Kris P

I'm also looking for a sit down mid arm machine. I will share with you the experience I have.

My friend owns a 22 inch Gammill Charm. It is amazing to work on, and I've quilted on it a couple of times. I love the space, the orientation of the machine, parallel to the table and the line of vision is wonderful. For her, money was no object, so she got what she was familiar with... Also owns a Gammill long arm with computerized stitcher.

I've tried the HQ Sweet Sixteen at the local dealer, and didn't like the orientation of sitting looking at the head, Really didn't like the stitch regulator. For the way I quilt, I would have to move it constantly. I don't generally quilt intricate designs, and move across the quilt too quickly to want to stop and reposition it. Since I've been free motion quilting on my DSM for 6 years, I'm used to the sound of quilting without a stitch regulator and the regulator throws me off.

I recently went to the Innova dealer near me to try out their sit down. I really liked it. The price quoted me was $6995, and I found no difference in using it from using my friend's Gammill Charm. I liked the orientation of the machine in the table, and the clear sight lines. So far, this is the one I'll most likely purchase. The dealer is just 20 minutes from me, is very nice to deal with, gets rave reviews from everyone I've asked. He encouraged me to come back to the shop with a quilt project to quilt longer so I can really get the feel of the machine. I'm considering doing this with a table runner or small quilt.

I still would like to go try the APQS George. I've read some good things about this machine. My understanding is that it is very simple... Maintenance is very easy and apparently the tread path is very simple. The closest dealer who specializes in the sit down, is on the other side of the cities, so about 50 minutes away... which doesn't seem like a big deal, but if I need to go there for service or training, bucking traffic all the way through Mpls/St. Paul doesn't appeal to me... I gave up commuting 15 years ago when my daughter was born... so this is definitely a consideration for me.

I've automatically ruled out the Bailey machine from my search because of how low the 'arm' of the machine is. I don't want to tilt my head to be able to see the needle. My Janome 6600 is low like this and that's one of the things I'm trying to avoid.

Sorry to ramble on so, but hope you can find something useful in my ramblings. I've been saving for a bigger machine for about 5 years. I have nearly enough...