Hi, I'm new here but I hav been enjoying all you ladies and gentlemen for several months. You have helped me a lot and made me feel welcome, even though you don't know me. Thanks. My question is about embroidery machines. I am wanting to buy one but don't know how much to invest to get a good machine. I am looking at the Brothers 770, The Janome 350 and the 11000. I have also looked at the Viking Diamond - but it is so expensive I don't know if I could justify that much money on something I haven't done before. I have been quilting for six months and I have completed 10 quilts ( One King, Three Queen, the rest are twin or lap quilts) Thanks for your input. Attached is a picture of one of my quilts.

Beautiful quilt :D:D:D

welcome! Pretty quilt!

Only 6 months!!! What beautiful work you do. I love the way you have backed your quilt. I know nothing about embroidery machines. Sorry.

That is a beautiful quilt. Let me just say that I have a Diamond and I just love it. If you do a lot of computer design and a lot of embroidery then the Diamond is great. If you didn't want to spend that much, you could go down to the Ruby or the Topaz. I also have the topaz and like it a lot too. It has the larger throat and a memory stick and the large hoops but is considerably cheaper than the Diamond. My dealer says she has tried other machines and finds the Vikings are more user friendly and easy to understand than the other brands. I don't know because I have never tried the others. My suggestion is to try them all out and make a list of the features you find important to you and compare them against one another. Don't go just by the price. The Husqvarna products have great warranties and service and also have wonderful support via internet and the dealers. The most important thing is to know what you want from the machine you end up with. My Diamond was a floor model that had been serviced and an extended warranty included at no additional cost for $3000 less than the original price. So check out them too. You may even be able to get a machine that has been traded in on an upgrade. Good luck with whichever you decide on.

Really pretty set. I bet you've been a sewer all of your life and just recently decided to make a quilt.

Welcome, and your quilt is awesome.

Your right. Been sewing for 45 years. The quilting is more relaxing than traditional sewing.

Hello and welcome from England ! Beautiful quilt.

Love your quilt...

Beautiful Quilt! Welcome from Michigan.

No one can tell you what to spend, you'll have to decide that one on your own. Test drive and decide which features are the ones you love the most.

Welcome to the board, from western Nevada! :thumbup:

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!!

Beautiful work!!!

Wonderful quilt! Can't help on the embroidery machine- I don't have one but would love to!

Beautiful quilt, love the pillowcases too. sorry I have the same dilema, I've been looking at emb. machines for 2 years now, just can't justify the thousands they ask for them.

Hello from Western Maryland !!
Beautiful quilts !!!!!!

I have the Baby Lock Elure Plus and love it. Right now Baby Lock is having a sale on their machines through Dec. 31. This is my 2nd machine I upgraded and gave my daughter my 1st one. We both love them.

Welcome from an Oregonian transplanted to Arizona

First of all, I would like to say I really love your quilt and pillow cases. Love how you put the border on the p/c's. Just an awesome quilt and great colors. I have a Janome 350e and love, love it. Whatever brand you choose, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Sash, I just decided on a Janome 350e and I ordered it. I'm so excited to get it in about a week. What kind of table do you put it on? Do you use a sewing table or do you use an ordinary table?

Welcome from se TX

Love your quilt. I have a Viking Diamond and love it. I have had Vikings since the 60's. I also have a Bernina 730 but like the Diamond for embroidery and the Bernina for sewing. I believe you should buy the best you can afford and always buy from a loval reliable dealer so you will have the classes and service.

Welcome from Ireland. Your quilt is beautiful.

Welcome from Oklahoma. I have two embroidery machines, the Janome MB4 (4 needles) and the 350E. I love them both. I use the 350E the most. I wanted embroidery only machines as I knew that I would not like changing them back and forth from reg. sewing to embroidery. I would highly recommend the 350E for every day use and the MB4 for heavier fabrics and large towels. I have also used both machines to quilt some of my quilts.

Welcome from northern Alabama. Wow love your quilt. I am so envious.

Lovely quilt.

You will be happy with the 350E, I am sure. I have been embroidering for 15years and have had great satisfaction with a Janome MC9000 and then the Janome MC10000. I still have the MC10000 and have added the Brother PR620 six needle embroidery only machine and this year added the Brother Innovis 600D_ Quattro. I love them al.

All these machines are very user friendly and reliable, I have had no problems whatever.

My motto has always been to buy the best machine you can afford and if you can afford a top of the range then you have no where else to go.

I could not recommend the Phaff or Husqvarna as they are much harder to use and I have friends who have them and never mastered them. Also two I know have the diamiond and had no end of problems with it.

The 350E is a good machine and you may soon out grow it as it does have limitations compared with the Janone 11000.

Good luck with your machine. The machine embroidery hole is a large one to fall into. I know I have been there for a long time.

Beautiful Quilt! The best way to decide is to test them. Go to a Quilt or Sewing Expo, usually many brands are there and you can check them all out at one place, plus they usually have "special" prices at the shows too. I have 2 Vikings, the Designer 1 and the Designer SE, which were both before the Diamond. They both embroidery. I use the Designer 1 to embroidery and the SE for sewing most of the time, but also do embroidery with it. I love them both. Viking has more than just the Diamond that does embroidery. I know they are pretty pricy but they are fun and the possibilities for quilting are awesome. Good luck making your choice.

Been reading for quite a while, so now I will jump in. I belong to a guild with lots of embroidery machine users and every one has been able to get lessons with their machines. I have two Viking embroidery machines. The early models and I work them both to death. The trick with any of the machines is to have them serviced yearly and take advantage of any lessons that are given. The last machine I bought was $500.00 and it was obvious that they person who owned it was afraid of it and had not used it. Find a sewing machine dealer that you like and have good discussions with and go from there. They are your main communication with these computerized machines.

I have the Designer SE LE and paid $4200 used for it. You can hook it up to your computer or use a flash drive on it. I am really enjoying it. I think the main difference is that the Diamond has 1 hoop that is bigger that the SE can use.

If you buy a used one, go thru a dealer. With a dealer you get the 20 yr warranty you do not get from and individual or ebay.

Hello and Welcome from San Gabriel California,Beautiful Quilt!!!

Ah Hah, I knew there must be a long time sewer in the disguise of a newcomber, those squares were too perfectly matching for a 6 month sewer. LOL
Welcome to our great site. :D :D :D

HI Dayken I agree with grann of 6

I have worked in machine for many years. I have 4 of the Vikings. Oldest is 20 years old. Was in the shop for 1/2 a day to have a recalled part.
The next one was adjusted once.
# of the Vikings I have can embroidery too. The oldest was a card. The next is a floppy and the Newest the Designer Diamond is the USB port. I love and use all of them. They are very user friendly.
Hope you don't under buy and get to small a hoops, it cost to up grade.
Good luck in whatever you get but give the Vikings a try. They are also from the Sapphire up in many price ranges that do embroidery. The more they do the more they cost. From the Sapphire to the top Diamond have a very large neck for quilting.
ConnieF



That is a beautiful quilt. Let me just say that I have a Diamond and I just love it. If you do a lot of computer design and a lot of embroidery then the Diamond is great. If you didn't want to spend that much, you could go down to the Ruby or the Topaz. I also have the topaz and like it a lot too. It has the larger throat and a memory stick and the large hoops but is considerably cheaper than the Diamond. My dealer says she has tried other machines and finds the Vikings are more user friendly and easy to understand than the other brands. I don't know because I have never tried the others. My suggestion is to try them all out and make a list of the features you find important to you and compare them against one another. Don't go just by the price. The Husqvarna products have great warranties and service and also have wonderful support via internet and the dealers. The most important thing is to know what you want from the machine you end up with. My Diamond was a floor model that had been serviced and an extended warranty included at no additional cost for $3000 less than the original price. So check out them too. You may even be able to get a machine that has been traded in on an upgrade. Good luck with whichever you decide on.

Your quilt is simply lovely! I just bought the Brother PE 770, but haven't taken it out of the box yet. It will have to wait til after Christmas because I know once I figure it out, there will be no stopping me. I bought mine online from Ken's Sewing and Vacuum Center for 629 dollars. I didn't want to spend any more before I found out if embroidering was "for me." :)

Welcome to the group and Hello from West Virginia