This machine has an absolutely huge embroidery hoop as I understand it. I think I saw a woman actually quilting her quilt with this machine and a big hoop at a quilt store in Maryland. I believe she was using a computer programmed design. Are any of you aware of whether or not you can do quilting (as opposed to embroidery) with this machine and hoop? And can someone give me an idea as to what these machines cost? I know they are several thousand dollars, but I really, really think I want one!!!!! If it will do quilting, even if it is block by block in the hoop, that will give me another 'argument' in favor of getting one!!

I can't answer your questions, but have you been to Pfaff website. You can download the owner's manual and it might answer some of your questions.

http://www.pfaffusa.com/12893.html

I don't know much about that particular machine, but any embroidery machine can do quilting. It helps a lot to have a hoop large enough to do the block in one go! I made one quilt where all the plain blocks were quilted on the embroidery machine in contrasting thread, and I love how it turned out.

I embroider(quilt) my quilts frequently using my embroidery function on my sewing machine. The key is to pick outline designs only or the back will look ugly.

I had a Pfaff embroidery machine. It does have a huge hoop and does do quilting. To me, Pfaff is not user friendly. I gave mine away and now have a Janome which also does limited quilting. The main thing to look for is how much room there is in the arm. You have to have enough room to "bunch" the quilt and yet have the embroidery hoop move.

I love my creative vision!!! Yes, you can quilt in the hoop with emb. designs or you can free motion. It has some built in stipples you can use without the hoop, too. This machine does everything but make lunch. I got mine on a special with a lot of stuff for around 72 hundred. I think they are supposed to be around 10K. Worth it if you do a lot of sewing, embroidery, and quilting. Mine works everyday.

I have the CV 5 and it is a dream. I have used it to quilt 2 quilts. One is about twin size. It isn't difficult to do.
Plus I got a really great price.
Kirsten

August 2010 Quilter's World mag has an ad for abook titled "piece in the Hoop: 20 Quilt Projects +40 Machine Embroidery Designs. It's all about using the hoop to quilt. krausebooks.com

I have wanted to try this on my Pfaff, but haven't worked up the nerve yet.

I do a lot of my intricate quilting on my CV. People think I am a great quilter (not!) Anyway one of the problems you will have is the quilt, batting and back are a little hard to hoop beause of the thickness. They have hoops that are called heavy (It also comes with a light hoop)but I still have a little trouble hooping it. The other point is these heavy material hoops can only do about a 6-7 inch square but that is pretty much a standard size square. I have tried it on other hoops but you have the possibility of popping out during the embroidery. I would aslo suggest you go slow. This is not a race and the faster you go the more of a chance of either breaking the thread or the quilt popping out of the hoop. Hope this helps.