I have a Janome 6600 and have quilted huge quilts with it and have no intention ever to send out my quilts to be done by someone else. The biggest quilt I did was a super queen size and it had more than one inch thick appliques on it. While I admire a lot of the beautiful long arm quilting that is done today, it does not always complement the basic pieced quilt. Some quilting makes the pattern fade, rather than enhancing it. I guess my answer is, if you are rich enough, and feel the need, go ahead and get a long, or mid arm. If you feel good about what you have been doing, stay with it. The Janome 6600 has a nice throat area, but it isn't a long arm by any means. Don't get a new quilting machine just to be in the "current fad". That's not worth it.