My Mom has retired and wants to start back quilting. She has recently had surgery for carpal tunnel on both hands. She is thinking of purchasing a machine and frame so that she can machine quilt. She is testing a baby lock pro quilter. Any suggestions?

I would get her signed up on the homequiltingsystems group at http://groups.yahoo.com . Lots of different setups there, plus users who can give her the pros and cons of each system. From the advice I have seen there, she really wants to take her time to research and try out a variety of machine/frame combos before making a final decision. Some of the machines have better hand controls than others, which could make a difference with her carpal tunnel.

Incidentally, I was diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel several years ago. The surgeon insisted I would be back for surgery, but I wanted to work on it myself first. I got rid of it! Wore hand braces from Walmart (kind with max support, steel in the palm side) night and day, cut my computer time in half, changed my computer setup to be more ergonomically correct, and took citrus bioflavanoids twice a day. Worked for me!

Hello there, welcome to both you and your mom...I'm from Minnesota!

What's the throat space on the Baby Lock Pro? Make sure she realizes that if it's around 7-9", then she's going to be very limited in what she can do, even with the frame. Doing large patterns is very difficult on smaller machines with a small throat space; if all she wants to do is SID or some stippling, then it would be fine.

Welcome from Southeast Pa.

Hello and welcome from SW Iowa. Glad to have you here.

get at least a midarm -not a domestic for quilting-you need the depth for quilting designs.On a domestic after you roll up a large quilt you only have 1-2 inches off movement left.

My dealer sells both the Babylock and Pfaff quilters. After looking, trying and researching, I purchased the Pfaff 18.8 for almost half the price of the Babylock. I like Babylock products, just not their prices! I highly encourage you to take a look at the Pfaff 18.8. Pfaff also has the Grandquilter which runs about $3000 including the frame, but it's throat space is about 9 inches. So far I have been very happy with my Pfaff.

Thanks to all who replyed. We will keep looking before making a decision!