I am a total quilting newbie. I can piece and sew, but just started learning FMQ. I have a Kenmore Mini Ultra with very minimal features and today, this like-new Kenmore literally fell into my lap. (My dad's friend said it used to be his mother's and he "can't give it away because no one sews anymore." ;) It has more features than any machine I've used before. I sewed a few stitches to test it out and it was very quiet and smooth. Does anyone have an opinion on this machine? Does it quilt well? I'm kind of excited about having it :)

Hi and welcome to the board from Iowa. It sounds like you have received a wonderful gift and we hope to see your creations here.

Lucky you. Do some sample quilting with it and see how it handles:)

I have a Kenmore 385..so does my sister, my aunt, and a friend..we all bought them together...around 25 years ago???There are different ones..I have the 24 stitch..just saw a 22 stitch advertised for sale recently...we all love our machines..even though I have quite a few machines, I can't part with this one...they are made by Janome...they are very strong..I have sewn many drapes on it...but I have never free motion quilted on it...you have to give it a try...and see how she goes..dont' think feed dogs go down..but you can leave them up or cover them...tell us how you make out...

It has 21 stitches. You can drop the feed dogs. I think it is only about 7 yrs old and only been used once. I tried some FMQ on a small sandwich and found it much easier to guide and control the speed than my mini Kenmore. There may be hope for me to learn this yet! I just feel so grateful that This machine was given to me. :-)

I am not familiar with the machine but a big congrats. If it does a straight stitch you can quilt with it and it seems to do way more.

I have two kenmores, 1978 and 1998 and love them both...bought kenmores because back in the good old days they came to the house to service :) :) . Of course about 2001 they stopped that :thumbdown: