Handi Quilter Quilting Machines : Sewing Machines Plus

It all began when founder Laurel Barrus needed a frame that would go into the car for trips to her family cabin. A search of existing products found nothing that met her needs. Undaunted, she worked with her father to create a frame that used her home sewing machine. The result was a light and small quilting frame that could be adjusted for small to large quilts.

Once her friends found out about it, they wanted one, too. Given all the interest, she worked with several suppliers to create a sample frame and displayed it at the International Quilt Festival in October, 2000. She received enough orders to keep the suppliers busy until Christmas.

Handi Quilter became a business in May of 2001 to make products "designed by a quilter, for quilters". A new concept was developed that would provide a quality product at an affordable price. The result was the mid arm quilting machine, the Handi Quilter HQ Sixteen. Over the years it has been improved to the new Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen.

Handi Quilter became the only longarm quilting machine company to earn worldwide safety and electrical certificates in 2010 for their line of quilting machines and systems. As a result, Handi Quilter now has more than 700 worldwide independent retail locations.