Opinion on quilting machine
 

Craigslist has for sale a 10 ft Pennywinkle metal frame, a Janome 1600 machine with a Quilters Cruise control for 975.00. Does anyone have this set up and do you like it? Does this seem a reasonable price? I am interested in machine quilting but haven't done any so was thinking to start inexpensively. I've read others comments about the very small quilting area with this size of throat and wonder if it would be more frustrating than rewarding. Thanks for any thoughts you may have.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that machine is the same as the Pfaff Grandquilter and Viking Megaquilter. If it is, and the frame is useable, that is a good deal. We have the Pfaff machine and it is a real workhorse.

Darren

I think that machine has a 9" throat, correct me if I'm wrong. With that amount of space and using a frame you'd only be able to have around 6 inches of room front to back to do your quilting in. It'll work but you'll be doing a lot of rolling of the quilt and you'll be limited to pantos that size too. Just sayin'....

i have a juki 9" throat. when I do queen or king quilts, i only have 4" of quilting depth at the end of the quilt. if i have large blocks, i have to choose a quilting design in parts and roll appropriately. it can be done, but it takes a lot longer :)

It is a start. Many of us here are working with a 9" machine. That frame alone sells for $999. One way to look at it is, you can find out if you like using a frame, then if you do, you can upgrade to something like the BHQ later and still be able to use your frame with it. Then you could either sell the Janome 1600, or use it for piecing. I'm using my Brother 1300 for piecing most of the time because I prefer the space, rather than using my smaller machine that has the fancy stitches.

I don't know either about the machines being the same as, but I agree about the Pfaff Grandquilter. I have one that I used on my Hinterburg frame until I went to a Voyager 17. The Pfaff was a good machine. Never had to mess with the tension, just thread it up, load the quilt and go.

i (personally) would hesitate to spend over a thousand dollars on any set up/machine i could not first try out---it seems like an aweful lot of $$ to spend without having any idea how it works- if it is a technique machine/frame you could really use. i really recommend visiting some shops/dealers/shows & trying out a few different ones THEN look around for a deal- then you have an idea what is a good deal- you also know some of the differences and options available---what you like & don't like about the different ones you have tried. it might be a great deal- but if you get it & then decide you don't even like doing it --- it's suddenly not such a great deal

I have the Janome 1600 and love it, but it is a 9" throat. Mine is not on a frame. New list price would be about $800 for the old model and $1000 for the new model. Don't know if that helps you at all. M

I have the Janome 1600 and love it, but it is a 9" throat. Mine is not on a frame. New list price would be about $800 for the old model and $1000 for the new model. Don't know if that helps you at all. And Darren is right. All three are the same machine sold under different names.

I have test driven a janome 1600 and it was nice. While the throat is small compared to a midarm or longarm, the pirce is much lower. I did a few quilts on my frame with a viking sapphire (about 9" throat) and I loved it - because having a frame is amazing compared to fmq-ing a full quilt on a domestic sewing machine at a table.

I did upgrade to a voyager 17, using the same frame. Even more love!!