Friday's child

I'm looking for a new machine. I bought a Pfaff 7530 when they first came out, years ago. It was wonderful. I've used it for many years. Recently it just totally gave up the ghost. I do a lot of sewing, clothes, crafts, quilts, then make vests and culottes for church groups, make lap robes for 5 nursing homes, sewed velcro on camera strapping for years for a company, and sew over 20,000 corn hole bags a year. THAT'S a lot of sewing! Sooo, I bought a 'sturdy' machine - Elna 3230 Gallery..no fancy stuff, to work on the cornhole bags, but now I want a good machine to sew other things. In my head I want the Janome Memory Craft Special Edition 11000. I've read a lot of reviews and many of them are not favorable, but...my head still wants that machine. Do any of you have it??? Know of others who have it??? Need some info from you...I want to hear the good and the bad...also want to know what machines you have if you absolutely LOVE it. I'm not paying more than $8,000.00 for it, so give me info from that price or lower, please. Thanks bunches.
I 'think' I've attached a picture of one of the quilts I made. A couple was having a baby boy and the father is a fireman. Hope you can see the the picture. I've just joined this forum and this is my first posting, so don't know what I'm doing so much. Sorry!
: )

Tartan

Welcome from Ontario, Canada. Adorable quilt! I don't have any experience with Janome machines.

nativetexan

I've had a great Janome MC4800 for many years. all i can say is get the largest throat space you can. nine or twelve inches if you can.

Dolphyngyrl

I say check out the brother dreamweaver. I absolutely adore my machine.

M.Elizabeth

That is one beautiful quilt. I can't help you with a machine choice, but I do welcome you from the beautiful mountains of western NC.

Prism99

Have you tried out other machines for comparison? I think that's really important when making a purchase like this. I would be comparing it especially to machines that have a larger harp space (up to 11"); it looks like this one is only about 9.5". Also, be careful about pricing. The MSRP is $8,000 but I think that, even if you purchase from a dealer, the price should be closer to $5,000. Amazon has it for less than $5,000: https://www.amazon.com/Janome-MC1100.../dp/B008G67DWS . You would probably want to buy it from a local dealer, though, since one of the reviews mentions a learning curve.

Why is your head set on this particular machine? Before making a decision, I would be also trying out Brother and Babylock machines in that price range. I do think the Brother Dreamweaver would be something you should look at too.

maryb119

Stick with Pfaff. I would never give up IDT. Pfaff makes a great machine.

Mariposa

I too have a 7500 series Pfaff machine, and love it! No help with the Janome, but how about another Pfaff-??

Ginaky

I'm a Pfaff girl all the way--I've been using them since I bought my first one in Germany in 1976. I currently own 5 of them and wouldn't part with any of them. Right now there are some pretty good sales going on for Pfaff machines, and I'm sure all the other companies are having sales, too, so now is a good time to be shopping.

TexasSunshine

I'm a Pfaff girl also. I quilt and sewed almost everything on a Pfaff Creative 1471 for 30 years. Recently bought a Pfaff Quilt Ambition 2.0 which is a good machine also. The greatest feature is the IDT. It is a machine that will sew through any thickness of fabric or vinyl.