Get the biggest throated machine you can afford. Nobody cried about not getting an 18" throat when they got a 24", but everybody always says, "I sure wish I had a larger throat". Remember with each roll of the quilt you loose a little bit of that throat space. Yes, I know that a lot of people have 9" inch machines and they do fabulous work with them, but I also know it gets old quick quilting 1 and 1/2 inch across roll, quilt, roll....