Advice for Mid arm wanted

[gardenquilter]

ladies when buying look at all of them and then decide - most of them have dvd's they will send you those of us that have machines will tell you how ours do but something that no many people think of is used - i have a nolting - i bought it second hand - i paid not as much for it as i was going to pay for the handy quilter and i got more for my buck - you can call the manufactur and talk to them about the machine - nolting keeps records of their machines how often they have been tuned up etc - they will tell you how much it is worth if buying from a person

check out used because these are made for heavy duty use - notlting and gamill were related once upon a time and there are machines running from the late 60's

[cindyg]

CoyoteQuilts - have you been to the quilt festival yet and tried out different machines? I'm curious as to what you would like to have.

[CoyoteQuilts]

Phx quilt festival is next Thurs. I know that the Gammill dealer will be there. I have looked into the 18-8 Gammill & that looks promising. Would like a used one, but will wait & see. They are hard to come by after looking at all the used sites I have found. Not many in the history have been for sale. I would like to see a hinty stretch frame. They are suppose to be easy to take apart & lets vibrations. Will continue to look, I need a bigger house to rent first & that is going so slooooooow.

Thanks for all input, Sharon V.

[AudreyB]

I was looking to buy a mid arm myself. But when I saw what my teacher did on a Janome Memory Craft 6500. I am going to get the 6600 when Hubby's bonus comes in. The throat is I think 9 inches wide and I won't have to get a special table or anything for it! It might be worth just checking into it before the big purchase.

Audrey

[sandyp]

I have an HQ16 and love it! Actually, I have 1/2 the machine...my friend down the road owns the other half. And our husbands built us a quilting barn (storage shed with lots of windows) to work in. We have it on a wooden frame. When we've had problems (due to our ignorance, not the machine), we've gotten excellent support. Easy to learn on....we've had no classes, just started in.

[ksomeit]

I have the Janome MC 6600 and it is a great machine, I also have a Mega Quilter on a Next Generation Frame. I have quilted over 100 quilts on the Mega Quilter and my old issue is the frame and the rails the carriage rides on wears out after so much use. It is a great machine for someone wanting to quilt their own quilts at home. I have done lap quilts to king size on it.

I have not mastered the MC 6600 in free motion quilting, I have on order the new bobbin for free motion quilting to see if that makes a difference in the look of the bobbin thread when I free motion.

The mid-arm I would pick is based on the amount of quilting it will do and the money available to spend. If they had the APQS Lenni out when I was looking for a mid arm I would have purchased that one. I am not trying to get the money to purchase a long arm (APQS Millennium, becasue of my heavy use.

Good luck with your search

[Tiggersmom]

Don't give up on the Gammill. They have a home model that has a 18"deep throat plus it is 8" high for just under $7,000....p-lus a steel frame.
I'm a Gammill owner of the classic plus and I've test driven the HQ16 which a friend has. I like the feel of the HQ but the frames on this model seem rinky dink, imho. plus I saw the HQ16 advertised for more than the Gammill home model. . . .this model does not come with a stitch regulator but I think its an option.......not sure about the HQ.

[Cathy32078]

Tiggersmom I agree. The steel frames are wonderful!!!!!!!

[sallyjo125]

I have a gammill premier and love it! I have only had it since September. I only have one problem--since all my quilting friends have found out, I can't get any of my quilts done, I am too busy doing theirs!!

Sally

[SewSew]

I have a limited budget so I am going to take up a new acquaintance on her offer to teach me to use her LA before I make a commitment to buying anything.

I have joined a yahoo group for quilters using the grace frames and there are a few people on there that have the Bailey quilting machine. They all seem to really like it even though it is slower than other mid arms. I will have to wait a while and see how my lessons go.

Ann