FMQ machine advice please
 

Hey All, Could you please tell me if you have a straight stitch machine with a large harp space that you use for FMQ? What kind is it and why you love it or not. Thanks for the help.

I use my vintage Bernina 830 Record. It FMQs like a dream. The harp space is 7 1/4", not big, but I have done a queen size quilt on it with no problem.

do a search for commercial sewing machine. ConSew is one brand. I have seen a Brother with large harp space.
You don't usually find them advertised as manufactures want us to buy the bells and whistles.
I have read that if you do get a commercial machine (used in manufacturing) you might have to get the foot control or motor reset so it doesn't sew so fast. But thee make great free motion machines.

I have a Juki 2010Q with a large harp, and I just love it. It is reasonably priced and sews like a dream I,m sure you will get a lot of replys on this subject but this is mine. A lot of gals on this board have them and I,m sure you would get the same answer. I do not have mine on a frame, but a lot of people do and they say great things also. Good luck in your search.

Thanks Nannyrick, I was just reading about that machine. Does yours have some sort of stitch regulator? I'm just learning FMQ.

I have a Janome 1600P - it does only straight stitch, and has 9-1/2" width, it works great fro FMQ. I have a New Joy quilting frame which I purchased together with the Janome, and I use it to quilt queen-size.
I also have a Janome Horizon (7700 model), with a wider width, and it's also great for doing FMQ, it has an automatic speed control so I could set the speed to suit my pattern.

To my knowledge - only the Bernina has a stitch regulator. Lots of new fancy stuff coming out tho for machines tho and I may have missed others. A new Brother has a laser pen that when used to mark lines or dots will tell the machine to stop at a certain point or stitch down a line. This is just too much automatic for me.

Brother 1500 here. I like everything about it. It's only flaw is my skill level, but I'm getting better.

My 15-91! Great for that!!

Brother Nouvelle 1500S has what you asked for. Great straight stitch, 8 1/2" harp space, great fmq. Semi-industrial work horse. Bought mine ~15 yrs ago and still available This has been my quilting machine of choice.

Now there are machines with a larger harp