Dee Dee

I have just retired and have accumulated about 5 quilt tops ready to be quilted. I am looking for a machine to quilt these myself. Tops are mostly twin size or smaller. I have a Bernina 550 QE, but the throat space is pretty small. A friend recommended a Janome 6600 and said it has a larger throat space. I've also thought about mid arm, or a sit down long arm. What do you recommend?

SusieQOH

I bought a Bernina 770QE and love it for machine quilting, among other things. It's a great machine.
Before the upgrade I bought a Juki TL 2010Q and that's also great for machine quilting. If I had known I'd be buying the new Bernina I may have not gotten the Juki but it's a great mechanical machine and not expensive.

sewbizgirl

I have a sit down longarm and love it. It's more like quilting under a regular machine than on a stand up longarm, where you move the machine around. With a sit down you move the quilt. Good thing is, the sit down setup runs at about half the price of a stand up longarm and frame. It takes up less space, too.

I have a Juki QVP2200. They have just replaced it with a newer model, so you may be able to find a good deal on a used one.

sewbizgirl

This is my sit down Juki QVP. with a quilt under it.

pocoellie

I love my 20" sit down Bailey, it was reasonably priced and great customer service. You can also get it with a frame.

rryder

If you are happy with the Bernina for your other sewing needs and are planning on keeping it, then I would look a sit down mid arms and also the straight stitch only machines like the Brother PQ1500s and the Juki 2010.

I have the HQ Sweet Sixteen sit down and love it. I got a great deal on it used. Before I bought it I spent a couple of years going to quilt shows and trying out all the sit downs that were available. I found that I liked them all and would have been happy with any, but I did have some favorites- My three top choices, in no particular order were: the Juki like Sewbiz’s machine, the HQ Sweet Sixteen and the Innova sit down. My budget wouldn’t accomodate purchasing one of these new, so once I’d decided to take the leap, it became a matter of keeping an eye out for a used machine in my price range.

Before buying the Sweet Sixteen I Used my Brother PQ1500s (also purchased used) for quilting, it’s similar to the Juki 2010 that SusiQOH mentioned. The Brother PQ1500s or the Juki2010 (there’s a newer model of this one out there) are widely available both used and new for under $1,000 (Used PQs run around $350, not sure about the price for a used juki2010). They both are workhorses when it comes to quilting and have better visibility under the needle than the Janome 6600. If your budget And space allow, then the sit down mid-arms would be a good option.

There are lots of good choices out there, it just depends on your budget, space and personal preferences which would work best for you.

Rob

Dee Dee

Oh my goodness! You have given me such great information. I will check out all the machines you mentioned. I wish there was a quilt show I could go to at this time to try these machines, but of course due to Covid, there is not. I'll also keep my eye out for someone wanting to sell a good used one. I guess first option at this time is probably ebay. But, I'm a little nervous about buying a machine unseen from ebay. Do you have suggestions of other resources for a good used machine?

juliasb

When looking for a LA or mid arm machine I always look at floor models or demo machines. They come with the same guarantee and one can usually save a great deal of $$.I bought my Brothers 1500se more than 10 years ago as a demo and only paid $400 with the frame after a sewing expo. It has been a work horse.

Karamarie

At my age, I don't want to invest in a longarm and it has worked very well to do all my FMQ on my Janome 6600. I do all the way up to king size. It is doable. Good Luck.

Jingle

I use a Juki TL 98 with a Sew Steady Table and it does just fine. Cost about 600.00 in 2008. 9-1/2" throat space. A very good stitch and I mostly do FMQ. Free motion quilting. I make a large double quilt for my own bed. I use it mostly for the donation quilts, 43" x 68".