Quilt in a Day Forums

My oldest sister lives near Sacramento, CA and her Joann's store, has a long arm quilting machine that has a laser, and easy for even a beginner to use. She said that they rent it. Anyone ever here about that?

Some of the quilt shops in the Denver metro area will let you rent time on their long arms. I have never checked into the price, but it is a good idea. So many people do not have the room for one in their owne homes, or the money to purchase one.

There is a shop that I know of that rents time on their HQ16 as long as you have taken their class on how to use it. I don't know how much it is per hour.

there is a quilt shop in fayetteville, nc that sells gamill it is my understanding that they will rent time on their machines - have not talked to them personally though

That sounds great. I would love to try one.

There is a Singer store in Mesa, AZ that teaches on a gammil & rents it out by the hour or day. Last I checked--last year it was $100. to learn, $20 and hour or $100 a day. I know these machines are expensive, but I thought that was a little steep. If you could load & complete 4 quilt tops in 1 day it might be worth it. Plus for me it is at least an hours drive in city traffic.

I rent time on my LQS longarm. $16 and hour but we must also buy and use her batting and that's fine with me she is priced fine and I'm sure she doesn't want to mess with tension etc for different battings on her expensive machine. She is also there to help and give tips so it's a bargin. I'm heading there on my lunch hour to finish a project.

Our longarm machines are very expensive. Repairing them is very expensive. Liability insurance is very expensive. Remember, too, that when someone else is on that machine, the shop cannot be using the machine for a quilt they have to do and time is money. $100 a day to rent one is not unreasonable. Don't expect to be able to load and quilt four quilts in a day. Trying to quilt for an entire day without a break would wipe out the most seasoned quilter. There is also a learning curve to longarm quilting. Knowing the concept of using the machine - even the techniques of using a machine is so much different than actually sewing on that machine.

I let the local sewing machine shop have my utility quilt tops to use on their demonstrator quilting machines. It gets quilted with many different designs and I get the quilt done and customers get to learn on a quilt. The shop saves money by not having to furnish fabric or batting for the demonstrator machines. If you aren't ticky about the quilting design this would be a good way to get a quilt quilted. I give most of these quilts to local shelters, even the humane society for larger animal use.

Thank you, for all the input. Someday I would like to learn to use one and even buy one, but for now I'm happy with my standard machine. I was just curious to see if this was available everywhere.