A machine with a wider throat area is definitely nice for free motion quilting, but you can be successful at FMQ with a standard machine. I wouldn't be opposed to a used machine - my daughter just got a great deal on a Brother machine which she found on Craig's List. You don't really need a bunch of extras to make quilts. If you want to do your own quilting on your home machine, make sure whatever you buy has a good free motion foot and the ability to raise and lower the feed dogs.