Our Gammill Statler has arrived and she’s beautiful! She’s a 26 inch with the 14-foot table and light bar. I did a lot of research before choosing her.

I was initially thinking about the Vision due to the price, but once I saw video’s of all the cool things the Statler can do, I decided to go for it. Got a quilt with a scalloped border? You can adjust a pattern to fit into the curves. Want to quilt around an applique? You can create a boundary around the applique and it will avoid stitching in that area. The repeat pattern tool allows for edge to edge computerized stitching of some lovely patterns. I’ve already used it to add an overall holly and berry pattern to two winter-themed charity quilts.

I opted for the 26 inch over the 30 inch for a few reasons. Reason one, I’m 5’6″ and my arms are only so long. With the 26 inch, I already have to lean forward to touch the take-up bar and consistently leaning forward for long periods of time can be hard on your back and neck. Reason two, I can quilt a California King quilt on a 26 inch no problem. The difference between a 26 inch and a 30 inch is the amount of space you can quilt before you have to roll the quilt. A 26 inch gives you about 22 inches of quilting space since the machine head takes up a few inches. Quilting a behemoth of a quilt, let’s say 130 inches long, results in 6 roll-ups (130 inches divided by 22 inches of quilting space = 5.9, rounded up to 6 roll-ups). A 30-inch machine, quilting that same 130-inch quilt would need 5 roll-ups instead of 6. For my height and the length of my arms, being comfortable and able to quilt for longer hours made more sense than having one less roll up across a California King sized quilt. If you ask two different quilters, you’d likely get two different answers on which machine size is better. If I were taller, maybe then I would have bought a 30 inch.

I’m still trying to think up a name for the machine. For a moment, it was “The Beast”, because the machine is MASSIVE! Then for a moment, I was considering Casper, because watching it drive itself is likely watching Casper the Friendly Ghost long-arm a quilt. Now, I’m thinking Rosie, for Rosie the Riveter.