Sewing Machine Survey

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

9 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    I was wondering how you were going to narrow your choice of brand to research. Personally, I'd like you to review a model that is currently available/in production. While there are older/desirable machines available some of these are difficult to find and rather pricey. Hoping your research will be for a new model.

  2. I have a Pfaff Creative Vision. It was my retirement treat to me. I LOVE IT! It pieces like a dream, it free motions and it embroiders. It cost more than most would want to spend but I have had Pfaffs before and nothing pieces like them.

  3. be careful of buying machines on ebay. I purchased a Viking machine and took it to a repair guy for inspection that I knew his reputation as being as honest as the day is long. To repair the machine would have cost more than I paid for it, a $800 repair just isn't worth it for a $200 machine in my opinion.

  4. Sherry says:

    Well, I just have to say that since my husband bought my BabyLock for me on his birthday, I have to be sewing all the time. It is the Decorator's Choice
    ($1,000). I am new to quilting, but coming along now. That is because I was inspired by none other than Leah Day.

  5. Nikki says:

    Just a quick question I might have missed it do you want me to give you info on all my machines or just one per person. Thank you for doing this!

  6. dkvision says:

    I love my singer slants for piecing. I am not sure about fme on them yet. I have 3 of them and they rock!

  7. Anne says:

    I'm so pleased that you're doing this, as I've been thinking about buying a new machine mainly for FMQ, and it's hard to find reliable reviews. I'm very wary because of my experience with my current machine, a Janome 4800, which is great for anything else but has serious tension issues with FMQ.I've been wondering where to start with finding another machine – the nightmare is spending a 4-figure sum and finding that I've got another machine that own't do what it claims to (mine is called a "quilter's edition" and will do anything but quilt!!). I'm also thrilled to see that you're going to be reviewing machines that cost under 500 dollars, as I've wondered if that might be the way forward for me if I can only identify the right machine: the 4800 has all I need in every other respect, so I'm reluctant to spend a 4-figure sum on a machine that duplicates what 've already got.

  8. I have 2 sewing machines. One is a Baby Lock Espire and is about 12 years old. It cost about $1000 when I purchased it. When I bought it I really had no idea what I needed in a machine, but I wanted to get a sewing machine that I could quilt on. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a wide space, so I really can't quilt anything really large. I am getting into more FMQ though and the quilt I am currently working on is a double bed size and I layered it in 2 pieces so I could quilt it easier. I also have a Singer featherweight which I use when we travel in our camper and I love it for piecing and regular sewing. I haven't tried quilting anything on it yet, but would not be able to quilt anything large because of the size. I purchased it about 2 years ago for $235. It was made in 1950. I am interested in your survey because at some point, I would like to get a better machine for quilting, but don't want to get a long arm and something in the $500 range would be wonderful! I'm going to mention this survey on my blog as I hope you will get more responses.

  9. I have several machines. I have a Babylock Espire (I don't use this one for machine quilting). I paid about $850 9 years ago. Computerized machines can be tempermental when machine quilting. I have a Kenmore I purchased for under $200 3 years ago. I used this almost exclusively for my machine quilting until I bought my Brother 1500S for under $600 3 years ago. I have just recently purchased a Start Right Grace Frame for the Brother & highly recommend both. I have a Singer Featherweight II that I use for small projects. I paid under $200 about 8 years ago for that one. I have a few older Singer machines that I use for piecing only. Also use my Brother PE150 embroidery machine which I purchased for under $500 a few years ago. There are many quilt designs that you can download for free. Just find a machine that you can enjoy. Try it out. Take a small sample quilt with you and sew away before you buy. I recommend buying from a sewing machine dealer if you don't have a good knowledge of servicing & machines. Try a friend's machine. Quilters love to share their knowledge with others.maner

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