can you share with us what you paid? (ballpark). It is so hard to find "competitive pricing" when no one will tell you unless you go to a dealer and they are 2 1/2 hours away in opposite directions.

I've been using a Sweet 16 (bought a used one), and have no regrets. Love it. Mine came with a hydraulic lift table that recesses the machine when not in use.

Congratulations...I’m sure you will have a lot of fun with your new machine and will be able to accomplish more with a larger throat space. How exciting for you.

I have a Tiara III and it was the best investment I ever made. I love quilting now. SEW EASY SEW FAST, SEW FUN. The only regret you will have is not getting it sooner! Have fun my friend!

Enjoy your new machine. I have an Artistic and just love it. Can not wait to finish a top so I can get to the quilting. No longer any tops sitting around are not quilted.

I have had my Sweet 16 for a number of years, and I still enjoy it. I totally understand about having the fabric in your hands. I was lucky that I was able to spend 2 hours at a long arm manufacturer trying their machines. I just didn’t enjoy the process, so I went with the sit down. As for making a sandwich, I use spray basting on small quilts. I get my DH to help, and it works well. For bigger quilts I take them to a long armed who bastes them with water soluble thread in a grid about 3x3”.

Juki now has a sit down model of their JukiQVP (Quilt Virtuoso Pro). One thing it does that other machines do not is cut the thread for you. I love that feature on my Juki2010Q.... I plan to look for a dealer when I'm at a quilt show next month and see if I can 'test drive' the QVP.

I bought the Babylock Tiara about 4 or 5 year ago, I love it! I also researched them for several months & then we had a Sewing Expo near me so I spent the 3 days it was here trying out all the sit down models there. The Babylock Tiara is the same as the Sweet 16, and a Pfaff (can't remember the name) so I went with the dealer who gave me the best price, luckily that dealer just a mile from me. I liked the stitch regular better on a different model but the foot pedal was difficult for me, the manufacturer was there & said they couldn't modify the pedal. I'm nearly 80 and have bad knees so needed to go with the one I could operate. No regrets, have done many quilts on it, hate to stop once I get started.

Congratulations on your new machine. Enjoy!

hey Sewbiz, I tried the Juki and really liked it, great visibility around the needle and it has the handwheel located on the side so you can reach it if you need to while sitting in front of the machine. Leah Day had one and she apparently had a lot of trouble with the board burning out or something. But that was a couple of years ago, don’t know if it’s an issue or was just a fluke with that particular machIne.

Rob