meyert

Hello,

I have been quilting off and on for years - but not very seriously. I do alot of hand sewing/quilting and borrow my sister's sewing maching when I need one.

I recently started a project thinking it would be one quilt and now I think it has grown into 4 quilts... so I am seriously considering breaking down and buying my own sewing machine... but I don't know much about them

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good sewing maching would be? Not too cheap and not too expensive, but a good machine as well. (I am on a budget so please keep that in mind)

I was looking at Amazon and I am considering purchasing the Brother HC1850 Computerized Sewing and Quilting Machine with 130 Built-in Stitches, 9 Presser Feet, Sewing Font, Wide Table, and Instructional DVD

But I don't know exactly what everything means.....Are these types of sewing machine truly capable of quilting? Would I still have to hand quilt - - since it is not a long arm

Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks

Teresa

Candace

Go to your local dealer and test drive them.

mike'sgirl

I suggest a Janome. I have a friend that new nothing about sewing when we got her addicted at the Houston show. She ordered a Jem and it has been a good machine for her, easy to use, and reliable. Gina

CorgiNole

For quilting you need a straight stitch and sometimes a zigzag is nice. The other decorative stitches will likely not be used.

In looking at a picture of the machine, the throat space looks tiny so stuffing a quilt through it to machine quilt would likely be frustrating. The measurement that counts is distance on the right from needle to machine - not the distance that the table affords you to the left of the needle.

I agree - if you can test drive multiple machines, you will likely find something that works for you.

Cheers, K

meyert

Well I understand that test driving would be good, but here in the sticks there is not a "local dealer". Maybe I can google and see where the nearest dealer is so I can try one out

I will look up the Janome machine and see how that looks

Thanks

BellaBoo

If you can't go to several dealers to test out machines, buy a machine online that has a guarantee return if you don't like it. Check the return policy before ordering. Some want the machine to be shipped back in the original packaging.

Learner747

I have used a Bernina for twenty years without any problems at all. Mine is a Bernina 1000 and is pretty basic but she is a work horse. It will sew through four layers of denim and keep on going. If I were going to buy on a budget, I would look on-line for a used Bernina. New ones are very expensive but used ones are quite affordable.

Boston1954

A little over 2 1/2 years ago Jim got me a Brother SQ9000 at Walmart. This machine has a lot of features for the price. Nice variety of stitches, light weight, needle threader. It was $199 before tax. I love this machine.

Maggiemay

The Pfaff I bought when I was just starting to quilt is called a "Quilt Expression" machine. I can definitely piece a queen or king sized quilt on it but when it came to machine quilting, I had a bear of a time trying to wrestle the quilt through. I did a few large ones in it, but it was just too much of a challenge for me. If you are considering machine quilting look into machines with a large -9" or larger- throat space. I still love my Pfaff for piecing & sewing but I now do all of my machine quilting on my Janome 1600p.

quiltstringz

What type of machine does your sister have? Are you happy sewing on it? If so you might see if you can find one like it.