Janome Horizon - it is wonderful.

I am fairly new to this board but seem to see the Janome Harmony favored often.

If I had it to do over again I would buy a cheap workhorse for piecing but it would have to have the needle down feature.
Then a second machine with a very large hoop area so I can quilt blocks with embroidery. It would have to have a stitch regulator also.
All the different brands have a following so thats not so important.
Im curious about bobbin areas. I have only used top loading and like them very much, the bottom loaders seem to be a pain to work with. Who has both and what is your take on them?

Love my Viking Topaz 20 for quilting and my Sapphire 870 for piecing.

I just bought a used Elna 6300 Quiltmaker machine and I love it! I have a New Home Memory Craft 8000 which also does a wonderful job for piecing and quilting but it doesn't have much throat space.

I started off sewing with a Singer treadle which I stil have, then bought a Singer Graduate (back in the 70's). That was a total workhorse- made lots of garments. Really put it thru its paces and it's still humming along. Eventually, I wanted a machine with more bells and whistles so I bought a Brother NX400 which is a great machine and then bought a Brother Laura Ashley last year at a quilt expo and got a good price. I got alot of bang for my buck with the Laura Ashley- needle up and down, differential feed, auto threader and thread cutter, and the list of features goes on and on. I love the Laura Ashley and it is probably more machine than I'll ever compeltely need. I also love my NX400 which is the one I take to class or outside to the deck to sew. I also have a smaller less expensive Brother machine for small embroidery which suits my purposes fine. I also have 2 Singer 201's which are workhorses also. One of them belonged to my mother and she had an alteration business where it was in constant use. I love my Brothers!!!!

I love my Horizon (7700) for piecing and free motion quilting. The 11" harp, scissors, built in walking foot, single hole needle plate and I could on with all the neat features. You need to buy a brand that's sold by a good dealer near you.

I use my Euro for piecing and will be using my new Brother PQ1500s for quilting

[from Rose Marie]
Im curious about bobbin areas. I have only used top loading and like them very much, the bottom loaders seem to be a pain to work with. Who has both and what is your take on them?[/quote]

I have both types and like the bottom loading bobbin type better.
The machines that load the bobbin from the bottom are much better for doing FM quilting than the drop-in bobbins in my experience. Most of the modern machines use a plastic bobbin, they tend to jump around more in the drop-in bobbin type when its getting empty. The thread path is less direct with the drop-in than it is with the other type.
The machines with the removable bobbin case aren't that much harder to work with, you just need to learn how to insert it properly.
Sharon W.

I had a very similar experience and would love to get a juki but am stuck with the Viking for a while longer.