Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye… To Darcy 2.0…

I-n-f…

i-n-i…

t-y-twenty-six…

Yes, that’s right folks.  After just 8 months of owning Darcy 2.0, he is headed to a new home to make room for something bigger and better.

In just two days, I’ll be welcoming a new Handi Quilter Infinity 26 into the studio.

I’ve named him Buzz Lightyear. Get it? (Boy I’m full of Disney references today.)

People have been asking me why on earth I would replace a long arm that’s not even a year old? Is it really worth the upgrade?

In a word: yes. To me, anyway.

When I first saw the Infinity at Quilt Market back in October, I wasn’t thinking of upgrading at first. Sure, it’s 2″ bigger than my Fusion, but if that were so important to me, I would have just bought a 26″ machine to begin with (from a different manufacturer – boo.)

But then I learned that the handles are adjustable. That means I don’t have to switch to another set of handles for micro quilting. It means that I can move the handles to a different position if my wrists are bothering me. Not only this, but the position of the handles is even in a different place. This one change means that even with the deeper harp, the Infinity doesn’t take up more room front-to-back.

Still, that’s not enough to upgrade. Then I learned that there’s a laser light right at the needle position. This eliminates the need to lower the needle into the quilt in order to get it positioned right where I want it. Sure, I could rig up a laser light on Darcy somehow…

The thread mast is adjustable, and the on/off switch is now on the front, so I can do everything I need to from the front without walking all the way around the frame.

Not enough to upgrade yet… but feeling some pangs of desire…

There’s a bobbin camera, so no more ducking underneath the frame with a flashlight to check stitches (and because it’s integrated into the machine, no unsightly wires snaking all over.)

With the ProStitcher, the screens are integrated, so there’s only one screen to contend with, and no conflicting settings.

Did I mention the buttons on the handlebars are programmable? So a feature that I use a lot on the touch screen can be programmed into a button on the handle. I can work more efficiently.

It stitches 3,100 stitches per minute, you say?

Sold.