I use a 30-year old Singer that has no bells and whistles and it does a great job on free motion.

I use a cheapie from WalMart and I have probably done 50 quuilts on it. From 20x20 doll quilts for my great grandkids to 120x120 queen size. I always SID, but have experimented with FMQ. But am real nervous about trying a complete quilt. It is easy to SID. Just roll it tight and throw the extra over your shoulder. :roll:

This board is full of resourceful people!

I have a Brothers CS-8072. Some electronics. I have used it to FMQ smaller projects and just love it. A quilter friend used mine at a meeting, and has purchased on to keep in her 5th wheel camper as it is lighter weight that her main machine. She liked that the bed of it is slanted in the front and she doesn't have to bend her head forward to see what she is doing. I do have a darning foot and I use the thread that is the larger spool for quilting. The only fault I see is that it does not want to sew over a bulky seam, so I just pull the fabric through at that point. :D

Put me down as another person quilting with the cheap WalMart Brother machine - so far all I've done on it is lap and throw-sized quilts. I have two tops in progress, both samplers. One will be double-bed sized and one will be queen-bed sized. I think I'm going to send the queen out to be long-armed, but I might try the double on my little machine.

I'm also due to "inherit" a high-quality 1970s Brother from my mother, as soon as she buys her self a new, small, light machine - because she can't lift the big old heavy metal machine any more!

Jan

I only use a machine that I bought at Wal Mart. I have found that I like to quilt blocks as I go. No stress on the machine or me. I have had more expensive machines in the past but my inexpensive machine works just as good. SG

I have a uro pro shark from Target. I do not actually do any big quilts on my machine. Have not learned how to handle the large ones without causing wrinkles on the back while sewing. I do however machine quilt very small pieces on my machine. I like hand quilting better. I do put together my tops on the machine.
chamby

I bought (a few years ago) a Singer online for $99 and use it on my quilting frame. It is a fantastic machine and works great. I am hoping to get a mid arm one of these days, but for now, the Singer can't be beat!
Before I had this one, I used my old Singer for free motion quilting when I didn't have the Handiquilter frame I have now. I was new to FMQ and just did squiggles and stuff but it did fine. My new machine now is a Brother and is computerized which I didn't really want, but seemed to be all I could find. It is a great machine too, and I use it to quilt small things like table runners.

Chamby - try using spray baste and a walking foot (if you are doing straight stitch quilting). They do help quite a bit!

A friend who is in three quilt groups helped me put together a quilt for quilting. We went to our church and put together two of the 8 foot tables. Put down the backing and stretch it taut, fastening around the edges with the larger bulldog clips found at office supply stores. Spread out the batting (which you have unrolled previously to let it relax) over the backing and smooth out well. Then put the quilt top over these two. Stretch it taut by securing a spot on each side, then on each end. Then gradually work out from each clip so it will be evenly stretched. Then pin with large safety pins about a fist width apart. This worked for me and she does all her quilts this way. I had no trouble with wrinkles. Using a walking foot would help also.