SueSew

I have a nice Janome 360 QDC which I was thrilled to pay $600 for and thought it was the fanciest thing I'd ever seen. I figured it would do what I needed - let me make quilts in my spare time, and maybe drapes or grandkid stuff.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have blown off all the 30-odd embroidery stitches I never use, the cute little needle threader I can't make work, the thread cutter button which cuts the thread so short it sometimes pops out of the needle, and gone for 10-11" throat space and a more powerful motor. But when I went looking recently I couldn't find one without adding at least a $1K to the cost of my Janome.

In looking around, I recently found out you can buy a $10,000 Bernina sewing machine. It does everything but bring you a cup of tea while you quilt LOL but that is a professional machine I assume.

I think a basic machine with a big throat for hobby quilters would be a good seller and I am not clear on why the space from needle to hand wheel increased by 5 inches increases the cost so much.

Any product managers for Juki or Bernina or Pfaff listening in to this thread?

SueSew

They can make MORE money if they have a more complete product line!

Belfrybat

I have just the machine the OP is talking about -- a Brother PQ1500S. It has a 10" throat, straight stitch, pin feed, needle up/down, and I love the push button thread cutter. Amazon has it listed for $668.00, but I got mine on E-Bay for only $250.00. I don't think the seller knew what he had. But anyway, if you really want a machine with few bells and whistles, I can certainly recommend this one or it's first cousin, the Juki 2010.

Or if you want to go old school, consider the Singer 201 -- lot's of space to work on that machine. http://blog.sew-classic.com/2008/11/...ne-review.aspx

Stitchnripper

Like Betty62 above says, I guess if you don't want bells and whistles, then a vintage machine is the way to go. They do have a lot of throat space and some of them will drop feed dogs. Plus you can service them yourself in most cases.

Nammie to 7

I like my machine with all the bells and whistles!

Sunnye

I'm with you, toverly!
And vintage machines don't have big throats.

Neesie

Uhhhhh ... yeah. Unfortunately, for us.

IrishNY

Good business practice means looking for market niches that are unserved or underserved and filling them. If there is demand enough to support a simpler machine with a large harp, some manufacturer will eventually fill it. Then the rest will follow when they see the profits to be made.

Unfortunately, there isn't enough competition in sewing machines (unlike the car market, for example) to see this happen quickly. It's why I bought a Bailey's long arm instead of a TOL sewing machine. I could get something that did just what I wanted and nothing more for less $$. Worked for me.

Belfrybat

I consider a 8.5" long and 5" high a pretty big throat. Almost the size of the Brother or Juki mentioned above.

BellaBoo

I know several machines like that have been on the market for years. Brother and Juki straight stitch only machines are two of them. I have a Brother 1500. Straight stitch machine with big throat. I can machine quilt a king size quilt with no problem. Easy to find for $500 or less.