Thanks for all the responses! I suspect my problem is that I’m not used to switching and am taking longer than normal to adjust. Cathy mentioned cars with manual and automatic transmissions, and I used to switch between automatic and manual without thinking about it — well, there was that one time I went for the clutch on an automatic and started hitting the brake with my left foot ... fortunately I wasn’t going very fast (because in my mind I was shifting into second).

Patrice’s point about it being good for the brain makes sense to me — the more things we learn, the more easily we can learn. If I force myself to sew on a different machine, eventually I’ll get better at switching back and forth. It’s just going to be a little bit painful getting there, and I'll probably have to mess up a few small projects before I do.

I still have a long way to go in picking a second machine. I know I need to go in and test drive some and see how they feel. I might stick with a Husqvarna Viking, especially if I can use the same feet, since that would save some expense. I already checked the low-end ones and discovered that they use different bobbins — too bad!

All of my machines use different bobbins and are somewhat different. I keep the pictures from the Singer manuals on the wall behind for machines so I remember how to thread and which way the bobbin goes in. I also have boxes by each machine with the feet and bobbins in them for that machine. Luckily the 301 and the Rocketeer use the same feet so I didn't have to buy another 1/4 inch foot and another walking foot for the Rocketeer.

Like some of the PPs, I use different machines on occasion. When we RV, I generally take my little Featherweight. I also take it to classes where I will only be piecing. When I need decorative stitches or work at home, I use my trust Bernina 440. The big issue is seam allowances. Even a tiny difference can make a big impact when multiplied by all the seams. I ended up standardizing on the scant 1/4" on my Bernina (two click right, edge of fabric along the #1 foot). Then I took a seam from the Bernina and adjusted a large plexiglass seam guide for the Featherweight to match it exactly. Voila! Equal seam allowances.

My main machine is a Janome 7700 and for class I have the 3160. I went through a series of Jems before I got the 3160 and I was forever fussing about missing functions. I never switch machines during a project unless I use my 3x5 note card to make sure I have the same 1/4" seam. I had to do some major ripping on a project cause things did not fit moving between my class machine and my home machine so now I set things very carefully rather than eyeball it.