Michellesews

Janome 6600 is a great choice, I also LOVE my Janome Horizon which you should be able to get very reasonably since they just came out with the newer and better...I love my Horizon....and believe me, I have had Pfaff, Viking, etc. The reason I bought the Horizon is becuase I stupidly sold my 6600 and missed it so much....if you want a workhorse, you cannot go wrong with either of these.

OmaForFour

I have a Janome 8077 and absolutely love it! Bought it through Amazon.com and got it on sale for $200 off. It has some stitches built in but not an embroidery machine in any way. Nice size throat and works very very well even on very thick situations.

ShirlinAZ

I've used Pfaff for the last 20 years and I love them. I do everything, including king size quilts on them. I machine quilt all my own quilts and I've learned to fmq on them. My favorite for quilting is the Pfaff Expression 2.0, which I got a good buy on 2 years ago when the 4.0 first came out. I dearly love my QE2.

Whatever you decide on, stay away from a light weight machine for fmq. I tried to fmq on my little Brother backup, but it is just too light and I push it all around with the quilt.

Highmtn

I have a Bernina 440 QE. It's been a deeeelight to sew on, but alllllllllllllll computerized machines are wayyy costly to fix if they have a problem with their "brain".

If you love you other machine (and want to keep it for a back up) I'd suggest starting to WATCH thrift stores, and even dealers. BUY a second used machine just for parts.

My back up machine is a 1977 Kenmore that I bought new in that year. It's been reliable beyond words through thick and thin. It sews muliple layers of Denim without a wobble. Ive made horse blankets with it, and I'd never do that to my Bernina.

Also, amazingly enough OVERSTOCK.COM has a lot of refurbished brandname machines. A friend of mine got a VERY NICE Janome for $100 off of Overstock last year. She has sewn purses with it and it's met every challenge. That was a heck of a deal!
.

SooBDo

I'm an Elna girl all the way. My 11 year old Elna 6003 Quilter's Dream would do anything I asked of it. This year I got an Elna eXcellence, and am totally in love! Elna and Janome are the same company now, and judging by everyone's love of their Janomes, it sounds like they are great machines too. Real work horses, they can take what you throw their way.

countryone77

I also have a Bernina Activa 240. I originally purchased it because it handles applique so well. I also have a Janome, on which I intended to continue doing patchwork. Well, I discovered that I am able to sew more accurately on my Bernina Activa, so I use it most of the time now :-). The Activa machines are small (I also take it to classes), and for that reason are not the best ones for doing quilting.

TanyaL

Why not also find another used machine like the one you already own and buy it to have a supply of repair parts? With 2 machines you could probably keep your favorite going for decades.

T-Anne

I have the Sapphire 875Q. Just finished my quilt top on it (just bought it a month ago) and I love it. Bought it because I had a Viking previously and it is a great machine, but I wanted the bigger throat that the 875Q has. But now I am in love with the automatic thread cutter, the knot tying, the automatic tension, etc. LOL

catrancher

I love my Bernina 440 QE. It does everything I need and it is excellent quality.

quilter56

I have the Bernina 430 too and LOVE it .I do fmq on small quilts but I make large ones with it. I too sew every day.