largest throat area
 

I am thinking of getting a new machine. I have had a Janome in the past. Which non embroidery sewing machine has the largest throat area {harp} with automatic thread cutter? I don't care if it only has a straight stitch. My main concern is the area for free quilting and a good even stitch. You can go crazy trying to check out all the different bands.

I have researched the Babylock Jane and the Brother PQ-1500S. They are similar and are straight stitch only, high speed and have a lot of features. I have several other machines and will probably buy one of these at some point. Can anyone give dyflynn and me some feedback on these machines?

I'm assuming you're not talking about longarms on a frame.

I have the Brother 1500 and love it, it has a 9" harp.

Brother released the Dreamweaver last year, it has an 11" harp but it's not a straight-stitch only machine. I don't know much about it, maybe someone else here can help.

The largest throat space, on a domestic machine that is not an embroidery machine, is the Bernina 820.

The Elna 740 eXcellence has a harp space of 11 inches!!
Hundreds of decorative and quilting stitches, alphabets and 17 feet that has their own specially designed storage on the machine. Love it!

I'm getting a Viking 960Q that has the thread cutter, needle threader, and lots more, plus a 10" harp.

I have the Janome Horizon 8200. It has an 11 inch harp and automatic thread cutter. Also a knee lift. Over 200 stitches but my favourite feature has to be the programmable needle up or down feature! Love it!

I've had it about a year now and it's an amazing machine

I have the Juki TL2010Q and it has a huge space for quilting. 9" harp but also 6" tall, so the hole is big enough that my biggest quilts have been no problem to work on. It's non-computerized, all mechanical, straight stitch only, thread cutter, built to sew fast but has speed control lever, and is under $1000. It makes beautiful stitches! I love it.

I have the Janome 7700, it has an 11" harp. I also have a Brother 1500 with 9" harp, and a Juki HZL-400 that has approximately 7" harp. I have to say for me the Juki is the most consistent and does the best job of quilting and 1/4" piecing. If the Juki had an 11-12" harp it would be my dream machine! Even though the Janome has the accufeed foot, the Juki does a better job.
Of course this is only my opinion. I always say if we all liked the same things how dull this world would be..
K

I have a Janome 8900qcp which has an 11" harp area along with a large table that attaches (included with the machine). I love the extra space. It also has a thread cutter, threader and tons of stitches along with the ability to put things into memory. The dual feed (walking) foot attaches differently and doesn't have that extra arm that others have to move it along. Overall I'm very happy with the machine. It has a much higher list price but you should be able to strike a deal with a dealer to get it for around $3,000. Trying to find pricing and what was reasonable was the hardest part of my purchase. Dealers do not advertise the price on this machine. Others on this board were helpful in letting me know a range to look for. As I understand it Janome will not allow this machine to be sold on-line.