That Bailey set-up looks very good! I had problems with the 830 when I took a class at the dealer. .it was such that I decided not to buy the machine. I'd go with a longarm or the med. arm sit down.

Totally agree with Paper Princess--I love my long arm (bought used in April) and even though my learning curve is still pretty steep, I love it. And the show I attended this weekend really brought home the fact that a quilt isn't really a quilt until the quilting is done and the quilting makes SUCH a difference! A quilting friend said it was like the difference between throwing on your clothes in the morning, and taking the time to put on some jewelry, a scarf, complimentary shoes, etc! I just love the creativity in long arming!

Without a shadow of doubt I would get the Bernina 830 ,mine runs like a dream and there is so much you can do on the machine , free classes came with my and 3 years later I still go to them and I always learn new thing to try , the Embroidery side of the machine opens up a whole new world of quilting to you .........best investment I have made in years . Cathy

Bernina will be coming out with a long arm machine in December or after the 1st of the year.

I think you have more options with a long arm. You are able to do pantos, use rulers and you don't have to baste quilts. My friend has a Sweet Sixteen sit down and while she likes it I know those are the things she misses.

I have a friend who has a machine quilting frame (wood) with a small sewing machine on it ( I forget which brand) She has it in a room that is about 8 X 12 feet. It is a bit crowded but you would not believe the quilting she does, very nice. It is so much easier to load a quilt on a frame than it is to pin it or baste it for quilting on a domestic machine. IMHO.

I have a Bernina 780 and I use it on a Bernina 10' quilting frame with the Bernina Creative Touch Pad for QuiltMotion and it does a beautiful job. I get lots of ooo's and ahhh's during show and tell at my quilt guilt meetings. I also have several ladies that are interested in me doing some machine quilting for them. It is a little heavy and it resides in my sewing room in an upstairs room, but if my husband is around I get him to lift it for me :). I also wait until I get several projects ready to quilt and do them all at once. My sister-in-law bought a 750 and uses it on my frame also. If I'm putting out that much money, it better do something other than one thing. I can use my 780 for sewing, embroidery and quilting. I've had this set up since January and have had no problems.


Bernina is coming out with a long arm but later next year and my dealer is speculating that the whole set up will run about $17,000.

Chris

Get yourself to a quilt show and try the longarms. There is nothing wrong with the 830, but it is not a longarm or even a mid arm. the width and heighth is just not there, plus most LAs are more industrial machines - less maintenance and headaches.