epprog Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 My sister is a quilter looking for a new DMS (looking at a 6600 Janome) and possibly a Gracie frame. Though I am getting an APQS she still lives over 1,000 miles away and would really still like to quilt her own tops. I personally really love Pfaff DMS machines but you know salespersons! The salesperson tells her that the 6600 Janome will give her 9 inches of throat space for her Gracie frame but if she wants to do queen size quilts I think this would still be too small by the time you start rolling it a few times. I would really value your opinions on the Gracie machine and the Janome brand of DMS machines. Cher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerri Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Hi Cher, I think she could only get at best 6 inches of actual quilting space at the beginning of the quilt. There are ladies who do it. If your sister is staying in the 9 " throat size, I don't think think the 6600 is the way to go. It has the variety of stitches offered in any advanced sewing machine but with the nice 9" throat. So if she were going to run a quilt under it with free motion quilting that would be great, but with a frame, she should stick with a regular straight stitch only machine. I have read that people find it a hassle to switch the machine back and forth for piecing and quiltings. It also seems a lot of stress on a computerized machine where the needle bar is set up to move for decorative stitches, but that is just one person opinion. I believe the Janome's is a 1600 , Brothers is the 1500pq, Babylock is the Quilters choice Pro, Viking is Mega Quilter, and Pfaff is the Hobby Grand. All are 9" throat and straight stitch machines, that will work on the smaller frames. I would check ebay and the various Yahoo lists, because I have seen many come and go, some with frames, from gals who have tried quilting and changed their minds so she could probably get a good deal. I use a the HQ16 which is a 16" throat, on Handiquilters Portable Professional Frame. I get a good 12 1/2" quilting space. It costs quite a bit more than the 9" machines but a lot less than larger longarms. It works really well and the stitching is great. JFYI HTH Kerri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belquilt Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Hi Cher, Kerri is absolutely correct about the hassle of switching back and forth, the computerized machine comment and the actual quilt space. I recently purchased a Liberty, but until then I used a Babylock QCP with a Hintenberg Frame for two years. Meandering was great and I got pretty good at SID, but when it came to larger quilt motifs, the Babylock came off the frame and I would pin baste, then quilt Queen and King size quilts using the ole' push the fabric thru the machine method. It worked and took some time. And patience. I only know of one person who had a Janome and their experience was not positive. She switched to a straight stitch only machine, I believe she got a Juki. Maybe a APQS George is something she could look at also!! I came very close to buying on of those, due to space, but found a 10' table would fit in my room. The HQ 16 is a nice machine as Kerri commented on. And with a stitch regulator its nice for the price. Do have her check on local support though!!! There are so many options right now. If she could go to a show and try a lot of these out or visit dealers that would be great too. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted November 3, 2006 Report Share Posted November 3, 2006 Have her look at the hinterberg and voyager 17 set up it costs under 3000 has 17 inches of throaght space, stitch regulator which would allow your sister to do queen the draw bag is that thing weighs about 70 lbs there is also a singer that has been modified to be a stretch that may not weigh as much. you can find those on ebay. I have heard some very good things, I don't know if there are tention issues but there are yahoo boards for those machines with lots of happy users. That sales lady sort of mis spoke yes there is 9 inches but part of that space gets taken up with the roller and the quilt as it winds up so when I had the juki and the grace I was lucky to have 3 inches of space towards the end o the quilt not much you can do with that. and FORGET unloading and turing the quilt and quilting in from the other side how anyone does this gets my total admiration as it squeezed in I always had bunching where it met, and trust me if you think loading is fun imagine taking a half qilted quilt and loading it again to meet perfectly from the otherside. I had the grace and Juki and did not have one happy moment together nothing but tears and frustration. My buddy has the pfaff grand quilter and loves it. so its worth trying out I kept the juki to piece with and sold the grace frame and got a used ultimate II which I spend happy hours together with, on this board and all the others everyone says you have to try it and find whats right for you, have your sister take that advise. look try and find what you will be happy with from the start. but I can not imagine running a good computerized machine around a frame Beth is right stick the the straight stitch for that you don't want to blow out the gears and motor runng it at full blast. hope she finds what she is looking for but take her time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epprog Posted November 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 First of all, thank-you very much for all those that responded, I couldn't even FIND the post and had to do a search so I don't even know how you found it! There is awesome information here especially about putting a computerized machine on one of these smaller quilting frames, never even though about that! Just one more thing, Please Please give us your thoughts on Pfaff versus Janome, good and bad. As I said before I prefer my Pfaff but we need ideas! June and Cher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 M daughter sold pfaffs,, however she preferrered the feel of our Juki better for what ever thats worth, I asked her why she realy didn't know. I have had a Pfaff for 20 years with out problems -- both are great machines its mostl likely going to be what feels good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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