I keep the '74 Singer Touch N Sew for garments- I'm so used to it, I won't use the Viking Rose to do button holes, I just know it better.

The Rose I use for the fancy stitches. Am going to get over my fear of the embroidery unit and master that this year.

My Juki is my absolute favorite for quilting. It is set up 100% of the time and ready to go whenever I need her.

So yes, it's OK to have multiples. (OK, so I didn't touch on the 3 singers in the boxes to be taken to get serviced- but I'm giving them to DDs and SD- so they don't count.)

i have two (not counting an embroidery machine) and sometimes wish I had three. my janome i use for machine quilting. the other i use for piecing. it's great because then i don't have to switch out the feet all of the time (darning vs. even feed). if i had another machine, i could keep my 1/4" foot on it and i'd be good to go!

is that the height of laziness, or what? :shock:

oh, and in my own defense, i typically have 2-3 projects going at once. one being pieced, one being quilted, and one (or two) something else.

I recently had to replace a zipper on a leather jacket for my grandson - my newer machine wouldn't sew thru all of the layers. So, I pulled out my 40 year old Kenmore and it worked like a charm. I love the old machines - they can sometimes so things that the new ones seem to have difficulty with.

Machines are kinda like fabric - you can't have too many!

i use my 1972 830 bernina for just about everything, but my 1960s Elna Super is great for doing paper piecing and HST/Flying geese. That in itself is enough reason for keeping two machines. Now the other 6 I have no good excuse for but they need repair and tuning anyway.

Oh yeah, they keep my studio from blowing away in the wind, yeah that's it, keeps the studio on the ground.

tim in windy san jose

I only have the one machine, but am seriously getting ready to buy another one. I think it would be so nice to have a back up, just in case!! :D That way when my sister comes over, we can sew together. :D I can't think of a better reason than that.

LOL - that's for sure. Those machines were made of METAL!

I agree with the comments made, keep it for a backup. Have you checked out the stitch on it? You may love the stitch and want to use it for your piecing machine. Does it have a big harp area? You may be able to also use it for quilting some of your smaller quilts.
If you are like me, you come to love your machines and you don't really want newer ones. Another plus with the older machines is that many have metal gears and not plastic gears. They will do a good job with the more heavy material like canvas and thick material. The heavy material won't break the gears on the older machines like they will on some of the newer machines.
One of the reasons I have the older Singers is so my husband and son will use them instead of my New Home.

I have several older machines that I love to display (they are all usable).

I love old singers so I have
Treadle (Singer 15-88 ..use when I want to just relax and treadle)

1 Singer hand crank (with a shuttle bobbin)

2 featherweights (black 1953 and a white 1965ish) use for piecing when traveling

1 black 301 (big sister to the featherweight)

Non Singer machines...

1 New Home Limited for piecing and sewing at home (laughing...the only one that does more than straight stitch)

Husquavarna Viking Mega Quilter (I use it on my quilting frame)

1 Pfaff serger.

I'm happy with all of my machines except my serger. It is my newest machine but it is probably about 11 years old and is temperamental. I'll probably replace it in a year or two with a new serger. I don't use it as much so it is quite a ways down on my priorities.

I agree with the person who made the comment about the beautiful stitch on the Featherweight. I think the featherweight stitches are wonderful.