Thank you everyone for your input. I think I'm going to call my dealer next week and see if she will work with me. If not, I'll have to figure out how to sell my long arm before I do anything else.

I tried out a Pfaff sit down and then looked at a Sweet Sixteen. Handiquilter makes sitdowns for Pfaff and has more features. It also makes Baby Lock's sitdown, I think and it is so much cheaper. Do some research. I love my Sweet Sixteen. I was able to take two days of classes at my dealership for $50.given by a factory teacher. Really learned a lot. My dealer also gave a good lesson on how to run and clean the machine when I first bought it. The factory teacher told us how to use templates, how to take it apart to thoroughly clean it, etc.

I have an Innova sit down with the stitch regulator and I love it. I downsized from a Gammill classic long arm.
I purchased my Innova from Hunter Heirloom Quilting in Centerville, Missouri.

Sit Down Quilting
 

I own the Tiara111 and I'm just learning it,
so far its good, takes lots of practice

There is a baby lock dealer near me. I don't think they have the Tiara on the floor to test drive, but I'm going to stop by there just in case. My biggest issue is that I currently have a long arm and I'd love to be able to just trade it in for a sit down and hopefully a generous store credit as well, but we'll see. Since my long arm is a different brand, they may not be willing...

I have the Babylock Tiara and I love it, it can't be programmed for designs like the long arms, but I totally love sitting moving the fabric around as to whatever strikes my fancy while listening to an audio book. My happy place. Pfaff has the same machine, made by the same company, American made, I think in Utah, not sure if I have the right state. The Pfaff model has a different name on it, otherwise the same machine. HQ 16 is also the same machine.

PS this yahoo group has a lot of information, it covers the Babylock Tiara, HQ 16 and the Pfaff, and there might be another one made by the same company.
[email protected]

Maire

These machines have no feed dogs, so you can't do walking foot quilting. It's all FMQ, you really need a bigger table to support your quilt; if you're doing larger quilts.
I do all of my quilting with a Pfaff QE 4.2, it has a 10" throat, IDT(built in walking foot). I really like it, have it in a Horn Quiltmate 2 cabinet. I have been machine quilting since 1992, on both a regular sewing machine and have rented a LA machine for larger quilts.
Sharon in Texas.

I went and tried out the Bernina Q20 since that's what my baby lock dealer had in stock (he also sells Berninas). Now I think I understand. As purple fiend said, there are no feed dogs, which makes a huge difference. My stitch in the ditch is really nice on my regular sewing machine, but not with the sit down machine since there are no feed dogs to guide the fabric, and rulers are annoying to me. My stipple and free motion are really nice on the long arm since you move the handles, but not nice at all on the sit down since you move the fabric. Well shoot, there goes that plan....... Does anyone have any other ideas for me? Is there a regular sewing machine out there with a gigantic harp/throat space? This is not looking good for me....l

It just takes a little practice. I can stitch in the ditch with my HQ16 just as well as on my domestic without rulers.