Karamarie

I have the Janome 6600 Professional machine that has a 9" throat space. A regular machine has only 6" and that extra 3" allows me to FMQ even King Size quilts but it still can be a challenge, but doable. Good luck.

CaleyH

Mkc, Thanks for the tip.

Mindless, Again good information from you. Thanks so much. I did get those Planet flags done. The corners were so thick I had to do those areas by hand with large, thicker needles. Had to use a hard surface to help push the needles through the fabric, but eventually to the last parts on the flags secured. Those up at the local observatory are happy to have them.

CaleyH

Bad news, or maybe not. The Baby Lock Jazz 2 doesn't work when using it as a free motion quilting setup. It works fine on straight stitching and on heavy duty fabric, but when I drop the feed dogs, and set the stitch length to zero, , no matter what the tension is set as, I get the top thread pulled to the bottom badly.

Like I said, when used as a regular sewing machine, it works wonderfully, but it just doesn't like FMQing.

So I am back to my Singer Quantum stylist 9960 for basic quilting. Just can't do much FMQing because the harp space is too limited.

I may just try to find a home for the BL, and chalk it up to a mistake purchase. I will be looking for something with a larger harp space, but want it computerised so it adjusts the thread tension automatically.

Anyone interested in a BL Jazz 2? ;-)

Karamarie

I also have the Memory Craft (MC) Janome 6600 with its 9" throat space. As mentioned above the bigger throat the larger your machine is and I feel the 6600 is a good size. I quilt up to King and although it is challenging, it is very doable. Just takes practice, practice to get good at it.

Stitchnripper

i have a Brother PQ 1500 straight stitch mechanical machine except for the needle up/down and the add cutter that does FMQ beautifully. I never really fool with the tension. It uses all threads nicely except Madeira cotton. The machine isn’t very expensive and has a lot of space. It is a high shank machine.

stitch678

I was at a quilt show ( before covid), and was impressed with a gently used Janome 8900 that the local dealer who had a booth there had on display. Someone had bought it, used it a few times, then got the huge M7. I went to his shop next day ( hubby & his wallet in tow,lol). I've been retired 11 yr., and this will be my last machine, likely. It has an 11" throat and a high shank...perfect for ruler work. My older eyes love the great lighting. Although computorized, you can still manually override most settings if you wish. I totally adore this machine! It has more features than l'll ever need, and cost less than $1,400. The dealer also included a 30 day warrantee, a nice big thread stand, and extra bobbins. The machine already had a lot of feet. The aqufeed integrated walking foot is miles better than the clunky ones we hook over needle bar.

marcille

I bought the same jazz machine and had the same problem. Contacted the sewing machine dealer, returned it and they corrected the problem. Don't know exactly what they did but it works great now. Only thing I don't like is the tricky needle threader but I can live with that

Quiltwoman44

I want the Brother machine with a ton of throat space that Angela Wolfe uses on It's Sew Easy show. I think it is a Brother. I want that one if anyone has a spare.... wishes, wishes.

CaleyH

I wrote Baby Lock yesterday about the problems I am having with the Jazz 2. I am guessing it will be next week or so before I get a reply.

I tried setting things up again with the Jazz 2, and for a while the machine cooperated, doing very nice stitching, then it started doing the same huge lashing on the bottom. I didn't change anything in the way I was moving, or the speed I used. It just decided to be ornery. I do think there is something wrong with the tension system.

I noted that the Jazz had a different setup than the Jazz 2 when it comes to threading. Not sure why it was changed in the upgrade process. Maybe it was cheaper, or maybe it actually improved things.

I'm not sure just what the machine does when you raise or lower the tension. But whatever mechanism is in play, it is not working as it should. I hate to have to take the machine to a repair shop. It's brand new. I just hope BL customer service can tell me just how to cure the problem.

rryder

I had something similar happen a few times on my PQ1500s when FMQ and each time it was because I forgot to put the presser foot down before starting- with a floating foot, or a hopping foot, it's easy to do. You get some nice stitches for the first inch or so, but then the fact that the tension discs are not engaged and you get the situation you are describing, with big loops, on the bottom.

Rob