years ago on CL, and it is the small throat size, I only make lap/throw size or twin size quilts, so it works for me, and it was in my budget. I did extensive research prior to the purchase, and from what I found, value wise is 1200-$1500, depending on condition/maintence. The only trouble I had after running it awhile was the skipped stitches that turned out to be the sensor wheels, once I cleaned and oiled them, no trouble since. I brought it home, loaded the bobbin and threaded it with poly thread, and have never had any tension or other issues, knock on wood, LOL. I use Glide thread only, and have never had any problems. I have an external bobbin winder in the mail as we speak because I find winding a bobbin on it difficult with a quilt loaded on the machine. I never seem to preload enough bobbins prior to starting a quilt. Enjoy whichever machine you decide on, it is fun and I was never able to master FMQ on my sewing machine, so this to me has been a dream.
06-21-2020, 06:32 PM
#14
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 5
Originally Posted by Quiltah Mama
Welcome from Maine, and am looking forward to the day when I can say I will be retiring soon. I always tell DH, with all my hobbies, I am only practicing for retirement, and quilting is definitely #1 on my list of hobbies.
I bought a Mega quilter two years ago on CL, and it is the small throat size, I only make lap/throw size or twin size quilts, so it works for me, and it was in my budget. I did extensive research prior to the purchase, and from what I found, value wise is 1200-$1500, depending on condition/maintence. The only trouble I had after running it awhile was the skipped stitches that turned out to be the sensor wheels, once I cleaned and oiled them, no trouble since. I brought it home, loaded the bobbin and threaded it with poly thread, and have never had any tension or other issues, knock on wood, LOL. I use Glide thread only, and have never had any problems. I have an external bobbin winder in the mail as we speak because I find winding a bobbin on it difficult with a quilt loaded on the machine. I never seem to preload enough bobbins prior to starting a quilt. Enjoy whichever machine you decide on, it is fun and I was never able to master FMQ on my sewing machine, so this to me has been a dream.
I bought a Mega quilter two years ago on CL, and it is the small throat size, I only make lap/throw size or twin size quilts, so it works for me, and it was in my budget. I did extensive research prior to the purchase, and from what I found, value wise is 1200-$1500, depending on condition/maintence. The only trouble I had after running it awhile was the skipped stitches that turned out to be the sensor wheels, once I cleaned and oiled them, no trouble since. I brought it home, loaded the bobbin and threaded it with poly thread, and have never had any tension or other issues, knock on wood, LOL. I use Glide thread only, and have never had any problems. I have an external bobbin winder in the mail as we speak because I find winding a bobbin on it difficult with a quilt loaded on the machine. I never seem to preload enough bobbins prior to starting a quilt. Enjoy whichever machine you decide on, it is fun and I was never able to master FMQ on my sewing machine, so this to me has been a dream.
06-22-2020, 05:01 AM
#16
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Waterford Michigan
Posts: 7,241
Welcome to the QB from SE Michigan! How exciting for you! To be able to have a long arm at your fingertips! I can't help you find information on it but it does sound exciting. It is my dream to have a real long arm someday. I have a Grace frame and Brothers 1500se that right now are not working together properly so for now I am back to quilting on my domestic machine. Again welcome to the QB!
06-22-2020, 06:07 AM
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Carroll, Iowa
Posts: 3,410
My 1st quilt machine was the Viking MegaQuilter 9" but on a Grace Pro frame as I wasn't much into metal frames back then. Wanted a wood frame. Anyway, loved the machine, never had issues with tension, it would stitch with any thread I threw at it but again it only had a 9" throat. I realized early on that 9" wasn't going to get me too far so moved up to a stretched Juki 98Q 18" on the same frame. Also added robotics to it too. Now I've moved up to an Innova 26" on a 12ft frame (metal) and IQ robotics. This is the last time I'll move up too as I quilt basically for myself as gifts. I started out small to see if I even liked quilting before I plunked really big bucks on a large system. Can't say all MegaQuilters will be like the one I had but I'm a Viking gal anyway so started off with it. Depending on how old the system is I can't imagine it will be much more than a couple thousand at best but I could be wrong as I haven't kept up on the prices. I do know Viking makes a MegaQuilter 18" you might check out.
06-26-2020, 07:10 AM
#18
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: Greater Peoria, IL -- just moved!
Posts: 6,113
Welcome to the boards and grats on getting a long arm. Lucky duck. I would need a bigger house. Always thought the family room/converted garage would be my long arm space, but I got a husband instead and overall (most days) I think that's a better deal.
There are some used machine dealers, here is a page of nationally selling machines through my local resource of Quilters University
https://longarmuniversity.com/MachinesForSale.html
I've never dealt with them but there is also Whitlocks
https://whitlocks.com/
There are some used machine dealers, here is a page of nationally selling machines through my local resource of Quilters University
https://longarmuniversity.com/MachinesForSale.html
I've never dealt with them but there is also Whitlocks
https://whitlocks.com/
