Wow, sounds like there are a lot of ladies that have the b-line/juki set up or the juki/xx set up. I was scared to death to try mine! Set it up, loaded a quilt top and went for it. Boy was that a disaster! My tensions were all off, I forgot to put my foot down and worse even, I didn't have a stitch regulator so my stitches were tight and small or long and loose. I made a mess of that quilt top and had my kids help me take all the stitches out. I learned quickly that you don't start with a quilt top! Go to joanns, get several yards of dark solids and a few yards of warm and natural. Load it all onto the frames, use WHITE thread so you can see your stitches and then go for it. Now something you should do before all of this, balance your stitches before using the machine on the frames. Cut a small piece of the fabric, make a sandwich and sew on that as you normally would. Balance your stitches and then move to the frames. Once I figured that part out, the rest was just getting the feel of the machine on the frames, kinda fun and zen like after a while. Have fun, remember, its a quilt and there is no such thing as quilt police! LOL

A mid arm is one like a Juki machine or even a tin lizzy, a long arm is like the ones you see at quilt shows, the big heavy duty ones that cost as much as a small car!

I know how you feel. My friend let me use her old embroidery machine since she has a new one and I am scared to death of it. I have had it for 6 months now and not even attempted to try it.:(

Wish you were closer, we could encourage each other. I have the same feeling. I bought a Bernina 830 and the quilting frame to go with it back in August and still can not use it. It is just so overwhelming to me. I totally understand the guilt.

A long arm is 18" or longer, while a mid arm is ~10-17" in length. It depends on what type of quilting you want to do and how much room you have. You can research both types online.

I personally have a 26" Innova with a stitch regulator (controls the stitches) and a 12 ft wide table. There are many brands of midarms and longarms. Decide on your needs and see what works for you. I used to rent time on a Nolting and then a Gammill at my old LQS, but when we retired and moved, I had room for my own and selected what worked for me. Some smaller midarms/longarms also come as a sit-down table system these days as well as being able to buy a higher end Bernina, which has a frame that you could put it on as a separate purchase.

Go for it. Get right in there with a sample.

Now think back, when you were a young kid and you wanted to stay up late by yourself, weren't you scared the first time your parents went to bed and the house got real quiet and you found yourself up all alone? How about the first time you tried to ride a bicycle? Weren't you scared you would fall over? Weren't you scared to go to bed by yourself after watching a scarey movie? You survived all of those events and you will survive this too. Just find a nice quiet place where you can relax and read your instruction book from cover to cover. Then go back and read it again. Repeat to your self several times "I can do this" and then go for it. Start out using your machine at a slower pace and before you know it you will be just zipping along. Happy quilting and have a happy 2012.

Put in a practice quilt. Fabric that you won't be useing in a quilt and just have fun with it. That way if there is a problem you won't ruin a quilt.

I have been there done that. Just load a practice quilt and jump right in.

Remember, if at first you don't succeed...try, try again!