Looked up some dealerships to go look at sewing machines...none in my town, nearest locations about 3-4 hrs away:( Oh well, might have to go on a weekend trip, heehee!

Thats a bummer, make sure you take a notebook so you can jot down what you like and don't like in the machines you try out. Everything as pros and cons, and everyone has different brands and models they love. If you have a good budget the babylock crescendo/ brother dreamweaver really are amazing machines. and I recommend demo at least one, they are essentially the same but brother has the my custome stitch feature. They are quite pricey but well worth the extra money IMHO. The straight stitch brother and jukis are also very popular as is the juki F-600 if I didn't have my baby I would have eventually looked into one of these for FMQ as well but dreamy won me over hands down

But can you buy a FMG/darning foot first? Just to give it a try before you spend the big bucks? Make sure you even like to do FMQ??

I quilt on either a Baby Lock Jane or Juki TL98QE, both straight stitch only machines with 9" throats. I love them both.

I wondered if I was the only one sold on Viking. I got a Designer I that had been a tradein a long time ago and I love it. Just bought the Viking 100Q to take to classes. Ask who/where the warranty work is done, where is a repairman. I had bought the Singer 70 in honor of Joanns 70 yrs. It was an order from the net. Got it and the paperwork inside said warranty work had to be sent to Florence, SC. Another in my class had a Singer from Wally World she was having problems with, it was under warranty, and yes, she had to ship it. From the start the Singer 70 had problems. Motor still hummed after I took my foot off the pedal. I did send it back to Joanns. I couldn't take it to the store. Joanns was very good about taking it, no hassle, sent me the paperwork to FedEx it at their expense. But, I learned my lesson. Take something to sew on what you are shopping for. Know how/where the warranty work is handled. Listen to it as you sew. Nothing has been smoother than my Vikings and I like that. And, happy shopping.

While browsing, found this site for sewing machine reviews. Always remember this is for suggestions only and is someone's personal opinion. The best experience as others have pointed out is to test drive as many as possible in your area.
http://www.erinsayssew.com/

I love my Juki. It only straight stitches, but it FMQ like a dream. I think it was in the $1000 range.

I love my Brother in-novis Quilt Club. It has automatic tension control and does fmq beautifully. Also has a wide throat. A big plus is it has all the fancy stitches too, which I find I do use. Some other bells and whistles too. I've even been able to design my own stitch and store it in the memory. Can also mix stitches together.

If you want a sit down FMQ machine, check out www.sunshine16.com. The machine is just for FMQ and has a 16" throat. You can get the portable machine (which can be placed on any sturdy surface and used) or with it's own table. It is comparable to the HQ Sweet 16, the Baby Lock and several other machines in quality, but is much more affordable. Since I already had my Berninas and can't stand for long periods of time to use a long arm, this was the best option for me.

I googled "sewing machine comparison chart" and there are several references to different machines and their abilities.