Is the Bailey 13 still sought after?
 

I've been losing sleep over what I should put on my Grace Pinnacle frame, and have strongly considered the Bailey 17 Home Quilter. I think it's around $2700, and that's a lot of cash to me. I've found a 2007 model (I don't think the models have changed, but I'm not positive) Bailey 13, hardly used at all, for $925. I'm thinking of buying it and using it for awhile to see if I like the Baileys. If I like it, I'll sell it and buy a 17" in the future. I'm concerned with the 15" and the 17" Bailey's now available, the 13" is no longer desireable and I'll be stuck with a Bailey 13 that won't sell. What is your thought on this matter? I need some aspirin because this all makes my head ache.

My machine has a 9" throat. I have a work area starting at appx 6" and as the quilt rolls up, it goes down to 4". I would figure that with a throat of 13" the work area would be appx 10" - 8". With the 17" throat the work area increases to appx 14" - 11". So, now determine how much space you need for the quilts you do. I find that the space I want to accommadate will be for a 12" block. I have done several 12" block type quilts that I had to do part of the block and complete the pattern after rolling the quilt resulting with not being able to have a continous stitching. If I were to get one, I would concider the larger one.

If you are doing all over designs (meander) as opposed to block-specific designs, a 13" throat would be pretty nice. It is a huge upgrade from a 7-9" throat on a regular sewing machine. I am not sure I would upgrade a 13" to a 17"

Also, you could ask Bailey if they take trade-ins.

I think it would for people that are not doing it professionally. Most huge ones are used for people who plan to do it as a business, the smaller ones are usually geared towards people who have less space and are just doing their own tops

I've got a 15 and wish I had bigger. If you plan on doing custom work you'd be better off with the a bigger machine. If you plan on simple designs with pantos or meanering a 13 would work fine.

I plan on buying a Bailey 13 or 15 inch in the future. It will probably be a 13 inch but I'll make the decision when I'm ready to upgrade. I started out with a domestic size sewing machine on my quilting frame. Right now, I'm using a 9" Mega Quilter which I appreciate having. When I move up to the next size, I'll sell my 9". I don't mind moving up the ladder slowly. I buy what I can afford at the time. I don't know if my comments help you, but my point is that "yes, I would be a 13" in the future if I could afford it at that time.

Thanks for sharing all the information. I, too, want to get a Bailey - probably the 13 b/c it will be just for me. I don't even want a frame. Just want to use like my regular machine but with more space. But I appreciate everyone's info. Teresa