The largest hoop I have is a 12" x 7", but I also have a stand-alone design-splitting program by Designer's Gallery called Hoopworks, so I am pretty well set up for any size I personally might like to do. However, the hoop I use most is the 5" x 7", so if I were looking to buy an embroidery machine, the minimum requirement for me would be at least a 5 X 7. Would love to have an 8 x 8 hoop, I think a square hoop would be very useful, but my machine will not take it. I also use the smallest hoop I can on projects, it saves on stabilizer.