Originally Posted by
skdenbow
My mission for the next year or so, is to make family quilts which will essentially be raw edge applique blocks with quilting finishing for family members. They will end up being fairly large.
A lot depends on what you find you really enjoy. When doing the raw edge applique are you using free-motion techniques? If so, then your current machine can handle that.
The question becomes how you want to quilt. If you are okay with quilt-as-you-go techniques, your current machine can handle that as long as you do the final step by hand. Are you looking at embroidery machines with the idea that they will be used for quilting? If so, that is one of the least exciting directions in which to go, at least for most quilters.
If you want to quilt your large quilts yourself, then usually the first thing you need to determine is whether you want to quilt sitting down (moving the quilt under the machine) or standing up (moving the machine while the quilt remains stationary on a frame). People usually develop a preference for one or the other, and that preference determines the type of midarm or longarm machine they want.
If you prefer quilting sitting down, your choices become a domestic machine with a larger harp than you are accustomed to (the harp is the area under the machine arm). A standard harp is about 8 inches, I think. Nowadays there are domestic machines with harps of 11 inches. This makes moving a large quilt around and fitting the bulk under the arm of the machine much easier. You can also look at dedicated sitdown quilting machines. These are usually midarms (about 16" of harp) that do not have feed dogs (so cannot be used for piecing, although they would work fine for free-motion applique). The Sweet Sixteen is one of the most popular, but there are others.
On the other hand, you may prefer to quilt standing up at a frame, moving the machine. This is what I enjoy! My dream machine in this category would be an Innova with lightning stitch.
The rule-of-thumb is to give yourself at least a year to research quilting setups before purchasing. Your budget may rule out a number of options too. Try to attend as many large quilt shows as you can, and visit as many dealers as you can, to try out different setups.
Also, research quilt guilds near you and join any that are convenient. You may get invited into homes to try out different setups.