Kim, If you want a larger bed for free motion quilting, want to spend less than $1k and already have a machine to do fancy stitches, you might want to look in to a Brother 1500 or a Juki 2000/2010/98. I have the Juki and use it for quilting with a walking foot (I have a big sit down machine for free motion but have used my Juki for it as well and it stitches beautifully) Janome also has one - the 1600 I believe but they might have changed their number since then. All three of them are straight stitch only and have a 9" throat. If you check Craigslist you might be able to score one used. People get them for a frame and then decide that 9" isn't deep enough and sell them when they upgrade to something bigger...
I love my Juki and it's one of the best purchases I have ever made for my sewing room. You can get the Brother or the Juki at Ken's and they offer free shipping
http://www.kenssewingcenter.com/quil...c-161_170.html They're really nice to work with and have great prices. I'm sure there are lots of other places that offer great deals too - but shop around before you buy.
Happy machine hunting!