AmmaJudy

I have been seeing a lot of articles and ads saying you can quilt with an embroidery machine. Wondering if I should consider getting one since I am not that great at free motion quilting. Anyone have any opinion on embroidery sewing machines?

ManiacQuilter2

I would assume you would need on with a larger hoop. Why are you not happy with your FMQ?? Maybe someone on this board can help you. First thing I use to tell students is that you need great support on your left side and behind your machine.

paintmejudy

More trouble than it's worth, especially with a large quilt. Hard to hoop a quilt, and other considerations and problems. I have an extra large hoop and I still do not quilt with the embroidery attachment. You can get a lot of large quilts quilted sent to a long arm quilter for what you would pay for a good embroidery machine.

And I totally agree with Maniac.

And free motion quilting needs practice, practice, practice.

Tom W

I use my Brother Duetta to quilt all the time. I use a magnetic hoop and have quilted a King sized quilt of 120 x 120 with no issues. There are many quilting patterns available and the results are very good, it just takes a bit of patience. I also FMQ with a few of my machines, they are not mutually exclusive methods. I have long since paid for my machine in what I'm not spending at the LA quilter.
As with everything, we all have differing opinions and results. I also like that I am not dependent on anyone's schedule but my own.

AmmaJudy

Great advice! Just saved me from investing money in something I probably would not be happy with. Thank you!

PaperPrincess

I know that folks do it, but the only success I have had was to do individual blocks, then connect them with a QAYG technique. It was extremely difficult for me to support the weight of a quilt so the machine could do it's thing.

Dolphyngyrl

You would need a larger hoop so you would need quite a pricey machine unless you plan to only do 4x4 designs which would be limiting and for amelie scott designs you need at least a 6x10 hoop. Free motion does take a lot of practice to get the hang of it. Embroidery also takes a lot of practice as well. Me personally I recommend brother/babylock for embroidery. They are at the top of the field in this area and also the easiest to use without classes. I have a brother Dreamweaver 6200D with upgrade with a max field of 8x12. The sewing side also has a ton of quilting features I love with the muvit foot(dual feed w/ motor) is just awesome and my favorite foot to use for SITD and piecing, 11.25 inch harp, great lighting, the pen and sew straight laser make it a great machine for quilting but it was a pretty penny as in I could buy and cheaper midarm for what I paid for it. would I go back and change my decision, no because I love love my baby

rbwiese

I have a Janome 11000 SE which has a quilting hoop and patterns - I have not tried using this function since I have gotten it. I love the embroidery/machine applique function of it though. It has a longer throat which would make quilting a larger quilt much easier. There are a lot of quilting features that I have not tried yet - hope to be able to soon. It sews like a dream, even heavier upholstery fabrics.

grma33

i have an 11000se also and i`m on my sec one
takes time but if you don`t fmlike me and can`t affpord to send them all out to be done great alternitive
the designs need to be quilting not dense
Gale

Sandygirl

I started "quilting" my Southwest quilt that I made 7 years ago. It is half-way quilted ( block by block) with my embroidery machine. I got BORED. It is still not done. You will have to learn how and invest $$ on the embroidery function. Pick your challenges. I quilt by check.

Sandy