thepolyparrot

My husband is urging me to buy this machine and I just might take him up on it.

What's your experience with it?

Do you miss having a knee lift for the presser foot?

What are your favorite rulers to use with this machine?

I think my decision rests on how good the stitch regulator is with the InSight Table. Does it do a good job of giving you nice, even stitches?

This is my hardest challenge in FMQ, especially after having had MSQC quilt a couple of my quilts for me - the stitching is so perfect and beautiful, it makes me want to cry.

The idea of spending $7,000 on something I might only get to use for a few years is daunting, especially if it doesn't improve the quality of my quilting very much. And I still have to baste the quilt sandwich, my second hardest challenge. I wonder if I'd be better off just having a local quilter baste my quilts on their longarm machines and continue to quilt on my industrial Juki.

Pros/cons/input welcome. Thanks in advance!

CanoePam

I don’t have the insight table, but I do have a Sweet 16, so I can answer a few of your questions. You don’t need a knee lift with this machine because the hopping foot is controlled by a button on the control panel. I default to needle down, and only raise it when starting or stopping. As for rulers, I love the Line-Tamer ruler for SID and other straight lines. I also really like the HQ Versa-Tool ruler. I would recommend you not get a bunch of rulers at first. Buy them as you want for a specific quilt. For example, I don’t like clam shells, but I sadly have two clam shell rulers. I do love long wavy lines so I have three rulers for those with varying depths and curves. I got one from a friend who doesn’t like wavy lines!

I don’t have a stitch regulator because
1. It wasn’t available when I bought mine and
2. I am forgiving of myself for not having perfect stitching.

I might have bought the table if it had been available originally, but the upgrade cost is more than I am willing to spend. No matter what you decide, find a dealer or show with the machine on the table and try it first. Plan on spending at least 30-45 minutes with it. Being a few scrap quilt sandwiches and make them let you practice with a ruler or two.

indycat32

Have you considered the HQ Moxie longarm? I think it's less expensive than the sweet 16.

rryder

I have the Sweet Sixteen with the original table. I bought it used without stitch regulation and I love the stitch quality- so far the machine has been trouble free and I’ve put Nearly 6 million stitches on it since I bought it 3 years ago.

A few months ago I added the original True Stitch regulator (also bought used), but found that although it gives me very nice regulated stitches when I am doing something that needs that kind of precision, it’s a bit of a pain when working on large quilts with rulers as it gets in the way. The new Insight table should overcome that problem because it is built in to the table rather than being a separate module that rides along the table. I decided to upgrade to the new table and am expecting it to come in on Wed. So I’ll post an update this weekend after I’ve gotten it installed and played with it a bit.

some things to consider-

1. Working with stitch regulation takes some getting used to if you’ve quilted for a number of years without it. It took a bit of fiddling around with settings, etc. before I found what works for me using the True Stitch system add on.

2. There are still some times that I choose not to use stitch regulation.

3. Stitch regulation will not overcome tension issues.

Rob

thepolyparrot

Sounds handy, thank you. Thank you - this is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for.

I did find a nearby dealer and plan to make an appointment next week. Thanks very much!

thepolyparrot

I don't really have room for a longarm machine - that's why I'm looking at the sit-down style. The Moxie does seem to be an excellent buy.

thepolyparrot

You do such beautiful work with yours, too! That's kind of what I thought, watching it in action. That will be wonderful! Looking forward to it! I'm sure there'll be some of this old dog learning new tricks if I do this. I know that's right! Because of having so many machines, I
can usually sort out tension issues pretty quickly.

Thanks so much for your input - best of luck with your new table - I'm sure you're going to catch on very quickly.

quiltedsunshine

There are two modes on the Sweet Sixteen: Cruise and Precision. The Cruise continues to stitch at at set, slow speed, even when you stop. You can set the speed you want. The Precision stops dead when you do. There seems to be a big stitch when you start back up from a stopped position, with the Precision mode. So, I prefer the Cruise mode with the In-sight table.

thepolyparrot

Thank you, I'm getting that same impression from several YouTubers. 😊

Do you think the stitch regulator gives you nice, even stitches?

Do you like to do ruler work with your Sweet Sixteen?