I myself bought a Bernina in the 90s, a 1530 and I have loved it. I haven't had any problems with it except for when I was using can air to clean out the dust bunnies and had to replace the bobbin case. I haven't heard may go review on the BSR. My opinion is that it is an overprices accessory. The ONLY thing that will give you perfect FMQ is a computer doing the quilting.

I have three Janomes and am very happy with all of them. My last one is Memory Craft 5200 which I have at home and the other ones are at the cabin.

Such wonderful advice--thank you. The closest shop is a Bernina guy--but I'm not sure he went to the classes to learn how to fix them. And he teaches younger boys who work on the machines. Not sure it's the best place to get them fixed. The next closest is 30 miles--and there's a Bernina in one direction and a Janome in the other. I will see how my machine comes out after the overhaul--then do some test driving. I really love that harp space though... and a lower bill.

I have never used a Bernina so I can't compare, but I love my Janomes. I have a Magnolia 7330 to take with me when I go somewhere to sew and I have a Janome 6600. I am very glad that I bought my 6600. The only problem that I have had is a blown fuse on the 6600. The dealer replaced it for free.. so that made it no problem at all :)

I own Brother/Babylock, Janome and Bernina... all have pros and cons, all have had issues, all were repairable and all ended up working just fine. The biggest differentiator is cost, everything costs significantly more with Bernina... in many cases 5-10 times more, especially feet. I love them all for different reasons. Buy what meets your needs and budget. For me Brother/Babylock have been the most reliable and are my first choice. If money were no object, I'd have multiples of all of them

Well, I own Janomes. Dc3050, 9700, 9900, 1100D serger. Never have the issues you mentioned. I don't have a stitch regulator and don't know why I would need one. Very happy with my brand of choice.

sandy

Thanks Tom and Sandy. The repair guy called to tell me the three parts he's going to order to replace--needle plate, finger something or other and the hook (bobbin case). They are losing a lot on this machine because they've spent so many hours trying to get it to work well. He said the charge will be around $350--which is fair enough for parts ($150) and labor. Just so curious as to how long it can go without skipping stitches and breaking thread and losing proper tension. I don't trust it.

I hope the repairs are successful. It's awful to sew on a frustrating machine. Some advice I've read here is to make some samples with batting and basted and try out a bunch of models. That might help. I know the fancier machines have a learning curve but you might know more by getting the "feel" of each. Good luck!

I bought a Janome 6600MC almost 5 years ago and have never had any issues, it is a workhorse for me and runs like a dream. I was at a quilt show in Manchester, NH this April and took a FMQ class with Leah Day... they gave us brand new 8900s out of the box to play on for the day... just couldn't resist, took one home with me! I love the 11 plus inches of throat space and it FMQs like a dream. BTW, Leah is amazing and has FMQd on domestic machines for years... she is worth taking a class with.

Love my Janome 8900