Originally Posted by irishrose

The 1973 Elna had an self adjusting presser foot. It is supposed to adjust automatically to the thickness of what you are sewing, which is fine for everything except quilting. When I tried to SITD on a multiple batt comforter, I had to go upstairs and use my back-up machine. I only had two machines, then, LOL. It also sews such a perfect, well balanced stitch that it is very hard to remove if you make an error. When quilting, I have a lot of redos. The ZZ slot eats corners corners on HSTs and such. The only thing the Elna does for me quilting is ZZ around the quilt before I put on the binding. I did SITD a quilt with the walking foot before I bought the 301, but I had a lot of tucks to deal with on the back because of the tight presser foot. I love that machine and have been well pleased with her, but the 301 is a better quilter. Miss Elna has sewn everything from silk organza wedding dresses to leather belts. Probably the strangest thing was my brother's Mylar flameproof suit when he was drag racing.