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The decision is made....with 2 questions for you


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I flew down to the Road2Ca show with the sole purpose of investigating longarms. I have been quilting on a HobbyQuilter for 3 years and am ready to step up to the "bigs". I tried all 3 brands many times over the 2 full days I was there.....even had my friend test drive along with me so we could do some comparisons.....

I decided to go with the Millennium! I placed a deposit with the intention of waiting a bit before actually ordering it. I had planned on holding off until our new house is built (2 years) and now I find I can't even wait 2 months!!!! I want it now! It will go into our seldom used living room but that is fine with me and my dh.....

Now I'm waiting for Cheryl to catch her breath so we can order it up!

Now for the questions: Do I go for the 14' table (I will have the room) and do I make the investment in hydraulics now?

What are your experiences with each?

Thanks. Sorry for the length of the post....I'll be shorter next time!

Laurie G. in CA

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I'm excited for you!

I went with the 14' table, and I'm really happy I did. I'm sure the 12' would have sufficed, but there are times that little extra comes in handy. I don't have hydraulics, though I wish I did. Maybe it's just me but quilting from the panto side seems to call for a little lower for me than the freehand side.

Don't worry about being windy, look at a lot of the other posts!!! Yours is great!

Welcome to family! People are really helpful and friendly here.

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Thanks for the replies! I have plenty of room now in the living room for a 14' table. In my next house, my studio will be approx. 16' x 18'. That is still plenty big for a LA, right? I will also have the usual items......sewing maching w/cabinet, cutting table, storage, pressing table, etc. I think I need to make a drawing of the room and make paper templates of all the things that will go in it......yikes!

What size rooms do you all have your LA's in?

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I have a 12 foot table and so far it's all I've needed. My studio is 18 feet by 25 feet. I love it!! My husband and I did the work ourselves, taking more then 1/2 of our two car garage. This is a link to my studio photos.

Congratulations on your new family member. Your going to love it!!

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/555247099GQOZfN

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Laurie, Congratulations. I was advised to get the 14' table so I did. My shop is 19 x19 and I have my serger, my embroidery machine, my DM, a cuttin table my bookshelves, in it and it all fits with the 14 foot table so you should be fine in your new space.

You are going to love learnign to dance with your new girl. She likes to lead sometimes though. LOL

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I have the 14' Table in a 15.5 x 19 room along with all my other stuff and it is NOT big enough! Don't forget to add the extra 8" or so to the length for the motor on the forward advance. I have it along the 15.5' wall and have to squeak by to get to the other side. Sometimes, it is just easier and quicker to slide under it on the floor, now that I have new slick flooring! :P:P

Patty

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I have a 12' table in an L shaped ared 30 X 16 and 16X 42.

Huge area where I have a separate office, sewing area and then my LA area. It's really great, but I wish I had gotten the 14' table. I've done several king size quilts where there was literally 2-3 inches of room left on either side of the table. I checked awhile back about changing from a 12' table to a 14' table and it will cost me about $1000.

Go for the 14' now if you have the room.

Debbi

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Hi Laurie,

First off, welcome and congratulations! You are in for so much fun.

I have the 14 foot table and like everybody else, I would say go with the longest table that you have room for. But...do the drawing with the paper templates.....you'll be amazed at the space your Mille will take up. You need enough room to move around it...I do have mine with the one end butted up against a wall and that is no problem for me.

I have the power take up and really wish that I had the power lift at times...not so much now since I had my hubby raise the table up about as far as it can go...much easier on my neck and back!

I'm so excited for all of you newbies......things have really advanced since I started about 2 and a half years ago. I was rather intimidated at first...took me about 6 months to get over that. And I am truly amazed when I see on this chat board that some just take off and fly!

Have fun!

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Hi Laurie: :) congrats :D on your purchase, I totally get how you feel :D

My Milli came secondhand (last June), so I had to take table that came with......it's 12feet, & so far I haven't needed a bigger table, & to tell the truth I really don't have the room for the 14foot anyway, but one day I hope to add several feet on my quilting room, & either get a bigger table or maybe a second machine (with a CQ)with a bigger table.

The hydraulics, though that would be great, I'm 5'8" so I need my table quite high, no problem I just adjusted the legs (they can go up by about 8") But I have to keep it an average height for working both from the front & from the back. It works, but I wish I could adjust it higher while doing a Panto, especially after working for a long time. & a bit lower to do free-motion at the front.

Anyway enjoy your machine, when it comes, & you wouldn't be the only person who has her LA in the living room, I almost did it myself, & BTW the dinning room makes a excellent adjoining sewing room. ;) In-fact a few folks have commandeered their master-bedrooms to use as Quilting rooms, cause it's the only room long enough to accommodate the length of the table.

I read the "My Studio" threads on the first page, for hints as to how to set up, how much room I needed, & so on, It pasted the time, while I waited for my Milli. to get here.

Have fun:)

My DH just now showed me how to use the spell check on this forum, I'm in heaven Wooh hooo!!!

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I'm holding out for the 14' and the lift. I'm 5'10 and have rhuematoid arthritis so I need to stand as straight as possilbe to keep my back and legs from locking up on me. Being able to raise and lower the frame will let me sit when I need to, also. I decided on the 14' frame because I always tend to make monster quilts and figure others do, too!:D besides the mattresses and box springs now are getting deeper and deeper so I believe the quilts are going to be getting bigger to fit.

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Thanks, Cheryl, and all of the rest of you, for the great welcome. I'm still debating about the table size and the hydraulic system. My room will be 16' x 18' but then, we haven't seen the first rendering of the plan yet! I suppose I could go even larger if need be. :-) I will have made my decision by the time I actually place my order. I only want to do all this one time and not regret any choice I make so I'm inclined to go 14" with the lifts.

I am totally going to love my Millennium!!!!!! All my friends know they are going to have to start producing many quilts so I can pay for this quickly!!!!!

Cheryl - when is your next class and is space still available?

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Laurie, Have hydraulic and it is important for me. I quilt at one height in front; different when quilting from back. Also, am rather ancient and arthritic and just love my milli. So go for that hydraulic lift, if you can. It is so much fun; and I am not even the slightest bit artistic. Loving it anyway.

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Go for the 14' if you've got the room. I don't think you'll regret it. I have the 12' because I couldn't squeeze the 14' into the family room. If I was doing it again, I'd go for the 14' and put the machine in the livingroom. I just finished a larger than normal queen size quilt and I had to take my shelf off of the end of my machine and just barely had enough room to set my machine off to the side overnight or when cleaning the bobbin.

I'd like to have the hydraulic lift. I'm only 4'11" so I have my table set as low as it will go. I have problems with my neck and shoulders so there are times that I would like to be able to move it just a little bit so that I could hold my head or shoulders a little differently. I might get less stiff if I could do that. So if you can afford it, do it.

Phyllis Hughes

Oklahoma City

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Thanks Gardenslug and Phyllis! Just what I needed to hear! I am also vertically challenged - barely 5'1"! I did notice at the show that I couldn't see what I was stitching when working from the back. I think having to raise and lower the frame manually would be more trouble that it's worth.

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Welcome Laurie. I'm a "wanna-be" too, and if I could I'd certainly buy the 14', as I tend to make big quilts too for people's beds. I like to make things people actually use as well as wall hangings. Go for the gold, I always say, if you can. All that can happen is that you realize later you've never used the hydrolics or the extra two feet, and maybe you'll want to resell it and buy a smaller one, but I doubt it. After all, your descendents might want at 14' and you'll be able to will it to them free someday! LOL!

Funny thing just now... I must be reading too many of these. My 12 yr old came in and bugged me once too often and I told him he was supposed to be practicing his quilt so he'd better go and do it!

Happy quilting all!

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Go for 14", mine just barely fits in one end of our bedroom but I don't care. Yesterday I took out a quilt top that I had saved for while and I was amazed that it was a bull 110" x 110". Even my queens are big. Our bed is a king size and you want it to hang down at least so it looks decent over the dust ruffle and if you want it to the floor you need it even bigger. Check out the Quiltmaker magazine, they have resized all of their quilt sizes to accomodate the newer thick puffy matresses and larger beds. I don't have the hydraulic lift and I don't think I need it, maybe in the future but for now I have the machine set exactly how it came and it is perfect. And, you need your machine now! Then you can see how you work and what your needs will be in your new space. You will be surprised at what changes you will make to your new quilting space once you work with this machine awhile. For example, I now know how important a decent place to press large quilts and square up backings is; trying to figure out how to accomodate that, maybe we should move the bed out of our bedroom. You think? Just kidding!

Cher

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I have a 12' table and have quilted over 800 quilts and haven't needed a longer one, though I suppose there may come a time when the 14' table would be needed. Congratulations, I love my Millie. I sewed on a Gammill for 3 years in a quilt shop before getting my own machine and would never go back to a Gammill. I think you made a wise choice.

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Hey Laurie,

Get the 14' if you have the room, I have a 12 ft and have needed a 14' several times because of large quilts. Get the lift, I just installed mine a couple of months back. I'm 5' tall and it's a must because it's not easy to change heights without it and you need the different heights on back vs front work.:cool:

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I keep hearing about how you can change the height of the machine. How do you do it without the hydraulic thing? I have had severe pain in my shoulders, got a cortisone shot and am on pills until they do an MRI to see if the rotator cup is torn. I have stopped quilting on the Millenium and just use the Mega quilter as I can stand up straight with that. Can only do that for an hour at a time. Frustrating! Maybe I am too old for this. 75. But I still have a bunch of my quilts to finish before I die. I do not quilt for others as I am not good at it. Some of my quilts were nice until I tried quilting them. I mainly give them away or donate them. We bought the house next door to put the machine in as I ran out of room in the main house.

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I decided to get the 14 foot and I am happy. I saw someone say it above, but given the chance I tend to make really big quilts. We have a CA King, and I like it when the quilt hangs over the mattress to the dust ruffel. That way, from all angles, both the bed and the quilt look nice.

I also got the hydrolic lift. I use it a lot. Some uses are lifting the back and using as a light table box. Or just changing the position of my back.

Other advice - Measure, Measure, Measure how you will get the bars to their final destination. We didn't have issues but John, Mary, my husband and I had to stuff them through the basement window. If I didn't know they would fit, I would have had a coronary if they got stuck. I can just hear my sorry explanation now . . . "Hmmmm Honey, soooooo, we tried to get them in the house and weeeellllll, they just didn't fit the way I thought. Soooooo . . ." I'm sure you get the rest. He already thinks I'm nuts half the time

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