Hi Patty: I have a Juki also and do a little commercial work with the Acrylic fabric. It bunches or gathers up when I want it to be smooth - is there a walking foot for the Juki?
As far as hand sewing I am appliqueing four blocks of a violin in the Rob Peter to Pay Paul style, using a lavender/blue with chocolate and the other two blocks are burnt sienna/oorange with beige. If my friend accepts this wall hanging I can say I added Orange and Purple to his abode!
Let's get jiggy!
Diane