Monday, April 15, 2013

So this happened...

I spent Saturday at the New England Quilt Festival, formerly MQX. I forgot my camera, but I did post a couple of pics to Instagram of some of the quilts. The show features more traditional quilts, but with some phenomenal machine quilting that any quilter can admire. The vendors didn't have a ton of modern fabric, and I only came away with a couple of yards of fabric from Sew Fresh Fabric. 

I did come away with a new toy though... 

I had been thinking about buying a long arm for a little while now, and after test driving a bunch of brands, I narrowed my search down to Gammill and Handi Quilter. I spent quite a bit of time at both booths at the show, test driving the machines again and talking to the folks in the booth about the machines. 

I really liked both of them and probably would have been happy with either, but ended up going with Handi Quilter for several reasons. First, they had a REALLY good deal going on. Second, the rep and repair folks I would be working with were out of a shop I'm familiar with and have a good reputation for machine repair. Third, the Avante had a more flexible table. With Gammill, I could only set up the table to one size and that would be it forever. With HQ, I could set the table up at 4', 6' or 10' and can buy additional 2' sections if I needed it. 

So, I have to wait for this to ship to the store and for them to set it up, so I likely won't be able to play with it for a few weeks. So expect to see me practicing on a bunch of panels and the like. I have a bunch of old quilt tops that have yet to be quilted that I'm sure I'll practice on as well. 

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like you made a great decision! I am so excited for you and will love to hear about your adventures in becoming an amazing longarm quilter!

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  2. Awesome!!! I can't wait to see what you do with it:-)

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  3. I was at the show and I did enjoy the quilts and quilting. I only bought a large cone of piecing thread. Have sew much fun with your new machine! :) Pat

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  4. How fun!!! Have fun with the new toy once you get t! :)

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  5. Woohoo! Can't wait to hear all about it and see what you make!

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  6. So exciting! Congratulations!

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  7. Congratulations!! What a great investment. We went to look at a used Avante at a LQS, but decided it was too large for the area where I would set it up. Have fun.

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  8. Congratulations, Jen! I really like the HQ Avante too. I tried this couple of times and have already started dreaming of owning it one day ;).

    Enjoy the quilting once it arrives, its lot of fun.

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  9. I came to the same conclusion after QuiltCon about the long arms. Congrats on your new toy.

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  10. How exciting! That is the perfect show to buy a machine. We Rhode Islanders were sad that the show didn't work out in Providence. I hope to make it to NH next year.

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  11. Congratulations! I just bought my longarm recently and have been having so much fun! The wait from purchase to delivery seems like an ETERNITY though. I think it's so interesting how buying a longarm is like buying a car--there really isn't one "best" machine, you have to find the one that is right for you. Sounds like you made a good choice. Good luck and have fun!!

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  12. Congratulations and your quilting world has just expanded! I also got the HQ18 late January and love it more each day!

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  13. Congratulations! I was looking forward to going, taking a class or two & checking out all the longarms. Instead I got a cold last week & didn't feel up to the drive.

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  14. Awesome!!! I dream of getting a long arm someday!

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  15. Congrats...I have the Fusion and know the HQ people. You cannot be with a better company. I've been delighted with the quality of service, and integrity of company (and the machine quilts like a dream too!)
    Margaret Gunn

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