I have an 18" Tin Lizzie and it's the best thing I ever bought myself. I couldn't afford a new one so I searched the web and found one I could afford online. I bought it within an hour of home from a quilter who was upgrading to a newer model Tin Lizzie. The longarm makes quilting possible for me, and I make many more quilts because I have it.
We have a small house, we took out our kitchen table to make room for Lizzie and now we eat in the livingroom or patio. My husband said he'd get rid of the couch if I want it in the livingroom. He knows how importantLizzie is!

I bought an HQ16 just about a year ago. I watched all the used stuff sites and found it on Craigslist for a great price.

I had done a couple of queen sized on my Janome.

I have quilted over 50 quilts in the one year and most are for charity. I LOVE this machine. It does take up a lot of space but we are empty nesters and had the extra bedroom.

I am dreaming of getting a long or mid arm machine. Right now I quilt all my quilts on my Bernina and before that on my old Pfaff.

I have a Bailey 15", the price was something I could afford to find out if I'll stick with it enough to justify a bigger one. I WILL, untill more money comes my way I'm satisfied with what I have.

I have used my sewing machine and will in the future for things like placemats. I have a mid-arm (bless the friend that sold it to me cheap) and I'm learning on it. Yesterday was the first practice quilt I've made that I was pleased -- 4th one. I'm now ready to do a REAL quilt!

It's very unusual for me to make anything larger than a twin sized quilt. Off the top of my head I've done one queen sized and nothing as complicated as the one with your beautiful profile photo!

Jois

I have the Janome 1600p and the Gracie sturdy lite with the updated cariage. And I love it! Yes it does take up alot of space. I'm a hobby quilter, not a pro. I bought this set up with the thought that it had to be better then stuffing a huge quilt under the sewing machine and it is better. I would love a 15 or 17 in throat, but my budget says this setup is great. I also got the Janome 6500p incase I ever had to use it on the frame. Good luck with you decision to purchase a setup.

I think the Juki has only a 9" harp (width under the arm). A mid-arm starts around 13".

A good place for information, pros/cons of different systems, is the homequiltingsystems group at http://www.groups.yahoo.com . Just recently there was a thread there that recommended spending a year researching and trying out quilting systems before actually purchasing a midarm or longarm.

No, I don't consider a Juki a mid-arm. I set up my brother 1500 on a frame, only six inchs of quilting space, I upgraded to the HQ 16. JMHO

I also had a dear friend who sold me her shortarm (Baby Lock Quilter's Choice Pro) on a New Joy frame for fairly cheap when she upgraded to an APQS longarm. It has taken me quite a long time to get used to using it, because I didn't take any lessons or anything, but now I just love it. I do sometimes wish I had more quilting space, but overall it works for what I do.