I had stars in my eyes over the extended length of the bed of the machine. I never even considered the height from the bed to the underside of the arm - it is less than 3.5 inches! Thank heaven for screen lock because I changed the stitch and settings several times trying to fit a small quilt under the inadequate space. Now I do my quilting on a Brother PQ1500S which is a smidgen shorter in the bed but over twice as high to the arm. I use the fancy machine for embroidery.