Greetings! Seeking your advice...
 

Greetings Everyone!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here; love the forum.

May I pick your collective brain a moment? It has so happened that my DH has gifted me a budget of $150 to spend on quilting-related infrastructure (meaning I'm not allowed to just blow it on fabric). Being that I am a reknowned tightwad, I would like to get the most bang for my bucks. There are five options as I see it:

1) Have my Brother CS6000i cleaned and serviced. It's just dusty and dry and will stop running at half speed. The quote I have from the lovely folks at Allbrands is ~$99 plus Suprise Expenses.

2) Purchase a refurbished BrotherCS6000i from Overstock for $135 delivered. Use the other one for parts.

Let me add at this point that I have invested in walking and free-motion feet for this model machine, and it is the only one in my arsenal capable of free-motion quilting and fancy stitches. I have a Riccar c1980s w/o cams which I'm using for straight stitch piecing and SITD QAYG. It also occurs to me that I'm a big girl and really should just clean and oil it myself because a hundred bucks is a lot of money.

3) Purchase the $110 conversion kit for machine embroidery designs for my FREE Brother PE-150 and a 4x4 hoop, stabilizer, thread, etc.

4) Sit on my $150 until craigslist shows a better machine than my basic Brother CS6000i that I can aquire, and continue working on the Riccarasaurus until then.

5) Blow it on fabric anyway.

What would y'all do? Any input y'all have is appreciated. Thanks for reading!

sorry, no advice but
Welcome from Minnesota and happy quilting :)

hmmmmm.
why would you want the same machine if the possibility of it happening again. Could you maybe sell the foot you bought and that gives you extra $ to maybe upgrade to something else.?
Sounds like you really need a good machine. so I vote for that.

A warm welcome (and no advice) from North Central Washington!

Hello and greetings from PIttsburgh. I would try to save for an upgrade especially if your current machine is giving you fits. Good luck in your decision PS Ask for the machine cleaning for birthday or Christmas. Thats how I get the stuff I;m too stingy to buy with my quilting budget!!!!

Thanks for the idea about selling the foot! Might do, might do. The machine isn't in need of anything other than some basic maintainence. A little oil and de-linting and it should be fine. It's not a top-of-the-line piece of equipment, but it's been decent. Upgrading would be lovely. Perhaps something Swiss :)

Thanks for the tip! Maybe I'll ask him to oil it himself after watching some youtube videos, then if he breaks it, I can campaign for the "upgrade".

Thanks for the welcome! Lovely part of the country you're from.

Thanks! I've got people in MN. Love the Wild Rice Soup.

No advice but a warm welcome from New Hampshire