Shesews, I had a grace frame and a megaquilter. So not a big fancy set up but I do prefer my sweet sixteen sit down. it left room for a really great sewing room setup instead of eating up half the room and I find I enjoy the sit down quilting more. All freemotion and ruler work though. If you like panto's you would miss that option.
There is no getting around the basting though- glue it, pin it or stitch it, it has to be done.
I also wanted to say that the sweet sixteen has been great fun for embellishing with the couching feet and for freemotion embroidery. So not just quilting.

I have a sit down machine. I don't think that I'd buy it again. The newer sewing machines do pretty much what the siit down does. There is a huge learning curve for me. If I were to do it again, I'd buy a machine that has a foot for it.

I know that this is a little older thread, but I felt it fit better than starting a new thread. Can anyone comment on how important that they think that a stitch regulator is on a sit down machine. I see some like the Q20 Bernina have it and many others like the Juki TL-2200QVP do not. The Sweet sixteen doesn't, but the Simply Sixteen does. The APQS George doesn't, etc, etc. I had one dealer tell me that most people don't use the stitch regulator after a short period of time and I thought that was a funny comment because almost all of the standup units have a stitch regulator.

Thanks for your comments.

I think the importance of a regulator depends on how fussy a person is. I consider myself still in the learning phase, and I am not worrying about perfect stitches; I just want to finish some quilts for family. They look nice even though, if you examined them closely, you'd see uneven stitches. On the other hand, if I were quilting other people's tops, I'd be a lot more concerned about perfection.

I did buy the stitch regulator with my Sweet 16, but I decided to learn without it. I found that for some reason, I could do designs much better when my feet were involved in the process. So I am content to work slowly toward perfect stitches without the regulator. If you are a fussy type, I would suggest buying a different sit down than the Sweet 16, one that has a regulator that is built in. I think the Sweet 16 regulator is a bit of a pain to use. You have to move it around with the quilt.

I agree with Lisa, I have the Sweet 16 and sold my stitch regulator after using it a couple of times. I don't go too fast but my foot and my ear keep my stitches fairly regular.

I too use a Bailey FMQ machine. It is the Bailey Pro 15. I've had mine several years and am perfectly satisfied. I was attracted to it because of my unwillingness to spend exorbitant prices for a hobby. Quilting is already expensive as it is, without spending multiple thousands on a machine. I started using my domestic which only had a 5" throat--waay to frustrating, but I plodded along for a while. Then I discovered the Baily and for about $1500 I had a great machine. I also bought the table that they have for it.

My baily is actually like a basic Janome on the inside, so my Janome man can take care of any issues that develop (none have). It also uses the same bobbins and bobbin case as my Bernina which is my domestic sewing machine. So I'm able to interchange them back and forth.

I also like that I can get to my bobbin without having to bend myself to see up under the table to change out my bobbin. My friend has an expensive Baby Lock in a sit-down table and to change out her bobbin, she has to bend into a pretzel to see up under there. It sews beautifully but hate where the bobbin is.

The downer on my Baily is that it doesn't have the height from the floor of the machine to the top of the throat, which limits my visibility somewhat. However, that is not enough frustration to make me spend 6,000 as opposed to my !,500 I paid for my Bailey.

A plus is that I can also Free-motion embroider on it. I love that. One way I use it is that I don't make labels. I just FM-Embroider them. That way, I don't worry about anyone removing the label and claiming my quilts. No way are they going to rip out all those stitches. LOL

For most quilts I simply put MRay2016 hidden somewhere on the quilt and forgo any label. Of course, the 2016 trades out for whatever year it is.

We ended up with a Juki TL-2200 QVP -S (sit down model). No regulator and a great show price from a LQS. Should be here within a week. :thumbup:

I love my Bernina Q20. I bought a Tiara II at a show. When I got it home my husband told me to sell it and get the Bernina.... No comparison between the two machines! I was lucky enough to trade in the Tiara and get what I paid for it.

How long have you been sewing on the Q20? We tried one at a show and loved it. We really did like the stitch regulator on that unit. Congrats on having a wonderful machine.

I've had the Bernina Q20 for about 1 1/2 years. It's a wonderful, uncomplicated machine. It always has perfect tension. The only minor complaint is the bobbin area. It's hard to see exactly how to put the bobbin back in. A couple times I had it a little "off" and it was hard to get it back out.