Monday 6 June 2011

If Size Matters ....

... and size matters to me!  When it comes to quilting on my New English Quilter frame, my Juki 98P does the job fantastically.  But, only with 9" sewing arm space!

Just imagine!


So if you could stretch your machine, to achieve your dream machine, just how big a sewing arm would you have and why?  Tell me what size you would want and why that specific size.

Me, well, the minimum would be 16" but ideally 18".  When I'm quilting on the frame, by the time I get to the end of a quilt the rolled up quilted layers can be about 6" thick.  That equates to a 6" loss of quilting space between the needle and the back of the arm.  I'd like to quilt 12" blocks in one swoop of the needle and not roll the quilt back and forth to finish it.  18" would give me that freedom.  What luxury! 

So come on ladies,
tell me, what size matters to you,  and how would it make all the difference?



10 comments:

Judith, Belfast said...

The bigger the better I say! For me it comes down to what I could afford, as always! I would like the flexibility to do much more fmq rather than patterned quilting, but don't know how big an arm I would need to achieve that! Jxo

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

I'd like an arm long enough for you to be sat at the 'action' end, and me at the other in charge of the buttons and knobs!

Canadian Abroad said...

I am so dissapointed. I thought that was a real machine with that space until I read your 'imagine'. I almost had a new toy to covet.

Contented Caroline said...

The bigger the better I say, but only as long as I can afford it otherwise the green-eyed monster in me might just come out!!!

Anonymous said...

My APQS is 20inches and I can quilt quilts 2.5m x 2.6m

and find that more than big enough.
cheers
Christine

Kim Brackett said...

I'm with you -- the bigger, the better!

QuiltSue said...

Big Bertha has a 17" throat, which works well with my frame so I reckon anything from 17" - 22" is good.

Sparky said...

Good Question Trudi....since I do not do any kind of machine quilting...I like the size I have..just a normal baby lock...guess I never thought about it before...I probably spend 1/10 of the time at my machine vs hand sewing and quilting...Like I was any help lol

Pattilou said...

I was looking at an APQS machine with an 18" throat the other day. That is what Pat Sloan uses, I found out. It would be something that allows control over what you are stitching. I'm still dreaming too. The throat on mine is way to small to quilt anything but smaller quilts.

Miki Willa said...

I would love for my Juki 98P to be that long. In the meanwhile, she does a nice job for me, but it is nice to dream.