Originally Posted by
skdenbow
I do not know if this is the correct category to post this in, but I wanted to ask opinions. I have a Brother XR1355 Sewing Quilting machine. It is not the lowest end machine, but definitely not the most high end either. My husband suggested that I consider a new machine and told me to research. Of course, my research, up to date, has been with dealers. I quickly found they will boast of their own highest price machine. I used to do quilting years ago, but then life stepped in and I had to go back to school and work to raise my three girls on my own. Now, 20 years later, I am coming back to quilting and purchased a Brother machine and it has been great as far as sewing clothes, bedding, etc. I am not sure that it is the best for quilting as it does not have a large throat nor does it have hoops, etc. I have since looked at Brother Sewing Embroidery machines, as well as Baby lock. I went to a quilt show yesterday and a women mentioned that I should definitely check out Jenome and look into long arms. My mission for the next year or so, is to make family quilts which will essentially be raw edge applique blocks with quilting finishing for family members. They will end up being fairly large.
Anyone have any thoughts on the right type of machine or what is overkill or ??? Opinions and advice would be greatly welcomed! Thanks
its essentially a choice. people do great work on small inexpensive machines. Newer models offer nice improved features. Are they needed, no. Are they nice yes. I can tell you I love my expensive brother. It is truly made for quilting, there are quite a few models in the line. I own the highest model in the v-series line. I love the quilting features, the embroidery features. You can also buy a small frame to quilt on only 5 feet wide and can quilt all size quilts. I want to invest in the frame first and then invest in putting a machine on it that is not my main machine but will probably put my main machine on it for a few years. Some of the features on the v-series brother/babylocks that I like are large harp, sew straight laser penpal for position embroidery as well as 4 other sewing features the pen does, the dual feed is awesome it really sews everything awesome form thick layers to delicate fabric to difficult fabrics. It really has made me not eye the built in dual feeds anymore as it is very powerful and has its own motor and now with all the attachments it has quickly become my favorite foot for piecing and straightline quilting, as well as general sewing. It to me is now the best dual feed. I don't even use my walking foot anymore