i've done a SITD queen on a janome 6600....that's a 9" harp....just be patient......Leah Day has some you tubes on how to do it......

I have done at least 12 (twelve) 120 x 120. I start in one corner and work my way around the quilt in about a 10 inch swathe. I work from the outside into the middle. That is what works best for me :) Good luck! I do not SITD - it is too confining to me, I meander.

Sorry for double post.

Wow Jim's Gem! I am very impressed with your quilting. It is beautiful! I have a 9" throat on my machine and struggle with quilting lap size quilts. (although I have done lots) I just persevere and eventually get it done but it is not fun. Do you have a stitch regulator on your machine or did you just get super good with practise?

Oh my goodness, cutting the batting and quilting it in thirds is brilliant! How do you attach the next batting after quilting the center section? I guess you have to spray or glue baste to do it this way?

I quilt (free motion) on my Babylock Quest. The largest I have done is 50 x 70

I think it is very possible. I have probably quilted 50 quilts about that size on my machine. I usually SID or sew a straight line, following blue painter's tape that I position where I want it, sometimes diagonal. Though, to be truthful, diagonal is harder for me.

I would use Warm and Naturalbatting, where you can have your stitches as far apart as ten inches, though 8 inches is as far as I have tried. I am not a fan of really close stitching, but that is just me.

Position your ironing board perpendicular to the left of your sewing machine to help hold the quilt sandwich and keep the weight off of your needle, and if you don't have any surface room behind your sewing machine, it might be handy to put a card table there or something....all to support weight.

I find it very rewarding to quilt on my machine. I am also too stingy to pay to have it done. I admit I currently have a machine with an eleven inch throat, but the one I used before that was 8 inches. As long as I could keep the quilt's weight supported, I could quilt pretty easily. Sometimes I roll the quilt, and sometimes it is just easier to not.

You can do this. If I can, anyone can.

Dina

I have done free motion quilting on a home machine for years. I now use a Juki-98Q which is a mid arm. I've done up to a king size.
You shouldn't have any problem doing a quilt on yours.

If your husband suggested machine shopping take him up on the offer! I'm not saying you have to buy a machine but you can try out several different machines and he can learn about the differences in machines. To most men a sewing machine is a sewing machine is a sewing machine. They don't think there is a whit of difference between a good machine and a discount store machine. BTW - I also have a PC-6500. It is a good machine but it isn't happy doing FMQ.

I have done 2 king size but, I have the PC 8200 by brother. Here is a thought, I have a hard time doing SITD for some reason and I don't care for it. OK, Find your serpentine stitch. The one that is a straight stitch but sews in an S. Mark a 45 degree angle on the quilt . I use masking tape for this. Sew your lines about 6 in. apart in one direction and then do it again in the other making a grid an the quilt. I do this a lot on my smaller quilts and it looks really good.