Horizon or 6600 by Janome. They come with the extra feet. With Berninas you have to buy the additional feet and some of them are around $100.

I have the Janome Verizon, it has 11" of throat space and I got it just for all the quilting features and it is in your price range.

I got a Janome 7700 at the quilt fest last month. It has the biggest throat of any regular machine. But I was very unhappy with how it stitched, so I traded it in for a Babylock Symphony, which I've fallen in love with.

My vote would def be Bernina mine was $1,100 it is almost 11 years old has only been serviced once, and there was nothing wrong then I just thought should be maybe tuned up. It is like the Honda's my kids drive,haha. Happy shopping!

I would check out all of the machines suggested. One might just serve your needs better than another. Go to the dealers and test drive them, bring some fabric from home that you would normally sew with. Their sample pieces are so well starched and stabilized that you can't get a true feel of how a machine will perform on fabric you normally use.

I bought the Janome 7700 in early Nov. for just under $2000. It has the wide throat for quilting (haven't tried that yet). I bought it for mainly that reason. So far I love it. Check it out.

Definately a Bernina. Quailty through and through. Go to your local dealer to find out which one they reccomend for you and then go to ebay...they have a lot of machines that are in top condition.

I am really impressed w/ my Janome 6500 and plan on upgrading to the 6700 VERY soon - mainly because of throat size!

You should definitely look at the Janome Horizon. It has an 11 inch throat space and all the feet and stitches that you need for free motion quilting. It is one of the latest of the Janome models. I love mine.

I love, love, love my Janome 6600 - Janome is the best
machine out there. You won't regret it :)
Marcia

I have a booklet on the Bernina 440 QE, I was looking at one at Hancocks and absolutely fell in love with it. My dream machine, with the embroidery attachment it was $3500.00 but sure if I was ready to buy that I could have gotten it a little cheaper but watching the lady demo it I was very impressed.

Look at all the suggested brands online to find out the dimensions, then go to the stores for the ones you are most interested it trying.

Right after I purchased my Symphony, which I totally love, I test drove one of these, it was very nice. It came with a nice acrylic table extention.

You could be right - my old 7570 was made in Germany and just keeps on sewing. My CV has a label on the front that says german design. Just so it is NOT made in China. I have Pfaff machines for over 25 years and prefer them over any others at this time.

Definately check the Baby Lock. Janome is good too.

I'm getting ready to try a 6600 next week. I've been looking at them on line and my husband has ok'd the purchase. I would love to talk to someone who owns one. Is the larger throat a big difference for you when you are fmq? Is the acc-feed foot really a great feature? Is it user friendly?. I have to go to Lake City to test drive one. The owner's wife of the shop has one and he will have her bring it in so I can sew on it. I'm a little nervous about a large purchase. I just want to have the right machine for me.

You can get a great Brother for that price range!

Janome 1600DB is straight stitch, metal bobbin holder, large throat opening and can go faster then the Janome 6500. It also has a wonderful knee lifter and build in thread cutter like the 6500, 6600, 7700. The good part is you will have about $2000 left to spend on fabric. It is made for quilting but is also wonderful for piecing. No bells or wisthles except what you NEED for quilting. There are different models, besure to get the one with the automatic thread cutter. Push the button and cut. I own several Janomes including the 6500.

SO true ... Pfaffs have NOT been made in Germany for the last 10 yrs or so, they are manuf in Asia now and some in Eastern Europe. Some models were being made in Sweden for a few years after Viking bought Pfaff, but no longer.
I had a 25 yr old mech. Pfaff that NEVER had a problem, but I wanted the new features, so I bought one in 2007. It was made in the Czech Republic and I had nothing BUT problems. It sewed NOTHING like many friends' machines, all made prev. in Germany. What a disappointment ...
Hopefully the newer Expression 2-4.0 models have solved their quality problems now. So much for that "German Engineering" !

I just bought a Pfaff Creative 4.0. It has a much bigger throat than most machines. It also has Integrated Dual Feed, which is a built in walking foot. I am learning to free motion on it and it has worked wonderfully. I have been sewing up a storm on this machine and I LOVE IT!!! I wouldn't buy anything else. You can also buy an embroidery unit to go with it, but I don't have time to for that. I have had Pfaffs for years. I wore out my old one that I had for 25 years. I looked at all the machines out there and decided this one was for me. I love the bigger throat. Take a look at it, I think you will love it like I did.

I bought a Pfaff Creative 4.0 this past summer. I love this machine. I saw that some people were having problems with theirs, but I decided to give it a shot anyway. My dealer said that 95% of the problems people are having is that they didn't learn how to use the machine. It is computerized and does take some learning. This machine also talks to you and tells you when something is wrong. I have taken the time to learn the machine and what to do when something happens. I love the longer throat and the IDF. I can't imagine going back to anything else. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS MACHINE.

I LOVE my Pfaffs. A 12 yr old for general sewing, and a new Expression 2.0 for quilting. Bought the 2.0 for the large throat. I can fit a whole king size quilt in it.

I didn't mean to step on Pfaff lover's toes ... just wanted to clear up the misconception that Pfaffs are still GERMAN MADE machines. They aren't - and haven't been for a decade.
I just know at least 20+ quilters who bought Pfaff models in the last 5 yrs incl. the Expression, and 95% of us had problems. All very experienced sewers & quilters who knew HOW to use them. The problems were Pfaff's - NOT the owners. Only a few still have those machines. The initial Expression models had a lot of problems - tension, foot problems, piecing 1/4 seams, jamming thread cutter and constant error msgs. Hopefully in 2 yrs they've solved those problems.

I would go for a Pfaff. I have three Pfaff machines and they are all I will use. They are great machines.

Hi Karen,
I will be happy to talk with you about my Janome 6600.
It is a great machine. You can PM me, and I will give you
my e-mail address as well as my phone number if you
want to talk by phone. If you ever sew on a Janome,
you won't ever want another machine.
Have a Great Day!
Marcia

I got my Bernina 440QE for $2,300. It was a demo, but it looked brand new to me. I love it.

I like my Brother NX2000. Just got it about 2 weeks ago and still have a week before I get my first lesson on it, but the manual has been fantastic and it has a wonderful self-help touch screen if you do not want to pull the manual out. I have never done any machine quilting and am easily learning the bells and whistles on this. It has several choices to make a consistent 14 inch seam ( I like the special 1/4" foot for that ). It comes with 3 feet for freemotion and I am learning all 3 ( as well as learning to do FMQ. Depends on what exactly I am working on as towhich foot I prefer. The walking foot works great and it is my first time with a walking foot. Has knee lift which is new for me and lots of other goodies! Came also with a large table attachment for quilting, Bobbin works and a circular attachment. Very easy to learn. Now, perhaps something else is better for the price..but I do like mine.

I have a baby lock espire which is now the symphony. I got it as a late model. And absolutely love it. So my vote would go to the symphony as well.

I lust after the Symphony. I have a Pfaff 7570 that is one great machine, but I want more bells and whistles; ie: auto thread cutter, auto pivot feature that the Symphony has. Plus it has a larger throat.

I would be very very leery buying a new Pfaff, as many have said, they just aren't the same quality that they were. But....Pfaff has came out with a new machine, called the Smarter Pfaff, which seems identical to the Babylock Quest, except it has the auto thread cutter... And Babylock is coming out with a new machine to replace the Quest, called the Serenade. I'm betting it also has the auto thread cutter. Might be worth checking into as these machines have the IDF like the old Pfaff's.

JMHO...Make sure you test drive, use your own fabric and one other thing. Check out the sewing machine reviews on http://www.patternreview.com. There you will find lots of unbiased opinions. Since you are spending this much money, make sure you get the machine that suits you. We all like different things in a machine. Have fun shopping and let us know what you do!

I love my Babylock Espire - had it for 10 years and wouldn't know what to do without it.

Bernina would definitely be my choice.

I tried out a lot of machines but got a baby lock The only reason being was my local store and the people in it. They can do some simple repair and they teach you all about how to use it and keep teaching till you get it right. I think most machines will suit a lot of people but without the backing of your store it will not be much fun....

sorry forgot to tell you all. I went every other day and they always found something new to tell me or show me. When I found the one I wanted I sewed on it trying different things 3 days in a row. I can not say enough about support.

Interesting to read everyone's preferences for machines. I have a Juki TL 98Q that is great for quilting but has no zigzag or other stitches--main disadvantage to it is a terrible needle threader and hard-to-insert bobbin. Saw a newer model, the Juki Exceed F600-something at a show that was a show special for $1,000 that has addressed these problems (drop-in bobbin, easy needle threader) and has the great Juki advantage of having a foot-operated thread cutter on the same pedal base as the forward pedal thing. Plus the knee-lift presser foot lifter which is also a great timesaver. Loads of extra stitches.

Less than you're wanting to spend but looks like a fun machine and you could spend the extra money on a fabulous vacation!
(Just kidding).

Dana

Hi I have a sapphire 850 by husquvarna love it and now they have a walking foot that is interchangable I love this new toy the machine has a 10 inch throat space for quilting and alot of extra stitches and lettering hope this helps paid 1100.00 good luck shopping

Janome Horizon with 11 inches of open space. If you want embroidery too, 11000SE but I think that's more like $4,000. The horizon should be in the $2,500 range.

Wanted to check and see if anyone else mentioned it before I mentioned mine. I spent about $2grand and got a QC1000 and a wheeled bag for it and a serger. I don't know how I lived without a serger up till now. Not for quilts but other things. I love,love,love my Brother machine I have had no trouble with it. It hasn't been serviced since I got it.(no close dealers in GA) Any trouble has been operator error only. I am planning on getting it serviced soon since I just moved to VA where it was bought. I clean it regularly. I can't wait to get it set back up. It will be a few weeks before I get the room set up for sewing.

Babylock Symphonie Hands down!

You have to ask yourself what features you want in na machine. If its just basicly a straight stitch, the Janome 6600 is great. or if you could find a 6500 it would be good too.

There are several good machines out there but you can't get more for your money than with a Janome.

Are you saying the Janome 6600 has only straight stitch?? Maybe we're not talking about the same machine.