Machine suggestions
 

I'm looking to upgrade (finally) from my tiny little brother machine, but I have no idea where to start looking! I don't need the top of the line, but I know I need a deeper throat to accommodate the larger quilts I'm wanting to FMQ myself. Any suggestions on machines I should start looking at?? Any help is appreciated!! :) THANKS!

I love my Janome 6600. It has a 9" throat. The newer models are even more at 11". If you want straight stitch only, I've heard good things about Juki machines.

start by visiting dealers, shops where they are selling machines and test drive different ones. there is a vast array of machines available now days with many different features- the best way to find the one that is going to get you through years of enjoyable use is to test drive as many as you can find & ask lots of questions while test driving---many dealers offer free 'owners classes' to teach you how to use all the *new* bells & whistles; when I purchased my newest Janome not only was I offered the owners classes but I also get 5 years of free cleanings- I can take it in anytime I want, as often as I feel the need to have it cleaned-for free for 5 years!

I love my janome 8900 with the larger throat.

If you have any stores in your area that sell machines and will allow you to try them out, then go and try out several. Even the ones that are above your price range. That way you will get a feel for different brands and features. Then make a priority list of features you want and can afford. If what you likes was out of your price range, ask the shop if they have any gently used machines that are warrantied that you can purchase. Good luck on your machine search.

Take a look at Juki. I feel you get more machine for your money. Mine is fast, powerful and does a wonderful job FM quilting or with the walking foot. It has a larger throat space and I can quilt king sized quilts on it. I really really disliked my Janome 6500 despite many fantastic reviews. You need to know what you need in a machine and match that to your $ and go and try them out. There are no perfect machines out there, just better choices if your machine can easily handle the type of stitching you do.There's no point buying an expensive embroidery machine for a quilter who just wants to stitch denim and flannel rag quilts.

If you are looking for a larger harp for FMQ why not look at the simple straight stitch machines like the brother PQ1500S or juki 2010, they are great for FMQ and piecinging, and you have you little brother for other types of stitching. These tend to be very popular and are very affordable.

It really depends on your budget to be honest with you. I have a Juki 2000 for piecing. Love, love, love my Juki. It has a 9" throad. There is also a Janome and a Brother on either end of the price range, Brother being on the low and Janome being more. Oh, and Viking Huskvarnia has one too with a 9" throat.

If you have more money and only want something for free motion quilting, you can get a sit down quilt machine. I have a Tin Lizzie. There are several companies that sell them. Bailey Home Quilter is the least expensive. They did not sell a sit down table for the Bailey when I bought my Lizzie. I probably would have done the Bailey to save 2k but I do love my Lizzie.

There will be people who love their machines. My thoughts - chances are you will love whatever you end up getting and it's all relative. You can spend thousands or hundreds. It's all up to your budget.

If you can, try them all out before you buy. If you have a big quilt show like the AQS shows coming up, it's a great place to try out everything all at once. http://www.sewingexpo.com/Home.aspx or http://aqsshows.com/ are probably the bigger ones. I'm sure there are others out there but those two usually have all of the machine manufacturers present - especially Paducah for us Southerners. They'll be coming to Chatanooga next year too but if you are like me, it would be hard to wait to buy one.

I found a brother for about $700 that was straight stitch only, but to be honest it seemed like a ton of money for only one stitch. Not that I use alot of other stitches, but it seems like I could use them if I had them? What is the benefit to having straight stitch only?

WOW Thank you for all of your great advice! Anyone have any specific machines I should look up online in the $500 to $800 price range? I'm trying to do as much research online before I go out shopping - hard to get trips out of the house without the little ones tagging along! :)