Cat people are so smart!

I got a Brother SQ9000 from Walmart. It was great ... at first. I used it for maybe 45 minutes total, over a span of 10 days, and something apparently got out of alignment. It started making clunking sounds, and destroying needles. Not just breaking them, but bending and twisting them out of shape until they snapped. :shock:

I think it was $159, and it included a TON of extras. Lots of feet, an extension table, oodles of stitches, embroidery letters, etc. It would've been an awesome deal, if the machine had worked properly.

Maybe I just got a lemon, but I returned it for a refund. :(

I looked at other machines, but couldn't find any in that same price range that I liked. The ones I looked at felt more like toys than sewing machines ... all plastic-y and cheap-feeling.

So I bought a 1940 Singer 15-91 off eBay. It purrs like a kitten, and is solid as a rock ... and was half the price. :mrgreen: I'm still learning how to use it, but in the meantime, I'm sewing on my good ol' Singer 9323 (I think) from the late 80's or early 90's. It's like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going and going. :thumbup:

For me, staying with older machines seems to be the secret. :) They just don't seem to make 'em like they used to.

I have a brother and love it! But I would second some of these ladies suggestions and check into reconditioned machines. After I bought mine, I found for a few dollars more I could have bought a refurbished Janome.

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but I just went to Overstock.com and they had all kinds of better machines for less than $150

I have that Brother machine and love it. It does everythin I need for it to do. Both my husband and myself made our first quilts on that machine I just can't say enough good about it. I've learned free motion quilting and thread painting on that machine. It has many decorative stitches. Go for it, you won't be disappointed.

Have to disagree about the Ebay comment. I have three machines from Ebay with no problems. Have also use Sew its For Sale group on Yahoo to buy and sell with no problems. Shop around. I would never recommend Brother or Singer, but I like high end machines. Viking being my favorite.

The brothers machines are great.... This machine is a great choice of you don't want to spend much...I have a similar that runs perfect....
They are not too good for free motion quilting but will work great with all the decorative stitches and zig zags...and of course the straight stitch......
I wouldn't recomend you to buy from Sears....Once my kenmore died ...They never respond and it seams that they don't have parts ...
So for me ...no Kenmore and nothing from Sears.......
Good luck

I bought a used Brother off Ebay two years ago - have had no problems with it. Have used quilting cotton, thick denim, and thin bridal tulle and it handles everything just fine. I love it!

You're right, it's stitchlab.biz. Cute store.

Dana

The only problem I see with buying from Wal-Mart or other places in that line, is the operating and the learning of this and that. These women are only there to actually cut fabric and keep track of inventory. (If you have a [problem or a breakage something after the fact), you are going to have find a dealer who will fix it. Wal-mart does not have the where withall to show you how to use it and I beleive they send under under warrenty machines to the factory to resolve.