Hi, I have the Grand Quilter and love it for piecing and quilting. It has a totally different application to the Bernina which is a beautiful machine with lots more bells and whistles. I attend a group run by one of Australia's most accomplished machine quilters and she uses the Bernina Aurora for everything and loves it too, she does the most unbelievable FMQ on it. I have quilted several queen size quilts on my Grand Quilter and it handles FMQ very well, but it is only a straight sewer, I have other machines for doing applique and embroidery stitches. So basically what I am saying is that the grand is a great, very strong machine but it has limitations and it really depends on your overall sewing needs. Good luck, I love sewing machines and I'm always looking and reading reviews!!