Basic quilting machine
I also have the Juki 98Q & it is a work horse. It runs about $1100.00 here in Canada. It only does straight stitches forward & reverse but it will sew thru 10 layers of denim. As the other lady said 'I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!" I believe the throat opening is 9". When I first started quilting, that was the machine that I used. I now have a Bernina Series 8 Model 820 & it has a throat opening of 12" & comes with all the bells & whistles. I don't know about U.S. prices but here in Canada they range between $7500 - 8500. so the price makes it out of the range of a lot of people. It is a wonderful machine & the bobbin holds double the thread of a regular machine & it even counts down the amount of thread when it starts to get low (which I love) I hate finishing a seam & finding out that I had run out of bobbin thread, which unfortunately I have done many times with the Juki (that would be my only complain about the Juki). For a plain work horse, the Juki is a great machine but if you want extras (& after a while we usually have a wish list) than you have to look elsewhere. I hear that Janome makes a good machine at a pretty affordable price. Good luck with your search.