KathyC9511

I purchased my Sweet 16 in !arch of this year. I have been free motion quilting on my Janome Spec. Ed 11,000 prior to my purchase.

I love the new machine. I have taken about 5 Craftsy classes on free motion quilting and attended a Handi Quilter class at the Houston Onternational Quilt Festival. This machine has given me the confidence to try new quilting techniques. I am so pleased that I bit the bullet and got the machine. It makes quilting so much more fun!

DogHouseMom

I test drove the S16 and loved it. Within seconds I was micro-stipling ... VERY MICRO. It was very easy to use if you are used to FMQ on a domestic.

I elected to buy a long arm instead though because I LOATHE basting. I REALLY HATE BASTING!! The trade off is that I don't have the room at home for a long arm so I have to keep it at our shop (7 miles away), but I don't have to baste.

If it wasn't for the basting ... I'd have snatched up a sit down in a heart beat. Since I test drove that one a few other long arm manufacturers have come out with sit down machines ... APQS, Innova, and a few others.

Strongly suggest you go to a large quilt show with many of the large vendors (Paducah, Houston, and the like) and try as many of the machines as you can get your hands on.

MadQuilter

I have one and the only problem I have is not enough time. It is easy setup and easy use. Mine has the cruise control but I have not mastered yet. Not sure that I would spend the money on that part again. One thing that is different between the 16 and the Tiara (the equivalent machine produced for Baby Lock) is that the 16 has a slight height difference between the machine bed and the sewing table. My DH added spacers to the table to raise it. That is the only potential issue. One of the suppliers from Australia made some youtube videos. Check them out.

QuiltE

When I was around to the BL Tiara and HQS16s, they were all the same on the top .... smooth! You might want to get the overlay piece.

The overlay deals with any of the cracks between the unit and the table top, so that the only opening on the table is the hole for the needle and you have a perfectly smooth table top.

funnyhunnybunny

I have had my Sweet 16 for a few months now, and love it! I debated between a few brands and ended up with this one, with no regrets. I would love to have a long arm, but simply don't have the room. As far as people preferring to move the fabric or the machine--we move the fabric now, and we're used to that, right? I had no problems orienting myself to this great machine. Figuring out the tension is interesting, but there are great videos on UTube that I absorbed. I don't have a good dealer near me, must use the phone and videos. No regrets!

madamepurl

I've had mine for about a year. I love it! You can needle size between 12-20 and any thread. I've never had hard time tensioning it. I have the regulator and I love it. It makes my stitching look professional. My friend had never FMQ and I sat her down and she was perfectly stitching in minutes.

Annaquilts

I tried it and liked it but ended up with a machine on a frame because with the sweet sixteen you still have to baste your quilt and move the quilt under the machine. I also own a Janome 6500 and have done quilts up to 10 feet x 10 feet on it (CalKing) I did not enjoy that and with a sweet sixteen the extra space would be nice but I would still have to pin or baste the quilt and move it under the machine. I liked the stitch on it but not as much as I like the stitching on the long arm. So all by all I can easily do small quilts on a regular or even extended throat (9 inch opening ) domestic machine and it would cost me less then the Sweet 16. I do think it is nice machine. I would get some good machinger quilting gloves and skip on the additional stitch regulator.