I have an Activa 230 (Bernina) and the only thing I dislike about it is the small harp. I no longer try to quilt a large quilt under this harp. I have become very good at converting my patterns to QAYG. It is so much easier and gives me time to think out each panel. I keep my block sizes to about 15 to 20 inches square and add sashing around it. I am not very good at FMQ and do a lot of straight line quilting with my walking foot so this works very well for me. I love the modern quilting i.e. Angela Walters and Jackie Gering I like the look of the small sashing around big blocks and you can adapt almost any quilt design to it. I mostly make up my own designs so for me it does not matter. You can also divide your quilt into several long sections and QAYG that way.