I use a vintage singer 15 to FM. They are a dandy machine. Also use a vintage 403 Singer for that as well. I have a Janome that does free motion as well. I have done queen size on them and going to try a King size next.

I have the Brother PQ1500S and it was a bit over $500 and I got it from Ken's Sewing Machines online. I haven't learned to FMQ on it yet but love the big throat area. I also have a Singer 301A and use it for FMQ. I love how easy it is to use and it sews a pretty stitch but anything larger than a 70x70 is hard for me to FMQ.

I have an Mega Quilter that I bought used for $500 it has a 9 inch throat plate, only straight stich 3 speeds and the free motion is great I have only had for a month and I have not done a large quilt on it, but I did 2 kings size quilts on my designer 1 so it can be down, watch some of Leah Days u tubes videos on how to do on small machine.I would ave love to get one with a larger throat aa but ils had a 50 limit I suppse I could have soldmy Rosebut I did t want too.Keeploking

I have a singer 5050C I have tried to free motion on it and the stitches are too long and look weird. I can't find any videos on how to free motion on it.

I have basic 100 basic janome $250.00 added the darning foot $50.00 Canadian price. It does quilting for baby quilt at that price large quilt doesn't fit in arm.. When I get better at it, look for bigger and higher price. I hope to make/sell to cover cost of this machine.

So I looked at a baby lock and can't find anything on it, any place that I want to order it from says I have go pick it up at the shop and can't get it online. I even thought about doing a payment plan and still can't find anything.

Have you considered a Juki that does only straight stitch. With a budget of $500 you might consider Craigslist.

Indeed a vintage Singer might be the most affordable and works really well plus you'll have a super big throat opening.

I have a Brother Nouvelle 1500s which is excellent for fmq. I have quilted king size on it. It has a 9.5'' throat. It is a straight stitcher and not computerised. The needle is inserted sideways to the sewer and thread left toright as opposed to front to back. I think that makes a difference to te stitch as that, coupled with the single hole plate, makes for a professional appearance. I have also sewn through thick layers of denim with it.

In doing some research on the Juki 2010 and the Brother 1500, the Brother is made by Juki but has less features. If you do a search for Juki 2010 you will find a couple places thar offer a payment plan. Allbrands is one that comes to mind. Also I've seen advertisements right here on the Quilt Board. If you do a search here on the Board there was a recent thread discussion on the Juki. Good luck on your search.

there are a lot of new machines under 500 that can FMQ. Amazon has quite a few, they have a Juki that was 899 for 349 now and brothers marked down a lot. maybe you can go to a local shop that carry different brands and test drive them?