birgitquilts Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Hi, Browsing some discussions on a longarm list, I came across a review of the circlemaker and other templates by Quilt-EZ (www.quilt-ez.com). They work with a stylus (there's an adaptor for APQS machines) and the template lines are etched into a plastic base (sounds familair, doesn't it?). The prices are considerably lower than what we know of the Circle Lord (which I personally cannot afford right now). So, I'd like to know if there are APQS quilters out there who have any experience with Quilt-EZ poducts? Is this an alternative whorthwhile to consider? Maybe there's even somebody out there who had a chance to try both? Thanks a lot for any feedback. Best, Birgit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchen Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Mine are scheduled to arrive today! I ordered the circle maker and baptist fans. Now I need a window where I can load up a practice piece and try them out. I'll keep you posted. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaliMom Posted June 29, 2005 Report Share Posted June 29, 2005 Wow! They look just like the ones I got last month from Circle Lord for about twice as much money... That hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birgitquilts Posted June 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2005 Gretchen, The circlemaker and teh baptist fan are the ones I'm interested in as well, plus the spiral. Can't wait to hear how you like them. I've just been asked about circle quilting a few days ago... Have fun playing with your new toys, well once they will be there... Best, Birgit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Rooster Posted July 19, 2005 Report Share Posted July 19, 2005 A friend of mine from So. California tried out my Circle Lord templates on her last visit to my house. She recently purchased the Baptist Fan and Clam template from Quilt-EZ and called to tell me that she can't tell any difference between the two sets. She was thrilled with the price and plans to purchase more of their products. If they really are as good as the ones from Circle Lord then half the price is hard to beat. Since I have already spent a bundle on my Circle Lord goodies a part of me doesn't want this to be true, but . . . I hope more people will chime in so we can get a consensus, especially for those of you that are waiting to purchase one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleshoes Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Just got done ordering a set. I just got the stylus and adapter and a set of the spiral design to start. I will have to add these to my xmas list, which is growing by leaps and bounds. Your quilts have been an inspiration to me. I just love gadgets especially if they work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Rooster Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 I spent some time on the Quilt EZ website and talked with a Quilt EZ user and we discovered a couple of differences between their large templates and Circle Lord. The baptist fan is not continuous stitching (which is very important to me) and the clams template is not a true clam. If you look at them both you can see the differences. On the zig zag template Quilt EZ has 6 pattern rows but the Circle Lord has 2 different sets of patterns on a single template plus instructions for 21 different designs. As far as the smaller templates it appears that Circle Lord has much more versatility with an almost endless number of designs. I really love my Circle Lord toys and so far I haven't seen anything that makes me regret buying them. Top that off with great customer service and my vote stays with Circle Lord for the time being. But competition is good thing and maybe the costs will come down. And they talk about BOYS AND THEIR TOYS! To quiltaholi_518, Darlene Epp explains how to post your picture in the link called "Micro Drive" under this same heading, Quilting Gadgets and Goodies. Wouldn't it be great if we could see everyone. Happy Quilting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giftedhands Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 This is pretty easy to use, and everything we buy is PRICEY so get over it all ready! But really, the customer service is great, if you ever have a question, Michael calls you right back or walks you through the process. It doesn't get much better than that! Cynthia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 I have both the Circle Lord and the Quilt EZ and both have a place in my shop. My only problem with the Quilt EZ feathered wreaths is that they tend to slide ever so slightly, but that is enough for the design to not be complete. I have decided to just enlarge the center hole and attach it to the CL clamp. Also their stylus adapter did not fit my Mille, but their 'cutouts' are so close to the CL size, I have just used the CL stylus. Repeated use has enlarged the QEZ designs just enough so they work just fine. After all the money I am spending on all these 'toys', I am seriously considering the CompuQuilter. I am begininning to think the 'end' cost will be about the same, and the versatality is much greater, plus the added benefit of not having as much physical strain on my shoulders. Just my opinion. The customer service with CL is great. Michael is right on the ball at every question and is very patient with those of us who have our 'senior moments'. Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted October 25, 2005 Report Share Posted October 25, 2005 I recently finished my first Baptist Fan using the Quilt EZ template. Not bad, but I did miss in a few spots. Seems I crank the top too tight when lining things up, then when I get to the center of the quilt it has relaxed a bit, causing the double lines of stitching. My next one will be better. I have the Circle Lord, and I love it. I shopped around and decided to try the Quilt EZ big templates as there is a pretty substantial price difference. The biggest draw back was having to attach yet another stylus to the machine...took about 10 minutes, half of which was spent finding my screwdriver. So no big deal. I'm thinking of a clamshell next. Cheryl in Iowa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 They quilt ez has a clearance page, where they have some clam shell templates 32.99 a panel! they tape together instead of the new snaps what a bargain!! they have other panels on clearance too susan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 oops better yet 29.99!!! only nine left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 Hello all - I am trying to decide on either the Circle Lord or now this Quilt-ez system. I like the lower price as long as they work the same. I have been reading many pages of posts, and looking at many photos, I am not sure how the clam shells template is not a "true" clam on the quilt-ez..... could somebody clear this up for me? Does it maybe not connect/sew all the way down to the top of the lower row? (note the clearance clams are all gone already!) I have noticed that I think the Baptist Fan template on the Quilt-ez system looks nicer to me, more correct, but yet it has been said that it is not continous stitching, not sure why on this either. I can see where it might be easier to "loose your place" if you don't pay attention. I would like to find a photo of this stitched design on a quilt using the quilt-ez. Not sure how smoothly one can go around those corners. I don't really like the look of the Baptist fan using the Circle Lord, how the next row does not sew on top of the previous row in the spots were they overlap. Am I saying this correctly - how the upper row of arches sew about 1/2" next to the lower row where you jump up to the next arch. I have found photos of quilts that I am sure used this system. So, am I understanding this correctly..... can a person use some templates from both of these companies with just one set-up or stylus? Is that all that is needed to purchase besides the templates? I did email Circle Lord with a couple of questions a few days ago, asked for an information packet too. Have not heard from them yet, but hopefully will be getting something in the mail soon. Any ideas or opinions? Thanks in advance for any responses! Judi O. APQS Millennium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyL Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 Judi: You might want to e-mail Michael at Circle Lord again. It is unusual for them to not respond for a couple of days. They may not have received your e-mail. I do not know anything about the EZ setup and for the longest time, I held off on getting the Baptist Fans from CL because that little echo bothered me but now that I have it, I love it. I'm attaching a picture of one of my own quilts (my favorite quilt actually) that I put the fans on. I'll also show the back. I am most pleased with the fans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyL Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 I still can't figure out how to get two pix in one post so here's the back: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryRogers Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 Here's the deal-e-o on the fan template that does NOT echo. I personally tested a template that did not echo and it is dang near impossible to do. If you do not have the fabric advance with it's infinet roller positions, you are stuck with the teeth of a rachet and will not be able to get that 2nd row to line up without ALLOT of diffaculty and frustration. Also If the pattern is not continuos, you will have a very fragile baptist fan as you will have to stop and start at the beginning and end of each fan blade. The ease of this echoed fan and the money I make using it in my business makes it worth every penny I spent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherryRogers Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 BTW, I think Michael and Kay have been in California and are expected back home very soon. He will get in touch with you when he is able. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 The quilt ez is continious quilting and lining up is not that hard even with a ratchet system. I simplified it by starting my next row out one inch to avoid that echo look and it came out wonderful and easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judi Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Thanks for all of the quick responses! As you can see I am new to these posts - I have been quilting on a Millennium for almost 3 years now. It just becacame "MY" machine in August. Most of what I do is free hand or ruler work. Not much demand for the pantos around here, but I do have many. I enjoy doing more custom work. Love the photos too! I could spend all day and night here - just getting so many ideas! Thanks again for all the help in understanding. Judi O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circlelord Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Judi, and APQS owners, I thought about posting this in a Circle Lord category, but since the question was asked here, I will answer here. Michael Judi, Sorry, if you have not got an answer from us. We are in California now. I do not have my records, so I can't see received emails before this week. All I can say is that the Circle Lord templates may appear to be more expensive than Qez, but they are, in reality, a better buy because of their multi-pattern capabilities, quality, and ease of using both the template and the stylus. In the case of the APQS machines, we place the stylus where it should be. If any of you Liberty owners with the Circle Lord find you stylus sitting in the center of the table when you pull your machine to the back, write and I will send you the stylus adapter set. I made the Qez Baptist fan style of template and found it to be very time consuming and troublesome. I did not want to sell it to my customers. I tested the Qez style of cross-hatch, but would not sell it. I has two problems. One, keeping track of the corners, and two, the material shifts under the template as you sew, causing uneven cross-hatching. The same happens with the BF. We also looked at putting smaller templates on the CL basic and then moving them to do long patterns. Too time consuming and inaccurate. Now, if you want circles, ovals, crosshatches, we appear to be pricey because you have to have the Circle lord Basic system to use these templates. You can buy the Qez circle templates and stylus for about $100. or you can buy the Circle Lord for $699. What is the difference. It is time, and time is money. The Circle Lord is a precision instrument that places your pattern template on center, accurately, in seconds, and locks it there. The Qez system had concentric circles 1/2" apart,or 1/4" if you use the both templates. The CL gives you a 12" circle with 380 concentric circles from the same template, or circles 1/32" apart. When you look at our other small pattern templates, like the Aztec - a 1000 patterns, for a little over $100., The Ginkgo, 65 flower patterns, Every template we sell has at least 2 patterns. But more importantly, the CL lets you do block after block accurately and rapidly. You just put the stylus in the center of the template, drag it until the needle is over the center of the pattern and the lock the CL with a quick flick of the left hand. Do your sewing, and then move on to the next position. No lifting, sliding and fudging to get the template in place. Consider, if you save 1 hour on every quilt you do in a week, you many have saved $50.00 to $200 a week. We supply a center finder, tools, and a 25 page manual. Loricles has only 2 employees, Kay and myself. At first, we did almost everything including machining the parts. Now we have more parts made outside. We have been making, shipping and servicing the Circle Lord for 4 years now, and customer service is the easiest part. We hardly get any calls or emails. In order to find out how things are going we make random follow-up calls after shipping. Talk about the Maytag man! This is why we don't have dealers. We want this personal contact with each customer. Dealers don't have ownership of the product and can disappear at any time. The Circle Lord's long templates are multi-patterned as well. Our Zig Zag is almost twice the cost of the Qez, but we have fewer cost now, but, with our Patent Pending pin-plate system, you again do multi pattern work, such as crosshatching, ribbons, ruffles etc. You can see all the variations on our webshots pages. We have already discussed the advantages of our 2 BF templates with the Echo pattern co-designed by Sherry Rogers-Harrison. We try to ship a product only when we are sure we should not have to recall it. We are not perfect and have had some design errors. These were fixed as soon as we saw them. I am still working on some areas that I am not happy with, such as the Gammill stylus. No one is complaining, but I don't like having a possible problem. When the new part is made, the Gammill users affected will be asked if they need it, and it will be supplied free with a small mailing charge. Circle Lord owners have paid for a quality product and deserve to receive it. We have never charged for either part cost, or shipping for replacement parts. This includes to Europe and Australia. Most of the time, users have lost or damage the part. Some have even melted it. -Don't ask. The Circle Lord is an investment, not an expense. The Circle Lord is not for everyone. If you are in business, and your time is money, the Circle Lord is for you. If you are just a hobby quilter with the money to spend, the Circle Lord is for you. No pain, all gain. If you want a Circle Lord and cannot justify the immediate cash outlay, you can pay for it as you earn (12 month payment plan) . Or, as with you husband's, boat, golf, or motorcycle, you can have it just for fun. The Circle Lord is not a computer quilter that has to be programmed, yet it does complex pattern repeats with ease, and in some cases faster. It is not a group of hand held templates that are sometimes difficult and time consuming to manipulate. The Circle Lord is a design tool that gets you right on center without moving the fabric back and forth. The Circle Lord crossbar system goes on and off the table in seconds and is never in the way when you don't need it. We are sorry, but we will be coming out with more pattern templates. You don't have buy all of them, but we will have a library of custom designs, such as Celtic Knots and cookie cutter themes eg, Western, Wild Animals, Marine, Teddy bears and Kids things.We also do custom templates at no design charge if they have a library value. Don't take our price list as the final cost. We are giving free shipping and quantity discounts as well as our 12 month payment plan. . Just write and ask for a quote, or call to discuss your personal quilting needs. We give a 30 day after receipt return garranty for any reason, except complete melting. Now that we have our own Millie, it will be even better for APQS Circle Lord owners. Sincerely, Michael and Kay Loricles@loriclesquilting.com www.loriclesquilting.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susanri Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 here is a sample done with the Quilt EZ, The reason I went this way is I only have a ten foot table, this allows me to use the whole table I could only do about 60 inches comfortably with the hartely fence. this took me just over three hours to complete I have the worlds smallest longarm quilt room only 12 feet by 7 feet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsequilter Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Judi, I am relatively new to longarm quilting and I would HIGHLY recommend the Circle Lord and the customer service Michael and Kay give with THEIR product and THEIR customers. I chose the CL for the precision it allows me to have. I used my Circle Lord and all my templates for a personal Challenge at Christmas. I Challenged myself to complete all of the quilting for the 12 table toppers that I made as presents using the 'Circle Lord'. My biggest challenge was choosing from the many designs available. I have the large Zig Zag, Cross hatch, Heartz, Stars, Aztec, Spiral and Stella Templates. I also did one Baptist fan to challenge myself. The photos do not look as flat as I wish. They had all been packed into there boxes before I decide to photograph my personal challenge. Below is a link to the webshots. Hope you enjoy them. Linda http://community.webshots.com/album/546533969bWvEQq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asungrace Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 I have the Quilt EZ Baptist fan and circle maker. I had a problem getting it asttached...I'm challenged at put togethering. But they sent me several models of stylus fix and even called APQS to find out why I couldn't do it, all the while I'm telling them it's me! But, eventually we got it fixed up. (Thewy were quick and I not so much). They work very well and are easy to use. I don't have money for a Circle Lord and now can't see spending it. Their service is soooo good!!! I'm sold!!! Annie in FL Millie "Lola" Originally posted by lsequilter Judi, I am relatively new to longarm quilting and I would HIGHLY recommend the Circle Lord and the customer service Michael and Kay give with THEIR product and THEIR customers. I chose the CL for the precision it allows me to have. I used my Circle Lord and all my templates for a personal Challenge at Christmas. I Challenged myself to complete all of the quilting for the 12 table toppers that I made as presents using the 'Circle Lord'. My biggest challenge was choosing from the many designs available. I have the large Zig Zag, Cross hatch, Heartz, Stars, Aztec, Spiral and Stella Templates. I also did one Baptist fan to challenge myself. The photos do not look as flat as I wish. They had all been packed into there boxes before I decide to photograph my personal challenge. Below is a link to the webshots. Hope you enjoy them. Linda http://community.webshots.com/album/546533969bWvEQq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 I have both Circle Lord and Quilt EZ products. The Circle Lord uses a better quality of plastic material for the templates. I like both, but if money was not a consideration I would buy all of the Circle Lord products. Cheryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 We got in a chat about the Quilt EZ on Longarm Chat a week ago. Most folks like it, but have a great deal of trouble getting it not to move around on the table while they are trying to use it. I love the fact that the Circle Lord stays put! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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