KittyD

I am considering buying an embroidery only machine to use mostly for machine quilting my quilts. I would like suggestions on what machine would be the best to accomplish what I want to do. I would want to be able to, hopefully, download designs from the web.

Thanks

mermaid

You would be getting a machine with USB port...D/L designs to computer and transfer via flash drive to machine. You might want to look at the Brother 780--a 5x7 hoop, embroidery only. A friend bought this machine and she is pleased with it's performance. I imagine all the brands have an "embroidery only" model, but cost is reasonable for this one.

mannem

You don't need any particular machine to d/l designs. I would get one with an USB port. You can d/l designs onto HD, burn to CD, external HD, USB sticks etc. USB makes it so much easier to load designs onto the machine. My machine takes an eternity to read a 4 gig USB stick. The smaller 256 MB stick still holds thousands of designs.

mannem

mermaid, you took the words right out of my mouth :-)

Cactus Stitchin

I like my Brother Issadore 5000: it's a combo machine which has features for sewing, embroidery and quilting. The quilting stitches really help by moving the needle to achieve a good 1/4 inch seam. I am able to use a USB or connect a laptop to it for transferring designs. Also - I love having a variety of hoops but use the 5 x 7 and 6 x 6 the most. (6 x 6 was a separate purchase but really saves on the stabilizer!) Not too many designs fit in the 4 x 4 hoop.

Sewnoma

I have a Brother PE770 and I like it! I haven't done a lot with it (still learning) but so far all my troubles have been user error. I bought mine on Amazon and it came ready to use right out of the box. I haven't touched tension or anything else on that machine, it just works.

It comes with a 5x7 hoop but can handle larger hoops as well.

KittyD

Thanks for all the input. I looked at the Brother 770 but saw that the screen was only in black & white and didn't know if that would be problematic if I wanted to do regular embroidery from time to time. I'll check the Issadore but I really only wanted a stand alone machine.

lalaland

The husband of a friend of mine asked me to recommend an embroidery only machine for his wife. He gave me a specific price range and I did quite a bit of research. I recommended the 770 so that's what he bought. And let me tell you, that gal is an embroidering fool. It's gotten to the point where her daughter asked her if she could please get just one item from her that DOESN'T have something embroidered on it!

I have owned several embroidery machines and done a lot of designs with a lot of color changes and, until you mentioned it, I never thought about the screen being black/white. It has never been an issue.

quiltjoey

I have the Husqvarna Viking Designer I and a new Ruby Deluxe. They're both great embroidery/sewing machines. I use a smaller gigabyte USB for a design because a USB loaded with designs slows down everything. I just use the smaller USB for the design I'm working with so as not to overload the machine and it is not so time consuming loading the design onto the machine either. imho...

DonnaC

I have the Brother PE700II and I am really enjoying it. Previously I had a combo machine (sewing/emb.) with just a 4"x4" hoop. Now I have the 5"x7" hoop and it really is a world of difference... so many more things you can do!

My particular machine has a USB port but you cannot connect a USB stick directly. You need to load the designs through the USB from your computer. I have a little netbook computer that I use exclusively for that purpose. Just figured I would mention that because it's the primary difference between the PE700II and the PE770 (which can read USB sticks). Of course, both machines can also read Brother embroidery cards.

My machine was purchased from Overstock.com, which still has both of the above machines. The PE700II runs about $500 and the PE770 around $600.