rryder

Hi all,
I'm doing all my fmq on a brother PC420PRW with a 7.6" throat space or on my elderly Brother VX560 with a slightly smaller throat space. I've been contemplating getting either a brother PQ1500SL or the comparablly sized Juki or Janome since they have a larger throat and are within my budget should I decide to buy a new machine.

My question is whether there is enough of an increase in the size of the throat space to the right of the needle to make it worth my while. My understanding is that the PQ1500 has 8.6 to 9" depending on who you ask and the Juki and Janome straight stitch machines are about the same.

It seems to me that 1 to 11/2 inch longer throat may not make much difference when it comes to quilting anything larger than a lap quilt. These machines do all have more space from the bed to the top as well, but that is also only 1 to 2 inches max and I'm not sure that the height matters that much since I tend to puddle my quilts rather than rolling them when I fmq.

The largest quilt I've FMQ with my current PC420 machine is not quite queen sized and I am managing that by splitting my batting (but not the top and backing), it is still in progress and I have to admit is not being much fun due to the sheer amount of bulk. Has anyone put anything larger than a lap quilt through the PQ1500 or the similarly sized Juki and Janome?

Thanks in advance