SpeckledHen

Hi, everyone. Since this forum always comes up when I ask an online quilt question, I've decided to join you. Married for almost 40 years to a now retired Air Force Master Sgt, mother of two grown sons, been quilting since the mid-80's, all by hand, including the piecing. I live in what my older son refers to as "Bumblesquat USA", Fannin County, GA, on 5 mountain acres with my husband, cat and about 40 chickens. I do not sew, only quilt, never used a machine until about 5 years ago when a group of moderators I was part of on a huge backyard chicken forum(I'm "speckledhen" on there) wanted to do a chicken quilt block swap. I declined, saying I'd all but given up the hobby due to my carpal tunnel. Then, a huge package showed up on my doorstep-they'd gifted me a little Brother CS6000i so I could participate. I had to learn to use it, super easy with that one. Ever since then, I've pieced on it, but only recently started to try to learn machine quilting so I can turn out projects faster and with less pain. The 5.5" harp space on the 6000i is not great and the lightweight machine isn't super stable at high speeds so I've decided to purchase a good straight stitch machine when I've saved enough money from sales from my internet business I have with my best friend in Kentucky.

I believe I've narrowed it down to the Juki 2010 or the Brother 1500, but I am leaning to the Juki mainly because of the speed control. I've become accustomed to that on my current machine and I'm being challenged during my free motion practice sessions with it running away with me. Had considered the Babylock Jane, what I call the "Plain Jane", but not sure about that one.

We have no Juki or Brother dealers here, only Janome and Babylock. The closest dealer for those is in Chattanooga, TN, about a hour and a half from here. The closest Janome is the Janome 1600, but you can't even lower the feed dogs and I think that's nuts on a $1000 machine. Not impressed with what you are getting for the prices they charge for them.

Currently, I am finishing a queen size bed quilt for myself, hand quilting it, of course, a variation of Tennessee Waltz. Here is my spring colors bed quilt that I call the "Fortitude Quilt" because the pieced top went through our house fire in 2013, had to be washed as a pieced top, was put in a bag for almost two years before I had time to quilt it. I'm working on block #31 of 35 today. Not sure what motif to do on the border. I took time out to finish hand quilting a king size quilt for a 95 year old great grandmother who could no longer see to finish her masterpiece, but I do believe this quilt will finally make it onto my bed this year!

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