A wise person (quilter extraordinaire) once told me that if I was buying a new or new-to-me machine, I should try to get one that can be worked on locally .... that is, one that has a repair person near by just in case. Beyond that I have a Pfaff Grandquilter that is great and the Juki is similar and gets rave reviews also. They only straight stitch but they can stitch up to something like 1200 or more stitches per minute so that when you get good, you can really go to town! lol The Pfaff has a thread cutter button, needle up/down button, knee lift, speed control slide, and a needle threader among other things. The harp area is larger than a regular machine and although they like to drink oil, there is not much to go wrong on them as they are not computerized. Good luck with your hunt. It can get very confusing "out there".

I have a New Home that is about 27 years old. It is a mechanical sewing machine. I have free motioned quilted with this machine for years. You buy a generic darning foot, or hopping foot, or big foot pick your favorite. All you do is lower the feed dogs, and make your stitch length very tiny.

My vote would be for a Janome 8900. It does have an 11" throat and those extra couple inches really make a difference imho. However, you need to decide what is best for you, so I would say like so many others have, go out and test drive and talk to lots of dealers. Then, of course, you need to let us know what you decided on and this should be a very good Christmas.

Thanks for all the good info, some of you think like my husband, heehee, he wanted me to make sure that whatever we purchased could be worked on locally. So, off to the repairman today to ask questions. He is also the same person that sold me my New Home machine. Gonna see if he is still selling Janome, and to ask again about the FMQ/darning foot. There wasn't one with my machine, I think the one I have was given to me by my friend that had a Kenmore machine, it doesn't work on the New Home, lol...

Me, too! Mine gets a workout doing all kinds of sewing and FMQ. Purrs like a kitten, loves any kind of thread, and has an 11.25 inch throat with a red laser guide light.

After a quick trip to the "repair" shop for info, his wife (they run the business together :) found a FMQ/darning foot that fits my New Home sewing machine...so decided to give it a try :)