WowQuilts Brings Out The Tinkerer In Quilters

A review of WowQuilts Model I from WowQuilts

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With the introduction of short-arm machine-quilting systems like Handi Quilter and SuperQuilter, the hunt began for the perfect sewing machine to use on the carriage assembly. There are industrial sewing machines available with large "harps" (the area between the arm and the bed), but they are expensive.

Read my reviews of several short-arm systems

WowQuilts offer two machines with oversize harps, but at home-sewing-machine prices. Their Model I ($899) is remanufactured from old Singer or White sewing machines. Model II ($1,169) is remanufactured from old White rotary sewing machines. Both models come with a 20-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty.

Machinists at WowQuilts cut each sewing machine in half through the arm and bed. Then they reassemble the machine with a wider harp (about 16" wide, over twice the width of a regular sewing machine), inserting a piece of pipe to lengthen the arm and a metal X to lengthen the bed.

Machine-Quilting Features

Besides stretching the harp, WowQuilts also makes other very nice adjustments. They remove the foot pedal and install an on/off switch and a speed control so you can run the machine with your hands.

They also add a large spool holder that can hold every size spool from cone thread to a small spool of Mettler. This allows you to use any kind of thread on a WowQuilts sewing machine.

Another feature I really like is the very bright halogen light they add over the needle area. You can never have too much light on your work. (Just don't burn yourself or set your work on fire -- halogen is dangerously hot!)

Moveable Handles

WowQuilts machines also come with a pair of handles you use to "drive" the machine-quilting system. Since you stand at the wheel end of the sewing machine to do pantographs and at the needle end to do free-motion quilting, you have to move the handles from one end of the sewing machine to the other.

I think handles on each end would be a better solution, but it does take only a few seconds to move the handles.

WowQuilts also adds a completely adjustable pointer for following pantographs or quilting designs of any size. You can move the pointer to accommodate your short-arm system's tracks.

The availability of WowQuilts sewing machines is limited. As I write this article in January 2003, the company's Web site quotes a three-month wait for Model I and a "couple of weeks" for Model II.

Julie Robichaux, a Quilter's Review reader from Vermont, waited eight months last year to receive her Model I. Julie bought her Model I to do larger patterns or pantographs on her Handi Quilter than she could do with her regular sewing machine.

Getting To Be Friends

Julie practiced on her Model I for six weeks before she invited me to her house to test-drive it. Upon my arrival, Julie announced that she and her new machine weren't friends yet, but they were making progress. She was clearly working hard at mastering her new Model I.

While I waited for Julie to load practice material on her Handi Quilter frame, I read the Model I "manual." It took me a full 15 seconds to read everything, start to finish, and study the drawings. The "manual" was only one page long -- hand-written, hand-drawn, and photocopied. I was fairly shocked at that.

The Model I comes threaded, and the "manual" advises you to look at how it is threaded so you can do it yourself. Julie had wisely found a manual for an old Singer on the Web, and that helped.

Julie's Model I also came with tools. Since a WowQuilts machine only has a free-motion foot and no feed dogs, I didn't think a tool kit was necessary. But Julie set me straight on that issue. She told me that she is constantly using the tools to adjust the machine.

Several pieces of pink foam hold the thread in the Model I's U-shaped thread guides. The foam also dampens the speed at which the thread unwinds

Testing Julie's Model I

When we first began sewing, we had trouble with the lower thread looping. After trying to fix the problem by adjusting the tension, we found that the Model I prefers the top and bobbin threads to be the same type of thread. Switching the top thread to match the bobbin thread and fiddling with the pink foam solved the looping problem.

But I was still only able to quilt for a minute or two before the thread would break. Julie could go a little longer than I could without the thread breaking. But Sarah, who let me use her Juki and SuperQuilter for my earlier reviews and who visited Julie with me, did the best of the three of us.

Read my review of the Juki TL-98E 8"-harp machine

Sarah was able to quilt longer without the thread breaking, and with smoother designs and no looping. Sarah has more short-arm machine quilting experience than either Julie or I do, so lots of practice must help.

Sloppy Speed Control

We also found that the Model I speed control isn't very precise. Remembering where you set it last time for just the right speed isn't all that helpful. It must be re-adjusted regularly to get just the speed you want.

Julie has managed to sidestep a few problems that other WowQuilts machine owners complain about. Her husband made a table with a heavy top, reducing the vibration when sewing at high speed. And he made new tracks for her Handi Quilter, fastening them permanently to the table to help the carriage ride smoothly. It works very nicely.

When I tested Sarah's Juki TL-98E on her SuperQuilter, I started right off with good stitches. I never achieved good results like that on the Model I, even after a few hours of testing. Granted, the Model I's 16" harp dwarfs the Juki's 8" harp, but in the final analysis it's stitch quality that really counts.

A Machine For Tinkerers

Julie, a technical person who is comfortable with testing and making adjustments, believes she will be able to master the Model I, so she is still practicing and making changes.

But based on what I saw, I think that a WowQuilts sewing machine would not be a good investment for those who don't like to tinker. It does not work well right out of the box.

If you are thinking of getting a WowQuilts sewing machine, you should prepare for the experience. You can find out what WowQuilts owners think of their machines on the WowQuilts forum at Yahoo.

WowQuilts offers a 20-day money-back guarantee. That is a major incentive to set up your new machine and practice heavily for two weeks so you can decide if you will keep it or send it back for a refund.

If I owned one of these machines, I'd do the same as Julie, practicing and learning for quite a while. And also like Julie, I'd certainly refer to this machine cut up and reassembled from many parts as my "FrankenSinger."

I'd like to send a warm "Thank you!" to Julie Robichaux for inviting me into her home and spending the day with me testing her Model I. I really appreciate her enthusiasm and hospitality.

And thanks, too, to Sarah Mylchreest for introducing me to Julie and joining us for our day of testing.

Click here to visit
the WowQuilts forum.