Jackie Spencer

Janome's are great machines, and come in all prices. she could start out with one that is not so expensive and later trade up. You might try looking for a Janome Dealer in your area, and talk to them, they offer great deals on used machines also. I have a Janome and I love it. This time of year you can get good deals also. I bought my Janome 3050DC 2 years ago at christmas. I got an $800.00 machine for $400.00. brand new. I think it's wonderful that you support your wife and encourage her to continue to make quilts. Good luck!

Donnamarie

I believe you can get a decent Janome for $300-$500. I have an old Bernina for as my major sewing machine but did purchase a Janome for workshops recently and it has many more features than my Bernina. But, I love my Bernina!

Annaquilts

I own a good number of machines but piece on a machine off of Craigslist that does only straight stitch forward and backwards.

I second the Janomes. I several of them from basic to fancy. Most of my friends and my DD sew on a Janome Jem Silver. They bought it with the quilter package. They all bought it to get into quilting and were going to buy a fancy machine later on. All of them liked the Janome Jem so much they never upgraded. The plus point too is that it is portable as it is a 3/4 size machine.

If the quilting package is with it it will have the feet for free motion and a walking foot. I has a wonderful quilting stitch.

Neesie

I agree with Dolphyngyrl. I'd love to have a Porsche . . . but my little Civic will take me anywhere a Porsche would.

I've been sewing, for over 50 years (started as a young child) and most of my adult life, sewed on a Sears Kenmore. I made my first quilt on that machine, as well as clothing and hundreds of craft items. A few years ago, after my trusty Kenmore developed problems, I finally decided to upgrade to a new Janome (by that time, it was within our budget). I have to admit I love that machine and it's more 'fun' to sew on it . . . BUT it hasn't improved my actual skills. Whether or not I sew a straight line is up to me, not the machine.

My advice is to just have a heart-to-heart talk with your wife. If the machine of her dreams is not in the budget, then encourage her to cut back on something else and start saving for her dream machine. If she doesn't want to quilt until she has that machine, then she doesn't really want to quilt.

charlottequilts

Hi there -

I'm confused about what it is that your wife thinks she cannot do on a lesser machine. Is it the piecing or the quilting? If it's piecing, you've gotten a lot of responses from folks who have had great success on inexpensive machines. I wonder if it's the quilting she's talking about. Maybe the friend has a machine with a big opening for quilting large quilts and/or a stitch regulator and feels without these, she'd have to send her quilts out to be quilted by a person with a longarm machine. Many people, with all sorts of machines, do that because they prefer not to do the quilting themselves. If your wife's friend has convinced her that without a high end machine, she'd only be able to do half the job (the piecing of the top), that may be where the discouragement is coming from.

I made my first quilts on a $200 Kenmore and they came out just fine. There are many computerized machines, particularly used ones, that are quite reasonable, too. I moved up to one because I needed some of the automatic features due to arthritis. Probably by now, though, most less expensive models have those same things.

Hugs,
Charlotte

mighty

You sure are one wonderful husband. I understand how your wife feels if her friend has a really nice machine, however there are many nice machines out there that do not cost an arm and a leg. She really can get started and do alot of wonderful work on this type of machine. I just purchased a Brother XR1355 at costco for taking to class very inexpenise but quite a nice machine. Good luck to you and I hope your wife makes many beautiful quilts. It is a really fun hobby!!!

MamaDonna

My first sewing machine came from Craigs List a Janome and I loved it. Only $150. and still have it to this day... Keep encouraging her.

Caroline S

By all means do go to the Vintage Sewing Machine thread here on the QB and take a look. I have an Elna 7300 with a lot of bells and whistles. I also have several, well a lot, of vintage sewing machines that I use to piece and quilt. What I like about the vintage machines is that I can service them myself. It really irks me that a service for the Elna cost me $169 the last time I took it in.

klaws

I just started quilting a couple months ago and I got a Brother CS6000 that I love! You can get one from Amizon for less that $150.00.

adamae

It is fortunate she was not introduced to a ten thousand dollar machine......
If you had a child who wanted to be a concert pianist, would you get it a grand piano to learn on?
That might not be appropriate in your situation, however, the desire and decision is hers to make. If she wants to sew badly enough she would sew by hand and be happy. Count yourself lucky. Along with fine machines comes the desire for the most expensive fabric, thread, scissors, not to mention a studio with all the cabinets...and then, there is a long arm machine where you would need a huge climate controlled room and pantographs and many cones of thread in a rainbow of colors. God forbid she should collect old machines also. Be careful what you encourage........................Lots of love.