Handiquilter Sweet 16

[Paula D.]

I just watched the videos David Taylor made for Handiquilter - they're great, and very instructive. Then I got online and ordered one right away! I haven't been this excited about quilting in a long while! Anyone else have experience with this sit-down long arm machine?

[Paula D.]

I have no experience with it, but I would love to have one!!

[Cheryl K.]

I have it's "older sister", which is the original HQ16. Very nice machine and you will enjoy your free motion quilting with all your new sewing space!

Your Sweet 16 has new lighting and an easier to access stitch screen with the ability to keep 3 preset stitch speeds as you determine. Very nice. But the main thing is that it is a solid machine, with large M sized bobbins and will be a true workhorse of a machine.

Congrats!

Kim

[Lynn K.]

Hi PD,

I knew I couldn't stand for hours and use a LA but also wanted to quilt my own tops. My Janome 6600 is adequate for fairly large quilts, but I didn't seem to be able to make it work the way I imagined it should. After lots of research (and talking to Margo!!!) I decided on the HQ16. I never really made FMQ work for me on the Janome, so of course I had to learn the hand/eye/foot coordination of that whole concept.

I have the older HQ sitdown and have really fallen in love with it and what it does for me. It has taken me quite a long time to finally get up my courage to really, really, spend the time on it necessary to have it do for me what it CAN do, however. So I hope by posting this admission, I will encourage those of you just purchasing to 'just get in there and give it the time it takes!'

Here are a few shots of what is happening now in my little corner of the world: not perfect, but I'm not striving for perfection. I just want to learn control. So with that in mind, I'm challenging myself to do really intricate patterns.



There is a yahoo group for HQ sit down you should check out. That's where you will get ALL of your questions answered and we have some people on there who are very intimately acquainted with the inner workings of the machine!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HQ_Sit_down_Model/

Lynn (hope this helps)

[Betty D.]

I got the S16 several months ago. I really like it. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dedicate enough practice time. I went to NQA yesterday and got some rulers to use with it and am anxious to give them a try. Thanks, Lynn for steering me to the Yahoo group. That has been a big help. Your work is great! I hope to someday do as well.

[Kathryn S.]

I just got the HQ sweet 16 sit down 3 weeks ago. I love it! It is so much easier to manipulate the quilt with the HQ than my Janome 6600, which I also love ( I needed to say that so the Janome wouldn't feel bad). I've quilted two small tops so far. I also noticed that David Taylor has 2 DVD's for the HQ out, I was wondering if they were worth buying? I'm an experienced machine quilter. It was hard to tell if the first DVD was just about basic machine quilting, so I might not need that one if it is.
Also, I saw that it's possible to use rulers but I can't really see how! Anyone with experience with rulers on a sit down machine?
I can't wait to see what we all do with this!
Kathy

[Lynn K.]

Check out the HQ sitdown Yahoo group for lots of ideas, helpful hints, and other goodies.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HQ_Sit_down_Model/

[Kathryn S.]

Lynn, I'm a member of that group. I remember seeing a photo of your quilting in the past few days over there.
I'd like to order David Taylor's DVD's, just because I enjoy watching him. Maybe next month I will do that.

See you over on the Yahoo group too , Kathy

[Lynn K.]

David (although I don't PERSONALLY know him) is such a stand up guy and such a sweetheart. I watched him and talked to him at Houston Quilt Festival a couple of years ago while he was on the HQ - actually it was the year I bought mine. I got one of the demos that year. I loved that short piece TQS did on a visit to his home recently. You get a real feel for the artist!

[Betty D.]

Lucky you, Lynn. I also subscribe to QNN. David is featured in a series of the Quilt It programs. A lot of good info there! I was glad to see that he quilts my speed--SLOW. I would love to get to take a class from him.

[Lynn K.]

oh, i'm also a slow quilter. keep it set between 20 and 30!

[Paula D.]

Thanks, all. Just found out I'll need different needles, bobbins, and I already ordered the open-toe foot. I joined the yahoo group. Sticking with my Bernina 440 for piecing, with it's narrower feet. Every time I think I "have it all", something new comes out!! And David? I wanna pinch his cheeks!! ops:

[Jo H.]

I'm so excited that I got in to David's organic quilting class. He will be in Oregon during October for the MQX show.

[Lynn K.]

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

JO Jo
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Cheryl K.]

Jo Jo - I am also on the envy list. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Would love a class from David but it would surely take some travel for me and that's not going to happen soon. Keep us posted about your experience.

I don't know David but I did get to meet him in 2009 and sit and stitch next to him at the first HQ My Story event. I was really struck at the pace of his stitching. I have played on the Avante and was really blown away at how fast the machine stitches. I think that made me feel like I wasn't "keeping up" as I was getting to know my machine. Watching David showed me that I CAN slow down to a pace that's comfortable for me. When following a marked pattern, I often set my stitch speed to 20, which seems really slow but it is a pace where I can keep control. Large areas of stippling might get a higher speed of 25 - 28. Saving your favorite stitch speeds (up to 3) is an option new to the Sw16.

Also, you would really love to have the horizontal thread spool for lighter weight threads....and the new open toe foot. It really helped with visibility.

Here is the link to the yahoo group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HQ_Sit_down_Model/



kim