As others have said, we tend to come in "stand up" or "sit down" variety (some are either). Due to health limitations I went from stand up to sit down (don't all of us sit down for piecing anyway?). My HQ Sweet 16 was purchased used online from someone who posted on SewItsForSale. I paid $3800 for machine, table, two extensions, and a boat load of extras. The seller was "upgrading". I highly recommend going the second-hand route there are so many who jumped in without doing their research and want to make a change as a result. Here is another option. Make your choice and go to SewItsForSale to post an ISO (in search of) and see what happens.

From what I am hearing from many of you, I think I need to watch my Leah Day FMQ course again and practice some everyday. I was doing this until "life" got in the way. As much as I love a machine with a "built in" SR, a mid-arm with that feature isn't in the budget right now.

I do want to try a HQ Sweet 16. The nearest dealer is a 2.5 hour drive so I'll have to set this up hopefully in the next week or 2.

"Kaylfrdsollimo", I have been looking at sites for used machines but haven't found one for sale in N.C. I would not want to buy one used unless I could try it out first. Did you try the H 16's SR? The Babylock SR is similar but my stitches were not consistent with it. My stitches were small if I happened to slow down some ... with the built-in SR that didn't happen.

If you liked the Juki on the frame, and you have a dealer near you ... here's good news .. Juki makes that same machine as a sit down model (although it does not have a stitch regulator). The price of the sit down model is around $5500.00.

But yes ... check out various sit down machines first.

I had tried several long arms, fell in love with the Innova, but the only place I had room for it was at my husbands shop about 10 miles away. So I purchased a good used Voyager 8" on a Hinterberg frame for a very reasonable price - mostly to see if I would like quilting an entire quilt on a frame, and how often would I actually get there to use it. As it turns out, I didn't get there often enough and at the same time I was FMQ small projects at home on my domestic and got so used to it that I decided to get a sit down machine and bought the Juki. Love it!!

But now, as luck would have it ... we are contemplating moving and the sewing room in the house we are thinking of buying is 16' X 24' and I will have room for both my long arm and my sit down machine!! IF we buy that house ...

DogHouseMom ... I did ask my dealer about the Juki 2200 sit down. They have it in another location about an hour a way so I may very well make the trip to try that out. I have a Juki F600 that I love. I manage to FMQ with the 9" space but obviously more throat/harp space is always a plus. Wonder if the SR is built into the frame? I think they told me on the new Brother package I looked at the SR only worked w/the new Dreamweaver Frame. Hmm.

Hope you buy the house. I thought we were going to buy one with a full finished basement last fall. I think that's when I got excited about the long arm option. But we didn't. Darn, and I had already designed my sewing area in my mind. Ha. Good Luck.

Sharon

I know I am biased. I bought a gently used HQ 16 [not the sitdown model.] I added the ProStitcher when it first came out. I still love it!
HQ has excellent tech service via phone. I have even forwarded a text pictures to the tech with the results being great. A picture is really worth a 1000words.

Right now many quilters are trading up and there are some great deals on used HQ's.

Many of you have mentioned that you purchased used machines ... some from Craig's List and other websites listing used machines for sale. So did you buy your used machine w/o trying it out/sight unseen? Or did you find one nearby so you could try it first?

Haven't been able to hit the road again to try more machines but I am practicing my FMQ almost every day.

I bought mine used from a fellow quilt guild member who was upgrading. She had put a stack of flyers on the entrance table at the quilt guild meeting. We arranged for me to come over to her house and try out the machine before I purchased it. Unless you are buying long-distance, it's usually possible to try out a setup before committing to it.

I knew I wanted an HQ16. I would look for a place no more than 3 hours away one way. It took me quite sometime but it did eventually happen. I had to wait to find someone whould would accept my limited budget.

I found a great deal for a friend and she did not try it out. I think they did stuff through Skype but cannot remember. They met half way---one lived in MD and the seller in Ohio. All worked out just fine.