beachquilter2

Hi another newbie to this board! Live in MA and was wondering how and where I might find a used longarm machine to practice on and eventually to possibly purchase. Just started my interest in top quilting and want to practice to make sure I like it before investing. Thanks all.

DebraK

Are there any local quilt shops that offer lessons? That's where I would start. Make some phone calls and maybe someone can give you a lead.

feline fanatic

The only way you will find a LA to practice on is:
A good quilting buddy who has one willing to let you practice on it
A quilt shop that offers rental time on their LA that will make you take a class on it before allowing you to rent time
A quilt show that has loads of LA vendors there to let you try out the machine, although I wouldn't necessarily call that practice
A longarm dealer willing to let you rent time on a machine before purchasing, again you will be required to take some sort of training class.

Even used LA machines aren't cheap. They tend to not lose their value so a LA set up, even used will run anywhere from a few thousand to over $10K.

PS welcome to the board!

AliKat

I agree with feline fanatic as for ideas. Where I live a few LA'ers do let you use their machines, after some training, to complete charity quilts for their guilds or groups. Maybe someone in your guild/groups will do the same for you.

dunster

I think feline fanatic covered the possibilities. I don't know of any shops or longarmers in my area that rent time on their longarms. Shops and shows will let you practice for a short time, but not on your own quilts and probably not for long enough to really discover whether you would enjoy owning one. I wouldn't ask a friend to let me use her machine, because I wouldn't want to put her in the position of having to say no. (However, if a friend offered, that's another story. I did offer to let one of my friends use my machine for a quilt, and that worked out well, but I don't anticipate that it will happen frequently.) There have been numerous threads here where people were thinking about renting out time on their longarms, and the general consensus seems to be that it's not a good idea because of the liability of someone being hurt and the possibility of the longarm being damaged, as well as the inconvenience of having a stranger in the home.

beachquilter2

Great ideas from everyone. Thanks so much. Think I will start making calls to shops for rentals. Great support here!

Doggramma

I took a long arm class to see if I liked it. The class was at an AQS show. Since I didn't do well and it didn't feel comfortable to me, decided not to purchase one. I like FMQ on my Bernina 820.

LynnVT

I took a class with a local long armer who is a great teacher, but I just hated it. I was uncomfortable standing up for hours at a time, I felt awkward and far away from the quilt once I got to work on it, and I thought the set up was a pain. So I tried the Sweet Sixteen several times at shows and then the same long armer let me try out her demo Sweetie. I fell in love it with it every time I touched it, and she sold me the demo at a discount. That was a year ago and I still love my machine every time I sit down and play with her. Most of the time prepping the quilt just means smoothing the backing, batting and top out on my cutting table, putting in a few pins around the edges and being careful as I move the sandwich around. If it's large I spray baste with Elmer's and water in a spray bottle, but lately I haven't even done that. Practice, practice, practice! Good luck in making your choices, and take your time.