WHEN did you decide to purchase Long Arm?
#21
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Triangle, NY
Posts: 184
My dh purchased my millenium for me several months ago...I am to afraid to use it..hehehhe...I have done a couple practice things on it but just not confident...I am going to MQX in April and hope to learn enough to feel like I can put a quilt on and do it...my stepson's wedding quilt is waiting to be quilted and I need it by May...after spending 20K don't want to turn around and take a quilt to the laq...heheheh..blessings
#23
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: East Tennessee
Posts: 1,053
I had been quilting for about ten years, was retired, had the space to hold a long-arm and we decided that, given that I was spending so much time and energy on my hobby, that it would be worthwhile to get the Gammill I had been drooling over. I don't quilt professionally, although I do the occasional quilt as a favor for a friend or for a charitable cause. I've never been sorry I bought it although the learning curve was lots longer than I thought it would be.
#25
I decided the 1st time I went to a quilt show and got my hands on one! I started with a B-line frame (mine was a table top model) with a Juki and an add on stitch regulator. Pretty quickly I upgraded to an HQ16, but I JUMPED at the chance to purchase a gently used Gammill Classic Plus (the plus is the stitch regulator). I think I'm done! (upgrading..NOT QUILTING! what a silly thought!)
#26
I loved piecing tops and hated hand quilting. It just took too long and the one top I'd started hand quilitng and HAD to get finished I finally sent to someone else for completion. It cost me a almost $400 just for that.
After reading about long arm quilting and watching countless online videos for over a year, I decided to check out the machines at various quilt shows. It definitely pays to actually "drive" one just to see if it feels right for you.
I also checked out the financing packages each company offered. I got mine at no interest and payments spread out over several years.
That said, I also had first purchased a mid arm and after a couple of quilts quickly decided I wanted more throat space. I felt very frustrated at the lack of "play" area with the mid arm. My Tin Lizzie 18LS has 18" throat space and that's just right for me. I don't quilt for money but I do help out some friends and do few charity quilts but mostly I do my own stuff. Haven't regretted it once. Just love owning my own long arm and practice, practice, practice so I get better all the time.
Good luck in your search.
After reading about long arm quilting and watching countless online videos for over a year, I decided to check out the machines at various quilt shows. It definitely pays to actually "drive" one just to see if it feels right for you.
I also checked out the financing packages each company offered. I got mine at no interest and payments spread out over several years.
That said, I also had first purchased a mid arm and after a couple of quilts quickly decided I wanted more throat space. I felt very frustrated at the lack of "play" area with the mid arm. My Tin Lizzie 18LS has 18" throat space and that's just right for me. I don't quilt for money but I do help out some friends and do few charity quilts but mostly I do my own stuff. Haven't regretted it once. Just love owning my own long arm and practice, practice, practice so I get better all the time.
Good luck in your search.
#27
I have been piecing quilts for over 30 yrs.many yrs of tying and hand quilting.that resulted in 2 carpal tunnel surgeries.my boyfriend and I bought an old farmhouse with 5 bedrooms about 4 yrs ago.my daughter and I split a long arm then-no regrets.we both love quilting-this was the 1st house big enough to have a long arm.I have fibro,ruptured discs in my neck so a longarm is great.when I hurt I don't quilt.when I feel better I can quilt easily.I do not miss sitting on the floor and pinning binding,etc that was too hard on my neck and I have a hard time getting up from the floor.
#28
Originally Posted by quiltinghere
WHEN did you decide to buy a LA?
Like HOW LONG were you involved in making quilts before you decided you NEEDED a LA?
Did you get tired of paying to have someone else quilt your quilts?
Did you want to start up a business to make money at it?
How long did it actually take to make the purchase? months? years?
Thanks
Like HOW LONG were you involved in making quilts before you decided you NEEDED a LA?
Did you get tired of paying to have someone else quilt your quilts?
Did you want to start up a business to make money at it?
How long did it actually take to make the purchase? months? years?
Thanks
I ordered my LA 9 months after I learned to piece a quilt and had it a month later.
Had a quilt ruined by a LA quilter and decided I wanted more control (she had tension issues and rather than stop, she forged on).
Had my first customer quilt on the frame 1 week after I got my LA. I love to quilt and can't make quilts fast enough to keep my LA busy...plus the $ from LA quilting for others gives me $ to buy more thread and material! I would rather do the quilting then any other part of the process!
#29
When I discovered that it cost as much to have them quilted as it did to buy the supplies to make one I knew I'd be purchasing a LA....LOL! My mother was an avid quilter (in her day it was the old fashioned way with scissors and cardboard templates and hand tieing or hand quillting) and when she passed I used some of my inheritance to buy my HQ 16 because I wanted something that I would have forever and I knew that she would be smiling from above whenever I used it.
#30
I learned to quilt on a longarm that was in my local quilt shop. A year later, I needed to rent time on the machine and was informed that I had to go through the classes again, no way was that happening. I bought a used Grace frame with a Janome 1600P. That turned out to be too small a quilting area for me so I bought a Tin Lizzie 18LS. Now I can quilt whatever I want in my own home. My DH gave up his study so I could keep 'Liz' set up at 10 ' length. Bless him. I couldn't afford to buy the Gammill, but the Tin Lizzie is very reliable and well built. This is all I will ever need. Of course my Bernina 440QE, 830, and several Featherweights keep Liz company so she doesn't get lonely when I am at work.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mjpEncinitas
Links and Resources
26
11-28-2019 06:48 AM
thseabreze
Main
14
06-27-2017 05:23 AM
sandrab64
Main
64
06-17-2014 09:47 PM