You all probably get so tired of me saying this, but I love my Janome Magnolia 7318. It has a 6.5in throat and the shape of the throat is important too! I say this because I considered the Brother cs6000i as well, but the shape of that throat is very different from the Magnolia. Mine is square-ish, so the extra height has given me room to shove extra quilt in there, and I've quilted several queen quilts and a king sized as well! FMQ and with a generic walking foot. I wouldn't say it's "easy" but it's doable and I haven't felt desperate to upgrade yet. I can use any brand of thread, and I've used serger thread many times with no issues either. I have also never had any problems with brands of needles, nor with fabric being eaten though I do always hold both thread tails before starting a seam.
It has some decorative stitches, but being a mechanical machine, it has no needle down nor any alphabet capability. I do have a free arm on it for sleeves and hemming which has been great now that my 3yo is in school. I also love that it has a simple backstitch lever because I know exactly when the backstitch will happen and am in full control of it. I have another computerized machine that I hate using for any backstitching because it is very picky about when/how I hit the button. Maybe someday, that machine and I will get along
