Can anyone reccomend a machine for quilting and patchwork?

[MoreRainbowsPlease]

I do a lot of patchwork and quilting. I have a Janome 7025 which I love and suits my needs, but I am wanting to do larger quilts and I can really do larger than single bed sized quilts on my current machine due to the space between the needle and the upright part of the machine.

I have stared to look at long arm machines, but I am completely confused as they seem to have a lot of functions. The ones I have looked at have embroidery functions which at the moment I am not fussed about, but might be something I would use if the machine did it.

I still don't really know what I should be looking for so does anyone have any experience of long arm machines, or can recommend one, or give me some starting points to help me narrow them down?

T

That should have said I can't do larger than single bed sized quilts on my current machine.

Bumping for you as I’d like to know this too!

I have the juki 2200qvp mini for quilting and i love it. It was pretty expensive but nothing like a long arm. The large throat makes larger quilts possible. It’s double the speed of a domestic machine. It can only do straight stitch and of course free motion quilting. Look it up on youtube

I’ve got a large Janome. It’s a Memory Craft 8200 QCP special edition. I’ve quilted a king sized quilt on it. The throat is 11 inches and it came with a large extension table. In an ideal world I’d have a sewing table that the machine could be dropped in to.

It’s an amazing machine and I love using it. You could have a look at something called the Handi Quilter. It is £££ but you could maybe turn it into a business.

Thank you Necterina, I have seen the Juki's come up highly reccomended on a few sites so I will have a deeper look into those. Do you think you could quilt a double or kingsized quilt on yours? That is what I am having difficulty finding out.

Duex, I have looked at the Janome's as I love mine so much and have been so pleased with it, but it is the price I struggle with. they are more than my car! I probably could justify it as if I had it for years it's value per year would be great. I do sell some of my work so I could try and make it pay for itself. 11 inches does sound good as my current machine is 6 1/2.

I have the Janome 8200 too, and it's great. (I also have a Horn cabinet so it sits into the drop down section of that, just about, it's a bit of a squeeze.) I particularly like the knee lift as I'm echo quilting hexagons at the moment so the quilt turns every 3 or 4 inches and the whole thing goes under the arm with every revolution, using the knee lift is quicker than the foot lever.

I got mine on offer so it was €1600, which is quite a lot, however I am enjoying it.

My mum is a quilter and she swears by Bernina

@MoreRainbowsPlease I know what you mean about the £ for the 8200. I did get a huge discount on mine as I bought it at the Sandown quilt show. I’ll try to find the receipt as I’m sure the company do similar offers online.

I tried to justify the expense by looking at how much it would cost to get a king size quilt quilted by a long arm quilter. I can’t remember now but it was several hundred pounds. Also the one I got came with all the different quilting feet and some of them are quite expensive to purchase and as @BlackAmericanoNoSugar says things like the knee lifter are all included.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar do you think the Horn cabinet is worth it? When I was doing my last quilt I ended up stacking a pile of books around the extension table to stop the quilt catching.

@Deux I do think the Horn cabinet is helpful. I have had mine for a long, long time so I don't really remember working without it. I'm pretty sure that I bought it at Ally Pally in the early noughties. The quilt I'm quilting at the moment is spinning right round like a record baby and there's nothing really for it to catch on. A few times it has knocked something off the little shelf that's on the inside of the door.

I have an Outback and find the extendable table at the back quite useful for supporting very large quilts. It has also been handy in the past to be able to push the machine down and close up the whole thing when I used to live in a flat and had my cabinet set up in the sitting room. It's a really sturdy thing, I've had it for ages and it's had hard use but it looks the same as it did when I got it, except for a very tiny crack where a burglar jumped on it to open a window.

What I would say specifically in relation to the 8200 is that I can't use an insert with it because it's so huge, I just push the machine right up against the front and left side and that's good enough. It is quite a snug fit and therefore a little fiddly to insert the power cord and the foot pedal connection. The other thing is that the hydraulic lift still works but it feels as though it's near its limit for weight. As I say, my cabinet is very old and these machines didn't exist back then so they may had modified the design now. I would check with the manufacturer.

I've had a quick look online and it does seem as if they have modified slightly, the Outback is now Maxi Outback and they say it fits all sewing machines. They've also fixed the problem with knocking things off the top shelf by overhanging the top.

@MoreRainbowsPlease yes you can. Its never going to be as comfortable as a proper long arm but its a twentieth of the price and size. I’ve just quilted a 2m x 2m quilt with ease and no swearing. What i would like to add though is that spray basting quilts had made things loads easier. Maybe you already do this, but for me its made a massive difference. I was going to buy the extension table, but I’m not sure i’mm bother as i’m getting the results i wanted with the table it comes with.

Thank you everyone, all the advice and recommendations are fab and exactly what I needed to guide me at what to look at.

Duex, I am looking at it that I make several quilts a year so if I sent them off to be done professionally then it wouldn't take many and it would be the cost of the machine. Also the machines seem to hold their value pretty well so if I did ever decide I'm not using it enough I would be able to sell it.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar thank you for the advice on the horn cabinet. They are also on my wishlist.

nectarina, I don't spray baste my quilts atm, but i will try it on my next one.

@MoreRainbowsPlease I found my receipt and I paid 1399 for my machine from Sew Creative in Norfolk in 2018. That said it was delivered directly from Janome. I think that was quite a hefty discount.

I know certainly before coronavirus some of the big sewing machine retailers were offering zero interest finance so that might be something to look at.

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar thanks for the info about the Horn cabinets. I’ve had my eye on one for yonks; maybe one day!

I recently bought. Janome 7700, on eBay, hardly used. I love it. It has a huge throat and built in walking foot.

I treated myself to a pfaff 720 last year , which is a lovely machine with a decent amount of space to the right of the needle . However my top tip is to try ‘ quilt as you go’ method as it’s so much nicer quilting 12 inch squares and then joining them . I used a book called quilt as you go by jera brandvig ( she’s also on you tube I think ) and there’s also June Taylor pre printed wadding if you want a simpler way of getting started .

bernina 770qe here.

i love it.

stitch regulator has changed my life.