Well, here it is :)

Sunday I went to the show and have been given price freezes by three vendors on one machine each. However, only one seems to be worth considering; the other two, one is just a regular price and the other is actually more expensive than what folks on http://sewing.patternreview.com paid for theirs. So much for the "show deals."

It leaves me with one machine which seems to be priced reasonably ($1100) and also the one I liked the most. There is only one thing I wish it had, the auto cutter, but otherwise it seemed fine. It's the Baby Lock Quest Plus and I would get an additional 9 quilting accessory feet.

Since there is little information out there about the Quest Plus compared to the Quest, I emailed to the manufacturer to see what exactly was different from the previous model, the Quest -- on their web page, aside from one extra foot, nothing jumped out. Here is their reply:

The Quest 2 offers many small changes from the Quest. Some are not noticeable but there has been adjustments made on the inside. 1. The one most asked about is the adjustment made at the end of stitching. It was slowed down and the extra stitches taken at the end were adjusted. 2. You no longer will have to disconnect the foot control to use the START/STOP button. 3. The stitch length manual settings for some stitches can be shortened to 0. 4. Straight stitches can be programmed into the machine' memory and will sew continuously with no auto-lock stitches
Now, I heard that the Quest had issues with the reverse, but nothing was mentioned about the Quest Plus... someone posted on another board that:

The reverse takes a stitch or two after you press it on the Quest and they [the manufacturer] changed this on the Quest Plus. It does not do a permanent reverse and does not do reverse from a stop.
I was pressed for time since it was my last machine and the show ended so I actually never even used the reverse on it. I need to go for another test drive and make sure this is the one.

The other two machines I am considering right now are:


  • Janome MC6600P but the price is giving me a headache, $1399! Does anyone know where I could get it for less in case the Quest Plus doesn't come through? It felt solid, but not like the Baby Lock.


  • This one I have reservations b/c you usually get what you pay for and it's the Brother NX-650Q, $799. It really feels like it's all plastic, even the presser foot lever felt flimsy.


I'm open to comments and if you know of a comparable machine of didn't consider, please lmk.

Thanks :)

Almost There :thumbup: