I am interested in purchasing a long arm quilting machine. I can't afford those $40K+ machines, but would like your opinion on what machine is easy to use and easy to maintain and reasonably priced for a quilter who usually does charity quilts. Also what kind of frame to mount the machine on.

I Just purchased a grace quilt frame it suits my needs for the quilts I do and priced right and could put on layaway.

There are plenty of longarms priced from around 9K to 20K. There are a whole lot of midarms too and they're even more reasonably priced. Do a search on every brand you have heard of and see what each machine offers and then go to a dealer for the machines you like the features of best.

You really should "test drive" the ones you're most interested in before you buy.

The homequiltingsystems group at http://groups.yahoo.com has a lot of members and lots of info on different quilting setups, including machines and frames.

Don't know where you are located but you should find a major quilt show to attend. They will have several different vendors with their machines set up. Try all of them. You will be able to eliminate what you don't like or what you can't afford.

If you are in the Houston area, this year's show will be the first weekend in Novemeber.

I have an HQ Fusion I ordered in May of '09. I have had no problems at all in over a year. I did a lot of research and I looked for a dealer that I absolutely fell in love with. He drove over 100 miles to bring it and set it up, without charging me extra. I think the dealer is very important in purchasing a longarm. I did have a yearly checkup on it because my dealer did it for free. We made an appointment and he checked it out while I went shopping and I was on the road in 3 hours to come home. I also love their customer support. You can call Salt Lake and they will work with you if you have any problems. I had a question about bobbins and they were friendly and more than helpful.

You might want to contact a Viking Dealer. Viking has a Mega Quilter 18x8(I believe by Tin Lizzie)& frames (by Grace, I thnk, also) very reasonably priced.

The Bailey and the WOW aren't technically a "long arm" but a "stretched" machine, but they're "long arm" enough for me, when I get the room, and are VERY reasonably priced. I don't know about the WOW but the Bailey has a pretty good reputation.