If at all possible, go take a class on actually quilting with one. I didn't before I went to a quilt show and had big thread messes that the sales people had to clean up. If you have a friend that has one that would be perfect to just practice on. When you don't know what one is supposed to feel like, it's really hard to judge. When I was looking for a new one, I really liked the APQS machines for their ease of movement. So many people rave about their Innova's. Even though you haven't mentioned the Innova, their love of their machines would make me look at those for sure.
I use a stitch regulator and like it. Others don't. It's all in what you end up liking.
Having a dealer close that does repairs and understands your machine is something I consider important. I have an older Nolting that I bought preowned. I need to do something different on my table because the machine hangs up going both ways. The machine itself doesn't give me very many problems and is all mechanical which means my husband can time it and do any maintenance.
Where are you located?
A couple of other things....Buy the biggest throat you can afford. Mine is a 24 inch and the maximum pantograph I can do is a 15". You would think I could do up to 24, but you have the needle back from the edge and the quilt rolls up into the throat so you lose that space. I would expect that a 20 inch could maybe do a 12" panto. Check how far across from the front you and your wife can reach. I can't reach all the way across a Gammill quilting frame. That would never work for me. Sometimes I have to do adjusting of fabric and stitching with my hand smoothing the fabric and I have to reach the other side
Last edited by Barb in Louisiana; 08-25-2019 at 06:31 PM.