mighty

I agree shop around and test, test, test, machines!!! Also be sure you enough room for your frame, ect.

An Arm Long

"I dont know. Is the 24-36 the throat size? What does it matter if you are using a frame? I am assuming that free hand means that you have handles and direct the machine in a free motion way but moving the needle instead of the fabric? "

On a longarm, you are quilting a strip the length of your frame. The width of that strip is determined by the length of the throat on your machine.

Peckish

It matters a great deal. If your machine has a 9" throat (like my first one, and it was very frustrating), you will only be able to quilt about 5" deep. Remember you have to take into account the space that the rolled-up quilt takes in the throat of the machine as you advance it. The larger the quilt, the more space it uses as you progress. If your blocks are 10", it would be very difficult to quilt a design in them in only 5". With an 18 or 24 inch throat, you have a lot more space available to quilt larger blocks, plus added space for the quilt. Having said that, there are some quilters who don't care for the larger throats because it's too far to reach reach the back of the quilt. Testing different throat sizes will help you determine what you're comfortable with.

Another thing I highly recommend is a stitch regulator. It speeds up and slows down with the motion of the machine, so your stitches are always the same size.