Need some "oh sew wonderful" help!!!!
 

I've had my New Home sewing machine for almost 25 years, it still sews good but doesn't have a free motion foot attachment...while talking to my husband about my problem, he asks me which machine I would need to be able to do this...WHAT??? Yeehaw, a wonderful Christmas present, but I have no idea where to start...I know I want to be able to FMQ and a bigger throat area than my current machine...Which machine do youns love for quilting and sewing???

I love my Bernina with the BSR, everyone told me that I couldn't go wrong with a Bernina, it's an investment but IT IS SO NICE!!!!

Brother 1500 S has a nice size throat space and does FMQ well. It's a straight stitch only, mechanical machine that you can pick up brand new for $600 including an extension table, walking foot, FMQ foot, 1/4 inch foot and a couple of others. Many folks on the board have them set up on a frame. I use mine every day for all kinds of sewing and love it.

Of course, you will get 1000 suggestions. It's like the Ford vs. Chevy debate. Everyone has an opinion but both are nice vehicles.

You need to determine how big the quilts are going to be to decide how big the 'throat' space is you will need. For larger bed size quilts I would suggest at least a 10" throat. I've quilted a queen on a Bernina 153 QE and my shoulders and back were killing me by the time I was finished over a several day period. I don't know what size dsm has that size throat.......take some research for you to do.
Machine brands: I own a Babylock, Bernina, and Necchi plus a Gammill Class+.

Purchase the best quality you can for what you can afford to pay!

If you establish a price range first, that will make suggestions more useful.

Edit: I am also wondering what you mean by a free motion foot attachment. I think most of the vintage machines are capable of taking a hopping foot or, at the very least, a darning foot. Both of those are used for free motion quilting. If the machine's feed dogs don't drop, they can be covered with a credit card and actually some people find it easier to FMQ with the feed dogs up (just being sure to turn stitch length to zero).

I vote for Babylock Crescendo!

stitchquick
 

you alway get midlong sew machine like a bailey 13 ", or 15" , or 17 " address is baileysquiltcenter

Sorry...don't do machine quilting. But, my basic advice is always make up a spreadsheet of your 'needs'/'wants'. See what machines fit into those parameters and go from there. Obviously $$ is a concern but just make that a line item in your spreadsheet. Then go test driving. And take your own samples. Don't rely on the store samples. Take piecing samples as well as quilting samples. Only you can decide what works for you/your budget. Personally I'm a Viking girl and love mine. But that's just me.

I had always wanted a Bernina! but now that I have a Janome 6500 I'm very satisfied and will not be getting the top of the line of bernina. They cost way too much and you have to buy all new feet for each machine! What a bummer when you realize this! The janome has a big throat and all the stitches that a quilter would dream of having!

I have a New Home that is older than that and I have a free motion foot for it. I probably bought it from my Janome dealer. I use this old machine for everything. Wouldn't trade it in for anything.