I'm new to the forum and fairly new to the world of quilting. I was hoping the more experienced members here could help give me some advice and share some knowledge.
I've been learning to quilt, and sew in general, for the past couple of years. I am really enjoying quilting and can foresee this being a hobby I will continue from here on out. When I decided to start sewing a few years ago my husband bought me a little Brother (CS-6000) from Walmart. It is a great starter/beginner machine and I don't have many complaints about it. I'm ready to move up though and get a nicer machine. I've been researching for a couple weeks now and have somewhat narrowed my list but not nearly enough still. I'd like to get whatever input y'all would care to share.
Bernina 440 QE - This is my number one choice and if I could afford it I'd run out and buy this machine new right now. I can't even begin to afford it though so if I go with this number one choice, it will HAVE to be used. I've seen a couple used one's online in the $2,000-$2,500 range, though that's still a bit more than I care to spend. I not looking to have the embroidery option so that helps some with price. Really, if I don't go with this machine it will be purely because of price. But we all know that money is always the bottom line so this machine may not be an option. That is why I'm needing to determine a second choice option.
Janome 6600 - This seems like a comparable option to the Bernina, at a lower price. I can't quite determine what the new cost of this machine would be since internet sales are not allowed. I haven't seen hardly any used ones for sale and I don't know if that's just because the machine is a newer one so not many people ready to upgrade yet, or if everyone just loves theirs so much they don't want to sell. From the reading I've been doing it seems like there's some that are unhappy with the free motion quilting that this machine does. But I've read lots of happy reviews too so maybe there were a few duds that slipped through Quality Control? :)
Pfaff - I've seen lots of happy Pfaff owner reviews, though I have not yet studied up on this brand enough to determine which model would best suit me.
Juki TL98QE - I've read many times where this is a good machine for free motion, and that's the most important aspect to me, but it's a reeeeeally basic machine. It's got a great price, I could easily buy it new and not have an issue with that, but being a lockstitch there aren't any bells or whistles on it. Part of me wants to think that my little Brother could still do my piecing and whatever I wanted in the decorative stitch department and then I could have the Juki to free motion well on, but another part of me really wants a fancy-schmany machine that does all sorts of neato things. (Honestly probably more things than I'd ever use but lets not talk about that, lol)
There's just so many machines out there and I've been trying to at least sort out which ones are best for free motion quilting on. I'm not interested in doing any embroidery so that isn't something the machine I choose HAS to do. If it's a built in extra, fine, but my decision isn't being made on that factor. My Brother has the needle up/down option and that is something I've gotten too used to having to go without now. I don't have the knee lift so that would be nice to try out, but I've learned without it so it's not totally necessary. As of right now I don't plan on quilting on a frame so the machine doesn't have to have that capability either. So other than being a great free motion machine and those couple of things I listed, I don't really have any other "must haves" on my list.
Please feel free to give me whatever advice or knowledge you'd like to share! I more than appreciate it!
Rachel