Karamarie

I hope you find the machine that will be good for you. Lots of good advice on here. My advice is know what you want in a new machine and then try different models until you find one that "fits". I have had a Janome Professional 6600 for 8 years and have never had it in to be serviced. I do my own cleaning after each big project - basically cleaning the bobbin area good. I also have FMQ many, many quilts and feel quite comfortable doing that now. My machine has a 9" throat space and I do even king size quilts with that. Good luck in your search.

SuzSLO

My suggestion is that you understand exactly why your current machine doesn’t work for you, so you know what problems you need to solve when buying a new machine. For example, a satin stitch is what is used to make buttonholes, so it’s unlikely you were happy sewing garments on your machine without that option.

But just because you have the option, it doesn’t mean it really works for the kind of sewing you want to do now. I bought my current machine to make flags using a satin stitch because my old machine was too lightweight to handle the task.

It also sounds like your current machine has a mostly bad relationship with the presser feet you own for quilting, such as a walking foot and quilting/darning foot. Unfortunately, many even slightly older machines just don’t have the accessories that would make our sewing life easier. But many machines will accept “generic” feet if you can find the right ones. Maybe you could take a refresher class at your SM dealer when things start to open up. They may have suggestions for you.

If you can solve the presser foot problem, the other problem is the small throat space on your current machine. Believe me, I feel your pain with this. But you should first practice on small quilt sandwiches, such as 6” x 6”. That takes the available space out of equation and let’s you get a feel for walking foot quilting and free motion quilting.

If you find yourself wanting to more with a walking foot on your current machine, I highly recommend the book “Walk” by Jacquie Gehring. It really opened my eyes to what can be accomplished using a walking foot!

Best of luck.

thepolyparrot

Since you're enjoying machine applique, I think a knee lift is invaluable along with the needle down and the blanket stitch.

While you're waiting for the perfect machine, you could try invisible applique with MonoPoly thread in the needle, thread that blends with your background in the bobbin and a blind hem stitch or a zigzag stitch. This has become my favorite way of doing machine applique. The presser foot lifter is a real pain, especially when you're doing small pieces.

(Sulky and YLI also make the invisible thread in clear and smoke colors, but they're shinier/more visible and I think they're made of nylon, which can melt under an iron and isn't as strong as poly thread - that's the reason I suggested "MonoPoly.")

lizzie3

I googled them and the brilliance is definitely on my list right! It's a little over budget but not too much. The Janome online says $8000 so I don't think it will work, sadly.

lizzie3

All of these suggestions are so great I really appreciate the time people are taking to respond. I will look into the WALK book and look at knee lift feature, I've read elsewhere that it;s a great feature.

rilene

I love my Janome 7700 which is 10 years old. Great harp space!

sewingpup

Both my Bernina 590 and my Viking Topaz 40 have the "hover"feature which means that when you set the machine to stop in the needle down position, the foot will automatically raise slightly enough for you to turn your work without having to manually lift the pressure foot or even use the knee lifter (on the bernina only). I love it for applique. The Viking Topaz 40 would be in your budget with enough left over to also get a longer necked straight stitch machine for free motion quilting. The Bernina 590 would be at the max of your budget most likely if you can find a sale. Both these machines have an 8.5 inch neck

GregB

Since your located in Canada, I would look up Toews of Abbotsford,BC. They helped me a lot, and I am in the USA. They have a nice web page that I found very helpful, in selecting a new machine. Also an tool free number, and I asked a lot of questions. Hope this will help you.

maryb119

The features I looked for in a machine was the needle down button and duel feed. I am a Pfaff girl here and yes they are more expensive machines but you get what you pay for. i have owned Pfaff for over 25 years. I keep trading up. I now own the ICON and I love this machine! The best advise anyone can give you is to take your time and shop around. Test drive a machine and think about what each machine has. Take notes and then sit down and decided which one is best for your. Remember, a good dealer is important too.

lizzie3

I bought a machine! I had three to look at at the end of May to test (after lockdown) but one of my choices went on sale yesterday. So I bought it without testing it. A Viking Brilliance 75Q. The owner uses it all the time so was able to give lots of insight and feedback over the phone. It was regular $3500 and went down to $2600. She thinks they are renaming the machine and wanted to blow out stock.

It felt right and Im very excited for when it arrives!