Peckish

Amazon has the PQ1500 on sale for $650.00, or you can buy a "renewed" (refurbished?) one for $562.00.

CaleyH

Peckish, Already ordered the Jazz 2. When I first started my quilting quest, I initially purchased a refurbished Brother quilting machine from Amazon. When I received it, All I got was the main machine. All the accessories, including the foot pedal and power cord were missing. How Amazon could say it was refurbished still puzzles me. I just won't purchase anything used or refurbished. I've had too many bad luck happenings with many of those type of purchases.

It will take about three weeks for me to get the Jazz 2, as I am guessing the vendor needs to order it from Baby Lock, and then reship it to me. At least the shipping is free.

sandilee

I've had a Jazz 2 for almost 2 yrs now and love it. The original Jazz1 was not successful because it didn't have and up/down button. The threading is tricky....in the manual if the lines are dotted ....... that means the thread goes under the plate, etc., if the diagram has a straight line _____ then thread as usual.

You will love the throat space. I've done a queen size quilt with plenty of space to move around. Its not computerized so theres no costly upkeep with programming. A nice industrial heavy duty machine.

Peckish

Yes, I did notice on the refurbished listing it did say it may not include all accessories, which is why I would have paid the extra couple of bucks for the new-but-on-sale machine.

"Refurbished" or "renewed" usually means it was returned for some reason and the elves cleaned and repackaged it. I'm guessing the elves weren't smart enough to realize it wouldn't work without a foot pedal and power cord! 🤣

Mdegenhart

I second checking local dealers to see what used machines they have. Often the have or will refurbish them and tune them up before selling. I got my Janome MC6600P for something like $250 and it hasn’t given me a bit of trouble in all the years I’ve had it.

lindaschipper

Baby lock Jazz 2 Sewing and Quilting Machine - Quality Sewing & Vacuum

You might want to take a look at this machine. It's on sale right now and has a very good price with 12 inch throat space. needle up and down (love that) along with other features. If I were looking for another machine this is what I'd take a serious look at.
Good luck in your search.

CanoePam

I hope you enjoy your Jazz. It is one I will look at if my beloved Bernina 440 finally dies. No hint of it yet, but ...

Please report back about how you like it.

Karamarie

Sounds like you are getting some good suggestions. I have done many FMQ quilts with my 9"throat space on my Janome 6600. It works well for me without being too large. Of course, the larger throat space the bigger the machine will be. I guess it depends on how much FMQ you plan on doing in your future. Good luck on your selection and hope it works for you.

CaleyH

LindaSchipper, That's exactly the place I just purchased my Jazz2 from.

Thanks everyone. If I ever decide to purchase yet another machine, I will come back to this thread and look at all the suggestions. I really liked the vintage Singer 201. I vaguely remember seeing those as a child. I think my second Mom (adopted Mom) had one that she did sewing for people who needed something sewn. That's how she made money.

CaleyH

Just received an update on my BL Jazz 2 order. The vendor is out of stock, due to popularity of the item. They have another shipment due in about two weeks, or so they say. But it looks like I may not get the machine until after the Holidays.

This isn't a big problem. I can continue to piece together my quilt tops on my Singer machine. Will be using the Singer machine for piecing anyway, and the Jazz 2 for free motion quilting.

I plan on setting up the Jazz 2 like a long arm machine with the needle end facing me. I just need to figure out how to make something that is wide enough to allow a rolled up quilt to be fully seated. Hopefully whatever I come up with will allow me to do a fairly large area at a time without having to struggle moving the quilt around.