Originally Posted by patdesign
Prism, my machine is a Brother 1500s made specifically for quilting. The arm is about 9 inches long and the height is about 6 1/4 to underside of arm, just a little longer and higher than the vintage Singers. It has a thread cut feature which works well with free motion work since you can simple put 2 or 3 stitches in at the beginning or end of a run. I think the problem with all this is that due to some old neck injuries (whiplash and resulting bulged discs) I just do not have the strength or stamina to push a big quilt around. I do have the machine in an 1980 table designed to hold machines so that the bed is level with the table and I have a small folding table that I put behind the machne cabinet to help keep the weight of the quilt from causing a drag. I had not heard of the nesting technique before, so I will have to try that on the next quilt I do.:)
You might want to try quilting the way I do it -- standing up!!! I sit my machine on the cutting table and place a foam "table" around it to create a large flat surface (directions for creating the foam "table" are on Youtube).
I find that I can quilt much longer standing up and don't get the shoulder and back stress that used to lay me up for days when I tired to quilt sitting down. I do have to wear good supportive shoes; otherwise my feet would hurt from standing so much. All in all, though, quilting standing up works ***much*** better for me than quilting sitting down!