7 Reasons Why I DO Need a Longarm Machine

Published: Wed, 05/29/19

Hello !

It’s high time I updated my infamous post from 2011, 7 Reasons Why I DON’T Want or Need a Longarm and share all ways my perspective has changed in the past 8 years.

In this podcast, I read back through the original blog post and share the many ways my opinions have remained the same. Longarms are still huge and difficult to find space for, but I was very wrong on some of my original reasons.

It ended up being one of the longest podcasts I’ve ever shared! If you want to get straight to the topic, just jump to time: 34:00.

7 Reasons Why I DO Want and Need a Longarm - Quilting Podcast #107

Click Here to read the original post 7 Reasons Why I DON'T Want or Need a Longarm.

A lot of points from this post I still agree with:

Spending a lot of money on a machine will not make you a better quilter.
Practice is the key to mastery, no matter what machine you quilt on.
There is no reason to be snobby or elitist or emotional about machine choice, space, or how you create your quilts. I don’t berate myself for “cheating” when I use a power saw! A longarm is a machine and it’s designed to make your life easier. Period.

What I Was Wrong about

My original post was largely based on Feels, not on Facts. I had never quilted an entire quilt on a longarm when I shared that post. That means I got a few details flat out wrong:

Quilting on a longarm IS easier. Moving the machine over a quilt that’s held tight and flat in a frame is much easier than squishing and pushing a quilt through the arm of a home machine.
Quilting on a longarm IS faster. It’s easier to make big movements with a longarm and quilt open, simple designs over the whole quilt. And it’s faster because you don’t have to stop and reposition the quilt every 4 inches.
Longarms are too expensive – Yes, back in 2011, longarm machines and frames were very expensive ($15,000 – $30,000). In the 8 years since I shared that post, the price of longarm machines and frames has come down considerably. I sell two longarm and frame combos that cost less than $5000.

At the same time, home machines have gotten bigger and way more expensive than they were in 2011. These days you have a choice to spend $5000 on a home machine with an 11 inch harp space (Janome Horizon) or a longarm on a small frame. This wasn’t the case back in 2011 and with the excellent competition within the longarm market, the prices will only continue to fall.

Click Here to read the entire post on why I changed my mind about longarm machines.

Bunny News

We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend! I realized last week that my new Champagne D’Argent bunnies were getting way too hot in their new hutch.

All weekend I tried to trouble shoot the issue and set up fans, froze water bottles, and added extra roof pieces to the side. I even stapled fabric over the front and sides too and I found soaking 2 panels with water does help to reduce the temperature.

But the hutch is still getting over 90 degrees in the middle of the day. That’s very dangerous for these bunnies.

Ultimately we decided to get a new prebuilt shed for the yard. It’s the exact same size as the Crafty Cottage I put in a few years ago, but this one will be the Rabbit Ritz. I’m still wrapping my head around the expense, but I know I love raising bunnies already. I can’t wait to get angoras and have a ready supply of fine wool on hand as well!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day