Many many years ago I was mad at my husband for buying something, so I went and bought something I had been wanting and didn't tell him I got it. Then that was exactly what he gave me for Valentines Day. I learned my lesson and don't play those games anymore lol

Anna it sounds like you have a system that really works for you! My mistake was bringing it up with him at all. I don't know why I did that. Oh well, I can try it out again in Houston and better decide if I still want it. Karen

kfstitcher

It is amazing to me how the hubby's always can afford their toys but we women have to wait for ours ..... Imagine my hubby's surprise when he went away on a fishing trip and he came home to new carpeting in the living room. Then there was the time the kitchen got repainted with new refaced kitchen cabinets the time he went to a two week business trip in Las Vegas. I am always on the look out for new male toys at our house cause then I can go and buy something I want/ need but thought we could not afford.

THE DEVIL MAKES ME DO IT!!!

Thanks Eileen and Gloria for your posts. I also heard from Lynn. I appreciate your ideas. The George would be wonderful but much more $$ than I could invest now. I am thinking of the easy quilter because it seemed more affordable. To me. Apparently not to my husband. Thought I'd run it by him while I thought about it and he is pretty definite that we won't be needing it right now. Darn! Karen

Karen, I e-mailed you earlier today. This is for any one else who might be thinking of getting an Easyquilter. I used it on one top and did basic stippling. I found it awkward and had concerns about my machine sitting on the wooden platform. I was afraid I was going to have it fall off. I have seen updated versions where they have used a rail system and that seemed like a better proposition. I'm thinking that is the Easyquilter III? I used mine briefly at the show in Huston and liked the price. Should have spent more time with it. And maybe I should set it up and try it again. Gloria

What about the George machine by APQS? It's a sit down machine, you still move the quilt but you have a lot of room.
eileenkny

GloriaH wrote:
Hey Gloria, I'm thinking about an easyquilter III because it seems to need less room to work even on big quilts. I don't see any responses to your previous post though. Did you end up liking it? Is it helpful for bigger projects?
Does anybody else have experience with one? What is your opinion please? Thanks! Karen

Hello
Any one got one of these its the original that you stand/sit by the side of your machine to move the carraige /machine.
I picked up a second hand one but a bit lossed on using it ?

Many thanks
Jackie UK

kmclaugh wrote:
I love it. I have the Sturdy-Lite and a Janome 6500. I've only quilted 5 quilts (all lap-sized) so far. I had some frustrations with thread breakage at first, but trying different thread/needle combinations and thread-path variations helped resolve those. I use a panto on two of the quilts I did and was very pleased with the results.

Eventually I'd love a mid-arm, but that's a ways off in the future. For now, this works just fine for me!

Lisa

Hi, i have had my grace pro for about 3 yrs now. it was pretty simple to put together but that may have been because i was a machinest for 10 yrs. i have mine set up in my den, i am a single lady. it is set for king size. I started out using my singer on it but have just bought the viking 870 which has a 10 inch throat. i am very happy with it. i quilt because i enjoy it, i don't sell my items. the only time i had a problem with my thread breaking i found that lint collected under the bobbin case. i could sew about 2 bobbins worth then every 4 or 5 inches the thread would shred. i talked to my singer dealer and he ask if i cleaned under the case. when i removed the bobbin case there was this little pillow of lint. . now after every bobbin change i clean the lint. haven't broken a needle or thread since. for someone on a shoe string budget this is the way to go. Granny (barbara)

I'm still considering the Gracie frame. Based on the comments here, I figure I could manage up to a twin size on it, and send anything larger out to be quilted. I've also been looking at long arm set ups, and still can't get my mind wrapped around the investment required -- especially given my somewhat low volume of quilts per year.

I noticed a few people said they just set up their Gracies back in December when I first posted. If you're happen to check in on this chain, I wonder if you can tell us what your experience has been?

Thanks to everyone for your input!

vmckenna wrote: I'd stay away from it for anything that large. I had one that I used on crib sized or wallhanging sized quilts. The way it works is by moving the quilt side to side, instead of the machine. Because of that you need a table about twice the length of the quilt.

I liked it for those smaller projects, but moved up to a Grace frame to do larger ones.

Lisa

is http://www.flynnquilt.com/

BethMI

I too am new to quilting. Our local quilt store had free lessons and test runs on the lilltle gracie and it was easy to quilt with. But it takes up a lot of space and was not practical for my home. The Road to california quilt show I was able to try a Flynn quilt frame. It is one where you move the quilt through the machine. But it takes up very little room when not in use. It took me about 20 minutes to put the quilt on the frame and it rolls up very nicely and stays tight so you do not have to baste!!!! I really like that. The cost was about $100 which was also a big savings. I have free motion quilted two quilts and love the ease of this frame. Mr. Flynn was giving demonstrations and let me use the frame for about 40 mins while at the show. I was able to pick up the proper tech. and found it to much easier to use vs the little gracie and the long arm. I suggest you check out the web page for Jeff Flynn. If you are short on space and want and easy put away this is the one. It stores easily when you are in the middle of project and easy to pull back out too.
Hope this helps.