I purchased a Bernina 430 several years ago to replace my original 29-year-old Bernina. I bought it as a "do everything" machine as I also sew clothing. I've been quilting only 2-3 years and bought the Bernina BSR and have enjoyed learning how to quilt with it. It's fabulous for smaller projects. But I had a hard time wrestling with all the bulk of larger projects.
My DH built machine quilt frame last year and I put the Bernina on it. After completing several quilts with it, the throat space was too small to do much more than lap size quilts. So last spring, I graduated to a Janome 1600P (with a 9-inch throat) on the frame and really like it so far. I figure that I will continue to use this setup and improve my skills until it's time to move back to the mainland in a year or two. At that time, I hope to move up to a long-arm setup.