I am an avid sewer, quilter and machine embroiderer. Does anyone known of a good machine that i can get that will do all three of these functions. I think mine is going to go to machine heaven and i would like to be prepared. I have been looking at thisboard for a few months now and have learned so much. thank you to all you ladies that help everyone and offer such wonderful ideas.

make a list of what you want in a machine. Grab your check book or credit card and head for the nearest sewing machine shop.

Whoo Hoo Sounds like a fun shopping trip to me!

I have the Bernina 440 QE with the embroidery module and i LOVE it. It will do all of the things you mentioned. Happy shopping.

Yep, agree with this. Figure out what you expect in a machine and do lots of research. I love my Vikings, but they are pricey. If you want all the bells and whistles, computer compatible, large throat, large embroidery capability, lots of fancy sewing stitches, check out the Diamond, but be prepared to pay. It is wonderful; I also have the Topaz with many of the same features for a lot less. As I say do lots of research.

I love my brother SE350 it sews and embroirders but for a little more money you can get one that hooks to a usb port.

My Pfaff has all of those features. I was able to get one that was a demo machine and was being discontinued, so got a pretty good deal. If you don't have to worry about price, it should not be hard to find a good machine that does all of those things. Like the others said, do your homework shop around, try them out.

I love my Brother SE 350 , but for quilting, I can do it.. but it is tight!

A Janome 11000 will do all that and more plus the upgrades are downloaded everytime they make a change.

thank you much ladies this will give me a good start

I have a Menory Craft 11000 made by Janomedoes all that. I love it.

I have a Menory Craft 11000 made by Janome, does all that. I love it.

Love my Babylock Ellisimo. Has a 10 inch throat space and wonderful embroidery and sewing features.

A respectable dealer is an important factor too. I think there have been several stories posted here about problems after purchase. The first embroidery machine I bought was one used for a class I took. Luckily, I had no problem with it, but the dealer took off to avoid being arrested because of some illegal business practices. I now only use a local shop owned by long-time local residents. He is also the only local dealer who can work on various machines. For me, that trust is as important as the brand of machine, although they do carry two brands that are highly spoken about on this board. See above.

Happy shopping.!

I just got the Bernina QE 440 and am in love. It will do all you've asked for. Good luck in finding YOUR right machine.

I also have a Janome 10001 and love it. does all the things I want it to. I have a dealer I can depend on which is one of the most important things. Shop around, try them out and good luck

I got a Brother Innovus 2800D. Through a sewing shop. it does all those things and connects to a pc, or flash drive or a card. Since I am a renew sewer the woman at the sewing store has been very helpful with the machine. they want you to love your machine. I do love my machine. So far I have played alot with teh embroidery, and worked on my appiques and quilt blocks . I did some quilting on my applique peices but I havent done any large project quilting to give an account on how it did. Hope Santa brings you a nice one!

ps a renew sewer one that used to sew as a child in school and is now almost 50 and is starting again.

There are several.. Find a dealer who is close to you that offers classes and service after the sale.....then, go see your Viking dealer, your Brother dealer, your Bernina dealer, your Janome dealer - whichever is closer, and let them show you what they have. I have Vikings ( the Designer Diamond and the Designer Ruby) and love them and my dealer. The Bernina machines were great, but I could not get the person at the dealer to sell me the machine.........so glad now........because the service and classes provided by Viking are so much better.

Yes, I have Vikings too. I understand they are the easiest to learn to use. The support from Viking is first rate! You get what you pay for.....

First thing to decide is how much you can afford/or are willing to spend. Berninas are great machines but can be very pricey! Visit your local quilt shops and check out what they have to offer,see who has the best customer service for you. You may find just the perfect used machine at a dealer too as most take trade ins when they sell new machines. Good Luck and happy shopping!!

Make sure you get it from a reliable dealer wich ever one you decide on .
Makes sense that they are not too far away.I justbought a Janome 6600 pro and like it very much.No it doesn't do embroidery.The embroidery that I saw made by a Janome---- was just lovely,can't remember what model it was.

Go for a Pfaff!

uote=lavenderfire]I am an avid sewer, quilter and machine embroiderer. Does anyone known of a good machine that i can get that will do all three of these functions. I think mine is going to go to machine heaven and i would like to be prepared. I have been looking at thisboard for a few months now and have learned so much. thank you to all you ladies that help everyone and offer such wonderful ideas.[/quote]

I have a Brother Quattro (same as Babylock Ellisimo) that I totally love. Embroidery is so very easy & beautiful. It has one feature that I think might be a secret because no one talks about & Brother doesn't seem to emphasize but it's free motion is a dream!! I have free motioned a ton of quilts without problems or aggravation. Just follow the simple manual instructions & full speed ahead.

Oh fidgety that is my dream machine, a salesperson demonstrated one at Hancocks one day for me and I fell in love with it, they gave me the booklet on it and its sitting right here on my desk. My Dh is good about buying me what I really want and I have the Go but when I told him I found my dream machine he asked how much and I said they quoted $3500. he said its good to have dreams lol Maybe one day <fingers crossed>

I have a Janome 10001. I can sew, quilt and embrodiary on it the only thing is that I also have a Janome 6500 and that one has the little scissors man (as my granddaughter calls it) to cut the threads that I wish my machine had. I think the new Janome has it in their embrodiary machine plus I think I was told it now has differential feed. Do some checking around but go to a reliable dealer who will also help you after you have purchased your machine with instructions or questions. Some dealers are so busy trying to sell you the machine and that is all they care about that they won't even talk to you after you have purchased the machine and for that you may as well just buy at Walmart. Good luck hope you find a good one!

I agree with all the others, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Start now by looking at and trying out all your options. I have a Viking but I don't think it is so much what brand as it is what we like and just our comfort zone. It is was we always had, or a certain feature(s) and definitely the dealer. If you have to drive 200 miles to buy isn't so bad but it's horrible if you have a problem. I love my machine but now many are coming with a larger throat and if you want to machine quilt, that would be a BIG plus. When you are looking, take a notebook and make notes of what you liked and disliked because if you are like me, you think you will remember but don't. Then whenyou get to your car, make addl notes of the people that took care of you and other after thoughts. Look for a while before you leap.

I just bought a BabyLock 'Ellure' which is for everything you mentioned. I have sewn every fabric imaginable on it and I have to say....I LOVE it! self threading, self adjusting tension, cuts the thread, auto backstitching at the begining and ending of a seam... Have I said, I LOVE it!!! For the price, $999, it's worth every penny and then some!

I would think it depends on how much you want (or can) spend on a machine. This is a great web for sewing machine reviews. They are written by the machines owners, not a magazine or anything. http://sewing.patternreview.com/

Also something to consider. How much embroidery do you think you'll actually do? The reason I'm asking is, I have an embroidery/sewing machine combo. I've had it for 7 years and I love it, BUT I've found that changing it back and forth from embroidery mode to sewing machine mode can be a pain, so I've bought another sewing machine and leave my embroidery unit on my combo machine all the time. I very seldom actually just sew with it. What I'm saying is...it's a lot of money to buy the combo and only use part of it. You might want to consider 2 machines instead of one, big expensive machine. Just MHO :)

I am jealous.....

having sold many of these when i worked at the lqs..and getting one for myself....the bernina 440 qe..it sews..has the bsr for free motion quilting and comes..optional of course with the embridery machine..costs more but definitely worth it..anyhow..have fun with your shopping..take your time,test out as many machines as you can..and buy the best you can afford..since you do all that sewing which i think is fabulous,,dont short change yourself..you deserve it..

Let me just say in defense of the combo machines. My Vikings are very easy to switch out the embroidery unit to regular sewing mode. I am lucky that I do have several machines that I use for different purposes, but it is not because of difficulty of use. I like to sew a couple things at a time; so I can embroider on the Diamond while sewing another component on the SE or the Topaz. You really have to think what is best for your uses.

Before you buy a new machine, take a class in free motion embroidery. Yes, you create the design, and you do the stitches. The classes are few and far between, but once you learn that, you will discover that you don't need as expensive a machine. It's a great investment!

I didn't say it was difficult to switch from embroidery to sewing...I said it was a pain :) My unit detaches with a touch of the touch screen, but I don't want to be doing that all the time. It's a personal preference and I was just trying to point out some things that she might not have thought of.

Husqvarna Diamond!

Isn't it wonderful that there are so many wonderful machines to chose from. I, personally. think there is none as good as the Bernina Series. I especially love having a wonderful shop nearby that sells, services, trains, and has clubs for wonderful sewing, quilting, embroidering. Happy sewing and especially quilting!!

I have Babylock Elegante,Babylock Sophia, Brother Quattro and Bernina 830...all do a great job.

I am pretty sure any embroidery machine can also be used for quilting. Just need a walking foot and open toe, etc. I have a Viking Designer SE - it does it all. I just wish I had a longer space to stuff the quilt into when quilting. Maybe look for that feature.

Me, too - I bought separate machines for 2 reasons - one was if part of the machine went down (say embroidery), I didn't want to be without a sewing machine; if I wanted to upgrade, concentrating on one or the other was easier - AND as expressed - the tear down in moving from the sewing machine to embroidery mechanism and back. It probably depends on what you are used to. :-)
Marysewfun

I checked out a class the other day where the embroidery function of the machine was used. Out of curiosity, I asked the gals how they handled the "all in one" functions of their machines and everyone of these women use a DIFFERENT machine for the regular sewing and/or quilting. When the embroidery machine does its thing, they can be sewing on a different machine and all they have to do is change the thread on the embroidery machine before they send it on its merry way to the next part of the embroidery pattern. For me, an all-in-one machine would not be functional.

But that's what's nice about having the old vintage machines which most of us have. We can use them for the quilting, straight sewing while the embroidery machine is doing its work. I can't disagree with you guys, because I have 4 embroidery machines. I started with the Designer I, upgraded to the SE and kept the D1, then went to the Topaz 30, and then to the Diamond, and kept all the old ones. I never embroider on the D1 or the SE because they don't have the large hoops but use them for my other work. I like the features of the Vikings with the built-in needle threader, auto presser foot drop and raise when sewing, built in thread cutter and many others. The newer ones also have the large throat great for quilting. They also can lower the feed dogs for FMQ. I have only had Singers before the Vikings. Would never have a new Singer again. And I don't know about any of the other machines because there are any other dealers around here.