Going from a Bernina to something else for quilting and embroiery
 

<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> </style>Has anyone had experience moving from a Bernina to a Babylock or Janome for free-motion quilting or embroidery? I bought a Bernina730 Artista when they first came out and spent a lot of money buthave had nothing but problems with it. I have a number of oldermachines I can use for general sewing and piecing (Singer 201, Singer401A, Singer 600E, and Bernina 703 Record). It's the embroidery andBSR for free-motion quilting I really need. I do love the BSR on the Bernina andhave been told by my local dealer that people have a hard time goingfrom quilting on a Bernina to any other machine. But, she also saidthe Babylock was the most advanced for embroidery. The dealer sells Bernina, Babylock, and Brother. Since I have all of the Bernina presser feet, Ithought about going to a new Bernina but I'm a little leery. I lovethe Babylock Solaris but can't afford it. I have also looked at thenew Janome M7 that just came out and it looks wonderful. I consideredbuying that and a separate embroidery-only machine but there is not aJanome dealer near me. I am so totally confused my head is spinning. I know no one can tellme what to buy but any insights would be appreciated. It was easierto buy my car than it is buying a sewing machine LOL.

I have both a Bernina and a Janome. I would give the Bernina up any day, but would not want to get rid of my Janome 8200 for anything. This is MHO.

You mentioned the Bernina Stitch Regulator. I believe Bernina is the only machine that has a stitch regulator that can be used without a quilting frame setup. I would certainly want either if I could afford it!

Just to warn you, typically the feet for a Bernina can only be used on that model and that model alone and you might not be able to use them on another machine.

My friend in Arizona loves Berninas, she gave me the 820 I now use because she didn't like that model (she now has a 770). She also has embroidery machines (2) that are not Bernina because they had the designs she wanted. Something to keep in mind with my 820 is that the bobbin is proprietary and I can't get prewound bobbins, I think that is something to consider/ask about with an embroidery machine.

We had another thread with someone looking to get into an embroidery machine, I said there that most people I know with embroidery machines find out after they get the one they have what are the features they want.

I know that I wouldn't use one enough to be worth the price, but if I did I'd want to be able to scan in a motif so that would be deciding point for me.

If you don't mind, a couple of questions. What all do you do on your machines - quilt, sew, embroider? Why do you prefer the Janome? I really appreciate your input. Also, would the fact that that there is no local dealer sway you one way or the other? My Bernina dealer is 5 minutes away, my Babylock 25 minutes away, and a Janome dealer 1 1/2 hours away. For some reason, Janome dealers don't seam to be as plentiful in my part of the country.

I went to janome 8900 from bernina..mainly because of the working space janome has so much more space.

I bought a Janome back in 2012 when my Bernina 180 failed. I then bought an Elna (a Janome twin) for my travel machine.

I have never had a bit of trouble with either of the new machines. Were the stitches on the 180 a bit better? Maybe. And certainly the feet were works of machining art. But they also cost a lot more for equivalent functionality (both machines and feet, especially machines.)

Something to think about - if you quilt or embroider often, you may want 2 separate machines. Either project can tie up a machine for a while (particularly embroidery), and while 9 mm stitch capability is super for embroidery, quilting is often best-served by a good straight-stitch machine. You might also find that a dedicated embroidery machine (embroidery-only) plus a good midrange non-embroidery machine (and certainly a straight-stitch-only machine like a Juki TL2010) for quilting a much cheaper than buying one highly-complicated combo machine. Brother/Babylock/Janome sell some good options for embroidery-only.

Also with the new models that are coming out now, there are going to be some good options in gently used machines at your dealers. Definitely consider those! The kinks (for the most part) will have been worked out (if there were any), and with some folks always wanting the latest and greatest, there will be some fairly new models traded in.

Michelle

I love my Janome for everyday sewing. It was one of the more expensive machines I bought years ago. It has been put aside for the Brothers machines that I bought for embroidery and for my everyday sewing. Now I am using my Juki for FMQ and loving how it handles the weight of a larger quilt. In fact I will be doing just that shortly. If I were looking at a new machine it would be Brothers/Babylock. The customer service is the best to be had when out of warranty service is necessary.

I love my Juki for piecing and machine quilting. I have a Brother 8500D for embroidery which I rarely do so I use it for the decorative stitches and machine applique. Very nice machine and I bought it used for very little to see if I liked embroidery. Turns out I don't like it that much so I'm glad I didn't buy a new one. I had it set up for embroidery for over a year and never found anything to I wanted to embroider other then test out the designs. Hooping is too tedious for me even on the new fancy ones my friends have.

I recently bought the Bernina 770QE and I'm loving it for FMQ. It has an optional embroidery module that can be added but I didn't really want one. However I like knowing I can get it down the road if I change my mind. Since I now have a baby granddaughter that may change.