What Size Longarm Quilting Frame Should I Get?

Buying a Longarm Machine Quilting Frame

Over the past 16 years that Kathy and I have been in the machine quilting industry we have seen a lot of changes.  When Kathy bought her Gammill Classic there weren't as many choices on machine frames to purchase as there are now. There is a lot of confusion as to what a longarm, shortarm, or midarm machine frame is.  I see online sellers calling a nine inch throat Juki 2010Q a longarm.  This serves only to confuse many people new to machine quilting.  This blog post will help you to understand the differences between the various quilting systems and how to determine which one will work best for you and your budget.

With the way things are in the world these days most people don't have lots of extra money laying around earning interest and making them rich.  When you are looking for a machine quilting system, which consists of a sewing machine or machine head, and  a machine frame, you need to make a list of what you want to accomplish with your frame, limitations for space, and physical limitations you might have.  If you have plenty of room for a machine frame and you don't have any limitations on how long you can stand, then you want to get the largest frame you can afford.

How large of a frame do I need?

With a king length frame you have the ability to quilt king or smaller quilts.  Many people will load a quilt that is longer than it is wide sideways on their frame which will allow them to quilt a longer row without needing to roll the quilt as often. If you only do queen size or smaller quilts having a king length frame can still be a huge benefit.

 Machine quilting frames usually come in King, Queen, or crib lengths. Just because your frame says that it is a queen doesn't really mean that you can do a queen size quilt on it.  If your frame has frame rails, poles, that are 96 inches, then you need to figure that some sort of side tension system, to give your quilt tension from the sides, will take up about five or six inches on both sides of your quilt. You are left with about 84 to 86 inches of usable quilting area.  You also need to have room on one or the other side of your quilt to change a bobbin.  Most machines that are used for machine quilting will have the bobbin be accessible on the end of the machine by the needle.  If the machine you want to use with a frame has a drop in bobbin, you will want to look for another machine as soon as you can afford one.

If you only do queen length quilts having a king length frame will allow you to have plenty of room for side tension and to change a bobbin on either side of your frame.  There are some quilters that will use that extra space to load a narrow practice strip to the side of their real quilt to practice a motif or design, and when they have it looking like they want, they roll over to the part of the quilt that they want to quilt and quilt what they just practiced. You can forget what you just practiced by the time you take your practice quilt off your frame and pin on your real quilt.

How large of a machine head do I really need?

This will mostly be determined by your budget. Longer is better isn't it? Not necessarily. When we were at HMQS in Salt Lake City this past May, we saw all the major longarm machine frame companies. A longarm is really a machine that has about 20 inches of more of throat length. There are some that will tell you that 16 or 18 inch throat machine heads are longarm machines but we won't argue who is right, we will just say the big dogs like Gammill and all the longarm clones were there. We would have people come to our booth that said they had to have a machine that was 24 or more inches long. These people were abut five foot nothing and they want a machine frame that their short arm reach wouldn't allow them to use all of that forward and back movement. Kathy and I both stand about six feet tall and a machine frame that offers 18 inches would be plenty for us. Kathy has a Gammill Classic that has 26 inches of throat space but if she were to do it over again, the Juki Virtuoso frame would handle anything she would want to quilt. If you have long enough arms and you know you will be quilting for a business you might consider a machine frame with a larger capacity. The Juki 2200QVP Quilt Virtuoso Pro is a great machine frame because it gives you enough quilting area that you aren't rolling your quilt every time you turn around but it isn't so large that you are wasting the capacity of your frame.You want to be close to your quilting with having to use binoculars to see your quilting. The Juki Virtuoso frame allows you to raise your quilt up where you don't have to strain your eyes to see what you are working on.
This blog post is mostly about longarm machines but there are those of us that don't have the money to spend on a longarm machine frame setup. Getting a Juki 2010Q and a Gracie King is a great solution for you if you fit in this category. You can learn to quilt just as well on a shortarm machine frame as on a longarm. Don't feel that just because some sales person that wants to big commission tells you that you have to get a larger setup that anything smaller is just a waste of time. The machine frame isn't want will make you a better quilter, practice, desire, and the right help make all the difference in the world. We help people become great quilters, that is what KathyQuilts.com is all about.

Should I buy from a local shop?

This is a question that we have dealt with for years. Stylish Fabrics / KathyQuilts.com is located in Logan Utah. Granted not all of our customer can come right to our shop and get help, but they can get all the help they need through phone, email, Skype, or FaceTime if they have a iPhone or iPad. But what if I have a problem with my machine? The beauty of the Juki machines we sell is that they almost never break down. We have been selling Juki machines for about 12 years and have only had a few come back. Most of the problems people encounter are user error. We sew off every machine before shipping them out so we know they are perfect and ready for you to use. This has saved us so much time in the long run. Juki builds great machines but they are still learning about machine quilting and setting up machines so they tension is set for quilting. In our experience most quilt shops sell so many machines and other items that they don't have any one person that is really an expert on using a quilting frame. Juki is trying to train their dealers so they are more knowledgeable than most dealers, but taking a class is a far cry from making someone an expert. Kathy has been machine quilting for nearly 16 years and is one of the most successful quilters in Utah if not the nation. She quilts for people all over the world. She almost always has a four month or so back log turnaround time. Not that she is slow but because she has so many people that want her to quilt for them. 
If you think that just because you can drive to a shop and buy your machine that you will get better service I can tell you straight up that the chances of there being anyone there that can help you to get the most out of your machine frame will be very slim. Those shops might offer classes along with the purchase of your frame but you should ask to see some of the work those teachers done. Ask them how many customers they have or how far they are out with their quilting backlog. If they are just "teachers" then you might want to carefully consider if you actually know more than they do. It isn't much of a benefit if you know more than the person that is supposed to teach you. Click here to see a small sample of the quilts that Kathy has done.
Kathy and I have our video and eBook library that will teach you most of what you need to know. We also are available six days a week to answer any question you have about quilting, or buying a quilting frame. There are a lot of quilts out there that could have looked so much better if the quilter that did them could have understood that quilting isn't just running a machine over the quilt and sewing, two pieces of fabric and batting together. When you quilt your quilting should help to bring out the personality of your quilt. Let Kathy and me get you started on the path to better quilting. Quilting is fun when you know what you are doing. Anyone can learn to machine quilt with enough practice. If you get the right help from the beginning you will have less frustration and turn out quilts that you can really be proud of that aren't just stippled. Remember that you spent a lot of money on that fabric and batting, don't compromise on how your quilt turns out. If you learn to freehand quilt you can branch off from there and use templates, rulers, guides, templates, and pantograph patterns and never be afraid of quilting your quilt again.

Thanks,

Lynn
KathyQuilts.com