Iceblossom

Well. For most of the last 30 years I've been sewing on a vintage Remington, not a "real" one, but a post war Japanese machine (similar to a Morse) that originally belonged to a friend's grandmother and was being sold in a garage sale. It is a great little workhorse, it doesn't do much more than a straight stitch (it does have zig zag), but it does that well. It can piece delicate fabrics and it can quilt down tops or make a pair of jeans and I can do all the maintenance on it.

Then a bit over a year ago a friend gave me her modern (computerized) Bernina 820. Bernina caused a lot of confusion by reusing the 820/830 numbers. It still retails used in the 2-3k range. The machine didn't go over well, there were some issues, but I think it's rather lovely. Friend is still a Bernina fan and has gone to the 770. Except that it stopped working a month or so ago and needs to go to the shop, and I'm figuring the cost of the servicing is about what I'd usually pay to buy a machine -- but not a machine with a 12" throat and a fully automated threading system! So it will go in, just haven't done it yet.

Then the machine I'm using now is a low end Brother.XL2230 that I got even lower end in the box at the thrift store for $20. Bobbin winder didn't work so spent another $20 on a portable one. But hey -- working beats non-working. It's doing the project I'm working on just fine (Bonnie Hunter Frolic Mystery), I've been impressed with the accuracy of the quilting foot (I can sew from either the left or right side of the foot), and it has a threading assist. But after this and until the Bernina gets back from the shop I'm pulling out my heavy vintage machine. Have this sewing superstition that I like to do all of one project on one machine...

I also have a couple of other vintage machines. A really nice Pfaff in a wood stand that belonged to a different friend's mother. When I still did costuming/garments, it was my go-to machine for fancy fabrics. When my hubby came here he brought his grandmother's machine and stand with him. Forget what the machine is, sturdy, non-fancy and in working shape. And I have my original traveling/class machine, a 301 another sturdy little workhorse.

edit/PS: My last completely new machine was from Sears, forgetting who made them then (around 1980-1982), but it was the last model with the plastic cams before we went fully computerized. I loved that machine and sewed with it happily until one very important part broke that was not part of the 20 year warranty. I tried for years to get it fixed and was unable, that's when I started sewing on Remy (yes, many of my machines have names).