my thought is that was a typo---with an extra zero--- $3290 is closer to the price of a used machine.

Sweet 16 is a sit-down, free-motion quilting machine where you move the fabric, not the head. I just brought one home today as a local quilter is a dealer and she is letting me try out the demo at my home. I am super excited, as I want to use it for my Fly Away Home quilt. Have some stuff to practice on. I have no interest in a long arm. You are working too far away from the action, and they are way too huge for me. These have a nice size table of their own and sell for somewhere around $4,000 - $5,000, sometimes less for a used one. Also, though it's bigger than a domestic machine, it doesn't take up a whole room the way the LA's do. Now I need to practice, practice, practice, and put together my big sandwich. Hope to use the church hall so I can stretch my sandwich out on big tables instead of crawling around on the floor to pin it together.

thanks for the laugh :) ;)

I have an HQ16 with a 12' table. I love it! I have had no issues with it, and had for several years. I paid around $10K for it new, and it came with the table as the "special" at the time. Well worth the $$ IMHO~

The 2 is a typo..$3900, and yes it's the sweet 16 sit down...sorry, didn't mean to cause heart failure, lol!

Other than the obvious advantage of having bigger harp space, are there other reasons the Sweet 16 or other sit-down machine is better than a domestic machine?

I have a sweet 16 and I love it. The Babylock and Handiquilter Sweet 16 are the same machine with different labels. You should decide on which dealer you like best and what deal they are offering. If you have experience with FMQ on a domestic machine you will do fine without the stitch regulator. I bought mine before the regulator came out, and I tried using a regulator at a shop this weekend, and I definitely do better work without it.

Dealers vary greatly in their prices, from $4500 - 5500 plus another $900-1000 for the regulator. That can include a wide assortment of goodies, depending on the dealer.

Pam

She forgot the decimal point. The sweet sixteen is around 4,000-5,000 depending on where you get one. My dealer told me she would match the show special. I did order it from her because I wanted to have service locally. I love my machine. I would recommend that you purchase the open toe foot and horizontal thread holder.

I just got the Tiara, with the slider, silicon mat on sale for $5200.Including RI taxes of 7%. I love it. It is a self quilting sit down machine. Hope this helps.Mary

Sweet 16
 

I read QB daily, but never post. Love reading and learning from everyone on this board. I just had to post about my experience with the HQ Sweet 16 (no stitch regulator). I absolutely loved mine, but after having it about 6 months, I sold it when we moved to another state. I cannot tell you how much I miss the machine and could kick myself for selling it. Quilting on it was a dream and I had no issues whatsoever with it. The largest quilt I did on the SW16 was a queen size. I had more than ample room to work and the stitches were beautiful. I highly recommend it. I did have a mid size long arm for a while and much prefer the sit down Sweet 16 setup. I am hoping to one day be able to buy another Sweet 16.