Homesteader - the truely affordable longarm quilting system!
Here are some pictures of my old Homesteader 19" Longarm Quilting Machine. It worked great and I used it every day for the first year I was in business. Since then we have purchased an APQS Millenium, which is what I use now.
I have it set up on a Grace GMQ Pro frame with an upgraded metal carriage. For most of my pantograph work and some motifs I'm also using it combined with the PC Quilter Side Mount. This software connects the Homesteader to my computer and the computer then drives the sewing machine accurately. It tells the carriage to move left/right, forward/back based on the design I draw on the computer. This really helps me retain accuracy on the 129th time drawing that cute fuzzy bunny on a king size quilt, where my human precision may slack off, the Homesteader keeps right on going with the highly detailed work. I still enjoy disconnecting the side mount with a quick push and going back to free motion quilting for trapunto and stippling.
Before I got the Homesteader I used a Juki midarm. The best thing about the Juki was the automatic thread cutter, but it was so heavy the momentum generated while free motion sewing gave me alot of heartache. Another downfall was the limited 9" throat space, which basically got halved when rolling up any quilt size bigger than a twin.
I started looking for a larger longarm system. I was in love with the Gammil and the APQS systems, but since I was just starting out I didn't know what kind of local demand there would be for longarm quilters. So I didn't know how much income I could actually make by quilting for others. Those systems are lovely if you can afford them. Who wouldn't want channel locks and automatic advancing quilt rollers? (In early 2010, I was more comfortable with my customer base and did purchase a new APQS Millenium.)
After much searching and many a night staring at the computer screen, I stumbled across the Homesteader website. I couldn't believe my eyes, a longarm quiltng system for under $4000! Now I already had a table, so I didn't want to buy another frame, but if I did I wouldn't mind having the Homesteader table in my studio. It's very pretty looking, not like those metal monstrosities some other companies put out. Their table also comes with edge rider wheels to make gliding the machine with a finger very easy. I sent an email to the company hoping I could purchase just a machine and praying it would work on the frame I had currently. Well the very next morning, I had an email waiting from Jennifer, the owner of Quilting Solutions, INC, telling me I could buy just the machine for under $2600! That was for the 19" throat space machine, which is all that could fit on my frame. The 22" machine is only $3095, for those of you that are using a different frame.
It took me about another two weeks to talk my husband into buying the machine, he's a machinist and wanted to build me a system from scratch. I'm happy to say Jennifer answered every one of my billion emails promptly, clearly, and with warm hearted helpfulness. She was even willing to make any special parts that might be needed to fit the Homesteader on my frame, thankfully it only took some wheel spacers, which she figured out and had ordered for me before my stuff even shipped.
When my machine arrived, it was super easy to set up and I had it running within hours. The hardest part of set up was getting it out of the box, if you'd believe it. It had been saran wrapped to the packing materials for stablility and packed in there good so it barely moved. I actually carried it upstairs and set it on my frame by myself, it's really not THAT heavy. My husband had to make a few parts to get the PC Quilter to work with my current carriage, but the Homesteader itself came ready to work.
And it's pretty! Take a look at some of the pictures, the silver tension plate on the front of the machine is covered with embossed looking flowers, and the side/back has gold flake butterflies. They use and industrial brand Singer machine and stretch them out into a longarm. We all know how hard core those old fashioned machines were, you could drop them off a bridge and still be sewing with it the next day. So expect I'll be using this Homesteader for many years to come.
It doesn't have any of those fancy buttons, like a thread cutter or lots of electronic stitches to choose from. But frankly, those were the things that always ended up breaking on my old machines. I'm happy to go back to a simply machine that can sew a perfect straight stitch and not have tension issues when I sew in multiple directions for free motion quilting. A few drops of oil and it sews for hours without complaint.
It works, it's indestructible, it's pretty, and it's in a budget that most American's won't have to sell thier car to afford! Thank you Quilting Solution!
