For most people who piece quilts and also sew garments or home projects, the Brother CS7000X is the best value: it lists at under $300 and includes a wide table, walking foot, quilting foot and 1/4 inch foot. Choose the Janome 3160QDC-B if you want more room under the arm (a listed 6.8 x 4.5 inch workspace), an automatic thread cutter and needle up/down. Choose the Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 if you want the most stitches and feet in the box: 600 stitches, 13 one-step buttonholes and 14 presser feet.

All three are domestic machines. They suit piecing quilt tops and quilting smaller projects, not long-arm work on full-size quilts.

Quick picks

Machine Best for Stitches Top speed Quilting extras included Price band checked October 3, 2026
Brother CS7000X Best value 70 750 spm Wide table, walking foot, quilting foot, 1/4 inch foot, quilt guide $250 to $300 (Brother list)
Janome 3160QDC-B (Amazon search) More room and convenience 60 Not listed Extension table, quilting attachment kit with even feed (walking) foot, 1/4 inch foot and open-toe darning foot Dealer pricing (Janome lists no price)
Singer Quantum Stylist 9960 Most stitches and feet 600 850 spm Extension table, walking foot, 1/4 inch foot, quilting bar, darning/embroidery foot $500 to $550

“spm” means stitches per minute. Specifications come from each maker’s product page, linked under Sources.

1. Brother CS7000X: best value

The CS7000X is the cheapest way here to get the accessories quilters usually buy separately. Brother lists 10 included presser feet, among them a walking foot, a quilting foot and a 1/4 inch foot, plus a wide table, a quilt guide and a hard protective cover. It has 70 built-in stitches, seven one-step buttonhole styles, a 7 mm maximum stitch width, a 750 stitch-per-minute top speed, a speed control and an automatic needle threader. It weighs 10.5 pounds and carries a 25-year limited warranty.

Trade-offs: Brother doesn’t list the workspace size on the product page, so you can’t compare its throat space directly with the Janome’s. It also lacks the Janome’s automatic thread cutter.

2. Janome 3160QDC-B: best for more room and convenience features

The 3160QDC-B is Janome’s compact quilting-and-sewing model. Janome lists a 6.8 x 4.5 inch workspace, 60 built-in stitches including six one-step buttonholes, a 7 mm maximum stitch width, its Superior Plus Feed System with a seven-piece feed dog, adjustable foot pressure, a speed control slider, memorized needle up/down, an automatic thread cutter, an extension table and a hard cover. Standard accessories include a 1/4 inch seam foot and Janome’s quilting attachment kit, which a Janome retailer lists as an open-toe even feed (walking) foot, open-toe darning and satin stitch feet, a 1/4 inch seam foot, a quilting guide and a cloth guide. It weighs 12.6 pounds.

Needle up/down and the thread cutter matter more in quilting than the stitch count does: stopping with the needle down lets you pivot at block corners, and the cutter saves trimming at the end of every seam.

Trade-offs: Janome sells it through dealers and lists no price on its site, so price shopping takes more effort. It has fewer stitches than the other two, and Janome doesn’t list a top speed. The 3160QDC-G is the same machine with a different accent color. On October 3, 2026, the 3160QDC-G bundles on Amazon were sold by third-party sellers, so this page links to an Amazon search for the 3160QDC-B (Amazon search) rather than a single listing; a Janome dealer is the other route.

3. Singer Quantum Stylist 9960: best for decorative stitches and included feet

The Quantum Stylist 9960 suits a sewist who wants quilting tools plus a large decorative stitch library. Singer lists 600 built-in stitches, 13 one-step buttonholes, an 850 stitch-per-minute top speed, a mechanical speed control, a built-in needle threader and a large extension table. Its 14 included presser feet include an even feed (walking) foot, a 1/4 inch foot, an open-toe foot and a darning/embroidery foot, plus a quilting bar.

Trade-offs: Most of the 600 stitches are decorative and won’t help with piecing accuracy. It costs nearly twice the CS7000X. It is a sewing machine, not an embroidery machine, despite the darning/embroidery foot.

How to choose

  • Piecing accuracy: All three include a 1/4 inch foot. Use it with a consistent seam guide and press each seam before the next step.
  • Quilting through layers: All three include a walking (even feed) foot, which helps feed the top layer at the same rate as the bottom.
  • Space: Throat space is the distance from the needle to the machine body. Janome is the only maker here that lists it. An extension table supports the quilt but doesn’t increase that space.
  • Large quilts: If you mostly make bed-size quilts, consider piecing at home and paying a long-arm service to quilt, or compare larger-throat machines before buying.

Why the picks changed

An earlier version of this page listed the Janome HD3000. It’s a capable mechanical machine, but Janome’s standard accessory list for it has no extension table or 1/4 inch foot, so the quilting-oriented 3160QDC-B replaced it here.

Sources

This is desk research from published specifications. Nobody tested these machines for this page.

Frequently asked questions

What features matter most in a sewing machine for quilting?

Look for a 1/4 inch foot for accurate piecing, a walking or even-feed foot for sewing through quilt layers, an extension table to support the weight of the quilt, a needle up/down or speed control for stopping accurately, and the widest workspace to the right of the needle you can afford.

Does an extension table give you more room to quilt?

It supports the quilt on the left and front of the needle, which reduces drag. It does not add throat space, which is the distance between the needle and the machine body. A bed-size quilt still has to be rolled to fit through that space.

Can these machines quilt a king-size quilt?

They can quilt one in sections or with careful rolling, but none of them is a long-arm. Many quilters piece large tops at home and pay a long-arm service to quilt them.