GrandmaSewNSew

Yes, I've just got to get out there and sew on them. I did go to the Pattern Review site but think I might have to pay to join. Anyway, I did find some great reviews and a lot of discussion about the Juki. People seem to love it. I also found a post where someone named Anna was asking a similar question to mine but I can't send them a message. No one has answered her post! Is that site like this one or are they very cliquish? I don't want to join there if they'll just ignore me.

Skratchie

You don't have to pay to join pattern review and the people there have always been very nice to me.

GrandmaSewNSew

Thank you, Stratchie. I just joined by my "name" was already taken there so I'll be SewNSewGrandma! They also said I get 4 free video lessons.

mgmsrk

I have the Juki 600 and love it, it's a nice sturdy dependable machine. The harp is about 8 inches so if you are doing large quilts it will be a struggle compared to the 11" on the Janome 8900.

I have the Janome 7700 and love it for quilting. I don't piece on it, I have a little Berinia 5mm machine that I prefer. I believe the 8900 is a 9mm machine and even the 7mm of the 7700 eats fabric on narrow seams so piecing on a 9mm would concern me.

You never really know how you will feel about a machine until you sit in front of it. I bought a Janome 6600 last year that I thought I would love but I did not bond with it but I love the 7700. My 6600 is for sale and was replaced by the Juki 600.

GrandmaSewNSew

I'm going to go all out and try out every machine in my price range. I think that's the advice I'm hearing here.

Colorful1

I look forward to hearing how it turns out Good luck!

Skratchie

I really don't understand when people say this. I will say that even though I don't particularly care for my 8900, I've never once had it "eat" fabric when piecing. I've sewn seams as narrow as 1/8" without a problem. I pieced for ages on a 7 mm - had no idea I should have had problems with it "eating" fabric.

GrandmaSewNSew

Before getting to the Juki or the Janomi dealers (one 2 hours away), I read a post about the Brother Dreamweaver VQ3000 and found that a dealer not too far away had one. Well, what a great machine, great price, lots of features for the money too. Then I saw the same machine with an embroidery feature and I think this will be the machine for me. I'm still going to go looking at others first especially as I never would have thought to look at this machine before. One dealer who used to sell Jukis told me that their shop stopped selling them as they didn't like them anymore. I find this odd and wonder if they could have lost the dealership somehow.

Skratchie

LOVE Brother machines and about to buy one myself. I've had three of them, and I should have stayed with them instead of trying to Janome.

As for losing the dealership, it's possible, but I've found it's not that uncommon for a dealer to stop handing a machine they don't have confidence in anymore - a couple of the local dealers stopped carrying Viking after they were bought out by Pfaff because of some of the problems with the machine manufacturing, time it took to get parts, etc. I would have asked more questions about what they didn't like, did they see a lot of them coming back for repairs, time it took to get parts in, has the company changed hands or manufacturing location, etc.

Judi in Ohio

#1 you really can't beat the Brother/Babylocks - good machines. The F-600 is a fabulous machine for the money. If it had a larger harp it would be hard to beat. (I'm going to bet the dealer who stopped selling Juki's and doesn't like them is angry with all the online selling of Juki's - no money to be made if you can wheel and deal on the internet). Brother/Babylock as does Viking and Janome don't allow for their high end machines to be sold on the internet. I know people who lost their dealerships from the machines being taken from them because they tried it.
I really depends on what machine makes your heart happy. You'll know it when it comes around. I love embroidery on my machines, but never sewed on my embroidery machines. It's why I've always had several machines. I have the Janome 7700 and I like it, I have the Juki 2010 and I LOVE it. I have the Juki F-600 and I really like it, and I have the Babylock 10 needle that I adore. So everyone has their favorites. You just need to find yours. The one thing I don't like about the B/B, the Viking, the Janomes all have sissy motors - lol - really, it is the gear set, or motor or whatever, but the motors will stall whenever challenged. My girlfriend was sewing with her V Diamond and could not sew thru a few layers of something - the motor locked up and carried on. I gave her my Juki 98 to try, and she went out next day and bought one. The Juki motor will go thru anything without whining - the others will not. I love the vintage machines for the same reason - they will try their best., the newer machines not so much. So if you go with one of the big 4 B/B, Janome, Viking, not mentioning Bernina because it's been a while since I owned one and then it was one of their golden oldies, buy an older vintage or straight stitch Juki if you can and have it for the times when the biggy just won't co operate. Best of both worlds.