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How did you choose your APQS machine and why do you love it.


Myrna Ficken

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MERRY CHRISTMAS all you quilters out there, long timers, newbie's, about tobie's and still want tobie's

While I was quilting away on my Millennium today I was thinking back to when I got "her"=. I had been quilting on another machine about four years and was ready for a change, had out grown it , just wanted something different, who knows.....While at MQS the year before I had kind of looked around a little at a couple of other brands of machines and went on my way. The next year MQS rolled around and was still "wanting" ........something. I took the plunge and decided I want to try the APQS machines out of curiosity. Even though I felt I was being unfaithful to my machine at home. So over I marched, put my hands on a Millie and it was so sweet, so smooth, so quite, so light, so perfect...... So scary..... I had a machine, it worked and it was paid for! I walked away. About an hour later, it seed like days of torture, I went back and ordered one. She is still so perfect. This is my little story of my Millie . So tell me , how did you choose you APQS machine and why do you love her or him.

Myrna

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Merry Christmas to all

Hi Myrna, I had two other different brands at home when I tried the APQS Freedom at the show at MQS a few years back, but I toooooo feel in love with how the machine felt, it was soooo smooth and quite and LIGHT, I just had to have it. As you can imagine I had no idea where I would put it as with 3 kids, two machines and my mother living in my basement.... but I took it anyways. (had to move my mom into an appt that Oct to make room for the machine LOL). Then one by one I just replaced the other two machines with APQS machines, Now I own one of each, the Freedom the Milly the Discovery and the Liberty, OH no wait I do not have the compu quilter :mad: or the new domestic sit down, and I'd just love to get my hands on the new Stitch Reg. Freedom :cool:but we can't have every thing we want in life:P;) I love my machines and the APQS staff at head office go above and be on the call of duty if ever I need them. The helpful staff the Awesome machines... after 3 years I still know I made the right choice. :D

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First of all, Merry Christmas to all

We have great weather, snowy mountains, not tooo cold and I can leave work for some days to dance with my crystal-star ( I have placed some swarovski crystal on her *G).

The very first time a saw a longarm machine was at an exhibtion at Friedrichshafen were I met Sue. Well, as I was not interesseted at all in machine quilting I oversaw the boot. (I promise, this will never happen again). My friend made some comments,like this IS your business, quite your daily work, start quilting. (hahaha, I thought). Sue and I had a realy good, informativ talk, Phil joined and, yes it was interesting. But still, I had no interest to start up a business. I did not even testdrive the machine. And I forgot about that.

Two or three nights later, I woke up and had that machine in my mind. Isn't that a sign? Surfing the internet, asking for some information material only two companies "survived". Next step - Grand opening at Claudias in Krefeld an 8h train ride from where I live - and the rest is history.

Great People attending in Krefeld, I learned soooooooo much, Great Machine, Great Company, Great Service, Great People in Front and in the Back. I never felt alone, eventhough I was far away from everyone, but as close as a telephone call.

I ppp in the meantime and I feel very comfortable whith her. I like curves, feathers, geometric ones, and she behaves so well. Smaller things that does not work are all my faults due to not knowing better before it occured or not paying enough attention to it.

I wish I would be one or two steps further in my business.

But my time will come.

In the meantime, I love and enjoy reading this forum. And I am looking forward meeting more from you or meet again.

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Well for me, I had my sights on another machine for probly a year. I did alot of research and read the brochures a million times. When choosing I tried to think longterm. I mean after the sale how are you treated and if a problem arises who will provide you some service and compassion at the same time especially when you are a newbie. Also I injured my Right Hand and arm in an accident years ago and weight was an issue for me since my arm has a nine inch metal plate. The machine was wonderful from the first time I touch it. It just felt like the right one for me. The real thing that sold me was the wonderful representatives that work with APQS. They were so wonderful and kind. I knew that wouldn't go away after the sale. I was right and I am very happy about my choice.

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Hello and Happy Holidays. I read about my machine being for sale privately in a weekly shopper (local). I had seen them on Simply QUilts in the past and thought it would be cool to own one. I went to see it and tried it out. I told the lady I was going to try hearts and she said oh don't try those they are hard to do in the beginning. Well... my hearts and loops came out GREAT and I was hooked. I spoke with my husband and he said that's nice but we don;t have that kind of money. I am very determined when I really want something. I did some research online and went to takl to my dad. He agreed to lend me the money for the machine. WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!

In about three weeks I will have owned my Millie for a year. I bought it used (barely) privately. The lady I bought it from paid APQS to move it from her house to mine. When they came to set it up in my basement they were really nice. When they were leaving Mark (I think) said this is just like buying a car; although you did not buy the machine directly from us if you have any problems or questions please don't hesitate to call us. I was VERY impressed with that statement. APQS' staff have been awesome to me!!!!!!!! I mean everyone that I have dealt with in-person or on the phone has been GREAT!!!!!!!!!! In the beginning I had a problem with the stitch regulator and Connie helped me on the phone numerous times. I was very frustrated and then she said you live in Iowa don't you and I said yes, she said why don't you take the head off and strap in into the backseat of your car and bring it down here, we made the appointment for the next day because of course I was on a time line to get quilts out to customers. Everyone at the factory on Carrol was really nice too. It ended up that I had a short in my plug to my stich regulator (not common). I am fortunate that I only live about 2 1/2 hours from them which takes me to my other PLUS for this machine, I love things that are AMERICAN made and Iowa made is even better!!!!!!!!

As for my machine, I love it and it is a work-horse!!!!!!!!!! I have a Millie and would buy the 'green' Millie without any hesitation. No one pays us to say nice things about this company; the people and their products have earned the right for us to say great things because it is true! In an age of hurry this and hurry that I can tell you that many times I have gotten calls back after 5:00p.m. from APQS staff and they don't act like you are an inconvenience or like you are bothering them, THAT is hard to find anywhere.

Anyway, I moved my machine from my basement to a storefront in June and do quilting for other people. It is a great job and everyday I am thankful that I can do what I want for a living!!!!!!!!

Happy Holidays!!

Ramona

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Hi everyone... I bought my Millie about a year ago. I was really impressed when I went to the APQS ... I choose the Millie. It was delivered a year ago last September. I was really frustrated for awhile, as my thread continued to break and the sticthes were not tight.

After MQS in Kansas City, I requested the help of Connie Hurst to help me adjust everything. She determined that their was a burr on the bobbin hook and replaced it. Since that time things have been much better, however, I know that is necessary to clean and oil the machine each time I use it. I always make sure I check the underneath of each quilt to make sure the stitched look good. I have taken a few quilt stitches out and have learned a valuable lesson.

I always clean the bobbin case and change the needle every time i turn it on. I have had great luck by doing this regularly.

I love my Millie... however, I have one year left to work for UPS and when I retire I hope to spend most of my day in the quilting room. My husband fixed up my room very nicely and I am aching to spend more time down there. Thanks...

Barb Wetzel

Ivy Corner Quilting

Altoona, Iowa

Happy Holiday.............

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Greetings, I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday. Interesting topic! Here's my story: I began my journey by requesting information from a few manufacturers 3 years ago. APQS was the only one who included pricing with their initial information, this impressed me and caused much sticker shock. I knew that eventually I'd have to own one but the time was not right just yet. About a year later APQS sent me a ltter that they would be in a city near us and invited us to come try some machines. DH and I went and were very impresses at all the business information they shared with us and all four of their current machines were set up for us to try out. We went home and and returned the next day and purchased the Freedom. A year later I decided that the Freedom was not the machine of my dreams and upgraded and downsized to the Libery. The family at APQS was great and did everything possible to help with the trade in. I've had Glinda for just over a year and we have really hit it off.

One of the big reasons we purchased that day was the way Mark, Carla, DeLoa and Dave made us feel. We could tell it was a real family, small business atmosphere and the support is top notch.

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Well, I purchased a Liberty in 2004. My husband and I went to a product demo, and thought that weight and size, it was a good fit for me (5'4" and 120#). She was a sweet maching, but along about the 10 month mark, I started thinking about upgrading to Millie. I had been doing alot of cross hatching, and the majority of quilts that I see are queen size. Off we went to the AQS show in Nashville, and my husband was with me again. He suggested the Compu-Quilter (yeah, right...) and I stood there in front of the Millenium. He realized the size difference of the machine right away, and agreed that it should have been our first machine. I don't think it was 2 months later our Millie was delivered, and she's wonderful! Even better than her little sister!

But, by far, the biggest seller was APQS. Their sales and support staff is the best, and when I hear the problems "other" owners discuss, and how long they have to wait to get help, I'm so thankful that Mark, Carla, Bob and Connie don't have anything else to do on the weekend but check their email and provide us with the most Awesome Customer Support!

Cynthia

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Guest Linda S

I did a lot of research before I bought my Liberty. I went to different websites and read repair histories, reports of problems from the various makes of machines. I did see a few models in action, but never did try any other machines until I went to see (name removed) in Corvallis. She had a Millennium, which I really liked, but I could tell it would be too big for me, even though I am 5'8" and well, let's just say, BIG! ;) I've had a few car accidents in my time and figured I didn't want to be reaching really far to quilt. I ordered my Liberty and I have been a happy camper ever since. She is light and smooth and I think I am getting the hang of using her! I have since been to several shows, and just to be sure I had made the right choice, I tried a few other brands. You know, I made the right decision from the very beginning. I still love my Liberty best!

Linda

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Happy Holidays...and a wonderful quilt-full NEW YEAR!

A chance to talk about "Rosie"....anytime! I about drove people nuts when I was trying to make my decision on which machine to purchase. We drove over 1000 miles checking out machines and trying out various brands...and the gals were super about letting us into their homes to experimenton their machines...but the "millie" was so smooth and glided so nicely, I tho't this has to be the one. Since I have a disease that affects the muscles and joints I have to pamper myself, and this machine definitely pampers me. I've done 6 or 7 quilts and learning all the time. The only problems I've had so far is thread breaking. During this 3 months I've owned her, the thread has broken perhaps 10-12 times..operator error...I'm learning to adjust the tension and which thread to purchase, etc. So I'm anticipating that little problem is a thing of the past. I keep her oiled and purchased canned "air" to blow out any fuzzes and she purrs along like a great big kitten...in fact, my "GUS" cat spends most of his time up on top of her, or on the quilts that are in her. In the Spring we are building a new home and I will be moving my machine into a shop so hopefully, by that time I will have it's operation perfected even more. This has been fun reading about the reminises of purchasing our machines.

I had a hard time deciding between this and the Proto machine, but after having "Rosie" for awhile now, feel I made the right choice. The only thing I don't like is the monthly payments until I'm almost as old as God!

But if I can get where I can earn a little of it, it will certainly be better.

Thanks again for coming up with this topic...and you all celebrate the NEW YEAR with a designated "sew-er person". A question I have...what kind of auxilliary lighting have any of you installed over your machine to see better with? Bye Now. ML

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Hi Myrna...

I just love reading all these stories. What a great topic!

Here goes my story.

I was very happy piecing away, but when my last quilt top took a year to get back to me I thought surely there were enough quilts out there for yet another longarmer. That was almost four years ago.

I had several companies send me videos when they were available and all the information only confused me even more. My mother in law, Aggie, and I had done quite a bit of traveling relatively close to home to a lot of quilt shows. One of our favorite things to do at these shows besides admiring all the beautiful quits was the vendor mall (of course!!!). I found out that the longarm machines were available for a trial run at some of the bigger shows, so I dragged Aggie to Paducah. There were no less than 7 different companies represented in booths at this show and I tried them all.

For me it was a real no brainer. The APQS machines were hands down the smoothest, easiest to operate, quietest and, frankly, the most handsome machines on the market for my money. Carla wrote up the order before we left for home and, in those days, it took 2 months for delivery.

I've never been the least bit sorry about my decision. Recently I leased 2000 square feet of studio space, bought a second Millenneum and am now teaching classes and renting time on the longarms. Some of my customers are thrilled with this and others still want me to do the quilting. God love every one of them.

Happy New Year to all of you. Sadly, I have to get another year older tomorrow, but on the bright side, I don't have to cook. Some friends are taking me out to lunch and family out to dinner, so it will be a carefree day.

Vicki Swensen

Country Quilt Studio

975 W. Lincoln Hiway, Suite B

Nevada, IA 50201

www.countryquiltstudio.com

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The story...............

Well, last year when I finally talked my husband (aka Santa) into loosening the purse strings a bit so I could get a long arm, I was all set on a Gammill. Everyone I knew, and had had things quilted by had one, and I thought, well, that must be the best. But I worked with a gal who didn't have a machine but was on every longarm site and list, and she BEGGED me to check out APQS.(Thanks Deb!) I wasn't interested, but to humor her, I did research them.

I found that since I have bursitis of the shoulder, the heavier weight of the Gammill Classic would be hard to handle. And also, after looking at everything, there is a part of the quilting area that, if you have to stretch too much to use, just isn't practical. You loose control in those far areas.

So, I love my Liberty, and I love the support from APQS. The only thing I fight from time to time is boredom. I love to quilt, but if I have to work on one quilt for too long, I loose interest. My favorite is samplers, as each block is like quilting a new quilt. BUT, that's how I piece, too...lol. So the TV should keep me on track for a bit, eh?

Thanks for asking, Myrna!

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