Check out the new Opals from Viking. Viking is a great machine and works great. I have two emb machines and the Viking Mega quilter. If you have shops in your area it would be great to test the machines out and see all the features available and go from there. I love the needle up/down button and the auto thread cutter to name a few of the great features machines have now.

The one machine I would stay away from is any of the Pfaffs. They once were one of the best machines on the market but now they don't sew well at all. It wasn't just mine that was bad I know 4 other ladies and they all had different Pfaffs and they had problems with theirs as well. I recently purchased the Janome 8900qcp and love it. I have friends that have the Janome 6600 and it is a workhorse, wonderful machine. Good luck...

I say Janome 6500 or 6600 ! love mine!

Welcome, so glad you joined us. I would also check out the dealers/service guys, quite frequently they'll have higher end trade-ins for very reasonable, that's how I got my big Elna Quilter's Dream. I love the throat space and the "scissors".

Love the Janome Horizon 7700....it has a large bed and great lighting too!