sewing machine thoughts?
I'll apologize up front for the long post. I have a Pfaff Ambition 1.5, that I've had for a couple of years. Like it, but not in love with it. I've ALWAYS had difficulty getting the bobbin case out to clean it (as have others, upon doing research). yesterday, when trying to get it out, a piece broke off. The sewing machine store has to call Pfaff to get the part number tomorrow, and they said that it would take at least three weeks to get the part, because Pfaff isn't too quick about sending stuff, apparently.
My question to y'all is do any of you have the following machines? Juki HZL-F600, Janome MC 6600, Janome Horizon (7700?) and what do you think of them. What do you love? What do you not love? The reason I asked, my husband was doing some research and suggested I look at these machines.
I have a Juki 98Q that I use, I've never loved the whole tension issue with the machine, but I do LOVE that it always stops with the needle down and I love the thread cutter.
One thing that I really want is the on/off button (I'm not ever sure that's what it's really called). On the Pfaff I can set the speed and when I FMQ I can press the on button and it goes at a set speed and I tap the foot pedal to stop. That way I don't have to coordinate my hand movements with the speed that I'm using the foot pedal (like walking and chewing gum at the same time!)
I don't need 80 gabillion different stitches, but I do want some decorative stitches, especially applique. Definitely want a wide harp so I don't have to fight so much with my fabric. I was reading somewhere yesterday that someone said that using her sewing machine was like sewing with nothing - she didn't have to think about the machine at all, it just did what it was supposed to do. That's what I want!
Any thoughts and or insights would be greatly appreciated.
Michelle