I guess I am in a real minority. I have 4 ordinary domestic machines and I've used each of them to quilt king size quilts. I "puddle" around the needle and its no problem as the quilt is fully supported on tables set by my machine. Good luck with whatever you decide to get. I had briefly thought about going through the learning curve a long arm would require and then decided I'm very content continuing to do what I do with my domestic machines. Saving my money to buy an automatic generator as the electricity goes out more times than I care to think about!!