Originally Posted by Charlee
The (inexpensive) Brother machines I've seen (and I have one) have pretty small throat areas, making it harder to FMQ, altho it IS possible. Janome has a alightly larger throat. At this point, I either FMQ on my Janome or on a vintage Singer 201-2...and if I was only going to keep one of those machines it would be the Singer 201-2...it has the larger throat on it, and handles the bulk easier. I don't need the zigzag type stitches, I only use straight stitches...and if I do need zigzags, I have attachments for it.
The throat area is small on the less expensive machines and if you plan on doing lap size or larger quilts it will be a struggle (but not impossible) to get them through the small opening. I have an inexpensive Brother that I bought for taking to class with me and it is a little workhorse but the throat is small and sometimes I'd get frustrated trying to maneuver a small quilt (for Linus Project) through. I just purchased in June a Brother PS1500s that is strictly straight stitch for piecing and quilting and it has a 9 1/2" throat. Love it :) I won't be taking this machine to class, however, as it weighs over 30 lbs....LOL