Hi everyone,

I live in Wales Great Britain and have just started quilting. I have almost finished my first top but need some advise as I think I could do with buying a new machine.

I have a Brother machine which I have owned for 20 years. It it a lovely reliable machine but not quite up for the job at hand now. Firstly it does not have the facility to drop the feed dogs (and the darning plate is long gone) and I would also need to buy a walking foot. I think it would be better just to buy a new machine but need some advise.

I am also interested in long arm quilting and would love to hear from anyone who owns a frame that they use with their regular machine, as the long arm quilting machines are far out of my budget.

Many thanks in advance for any replies,

Kitty xx

an't give any advice her, but welcome from Michigan!

http://www.quiltingboard.com/search....+to+buy&u=&s=0

Welcome to the QB from Louisiana:) Here is a link to a search on the the QB with lots of information about which machine to buy. See if it is any help.
It basically boils down to what you prefer. I have 3 Singers,
2 of them are old, pre 1950. The other is about six years old. There are so many good machines out there. Enjoy the hunt:)

I have three Brothers and an old Singer. The latest Brother I have is the QC1000, and I love it! I think the best thing you can do, rather than reading about machines, is to go to a shop and try different ones out to see which one you like the most. If you go to www.quiltuniversity.com/library.htm there is a page on buying a sewing machine, which gives great tips on what to look for.

Oh yes, forgot to say - hallo from Western Australia!!

Agree with Marion. Read the other articles, go to a handful of dealers selling different makes of machines and test drive them. That will help you figure out your budget and determine which features you must have, and which features you can live without. Be sure to ask your dealer about trading in your old machine, and if they have any used machines for sale.

Sometimes a machine will just *talk* to you, sometimes a dealer will offer a price you just can't walk away from, but you might find that you can only narrow down to say 2 machines. When you've narrowed your choices down to a few come back to the board and ask specific quesions of the owners of each machine.

And welcome to the board from Illinois!

Hi from Ohio!

Welcome from Michigan.:)

Hello and welcome from Kansas

hello, welcome to the quilting board!

Howdy from Texas!