I went to a Janome/Brother dealer on Wednesday. I think I’m leaning toward the Husqvarna - it has more features than I ever knew where available and the dealer is 5 miles from my house. The closest Janome/Brother dealer is 70 miles away.

Hi Kirsten, sorry for the late reply. I use the standard presser foot and then the 1/4” stitch selection. I think it is 2:1, but I am not positive and cannot check at the moment. If I haven’t been piecing for awhile, I do a couple of test seams to measure but that 1/4” stitch selection has been working well for me.

I owned an Opal 690Q for a couple years and loved it. It had a ton of functionality and sewed just about anything I threw at it without issue. It was a fantastic machine. In the end it was the space to the right of the needle that made me look at other machines. I made an unfortunate side trip with a Topaz 50 that was rough, but now am happy with a Brilliance 80, which like the Opal sews everything.

Tudii - I’ve never seen the Brilliance 80 so I had to look it up online. What a beautiful machine!

I have an older Viking Platinum 770. Actually just picked up a walking foot for it a couple of hours ago. I love this machine. I've had zero issues with it; have only taken it in occasionally for service (it does need a good cleaning right now but no down time for a bit).

When I bought the machine I did a spreadsheet of my must haves vs wants and looked at many different brands. I read lots of reviews. The viking won without question. Particularly when I factored in cost and getting lots of bells & whistles I didn't particularly want.

The deciding factor for me - in your position - would be the fact that the Viking dealer is so close to you. I've had great support from my dealer. And that is something that definitely has a value. Just make sure you and the dealer (or at least the repair guy there) have rapport.

I love it. Plus my favorite color is blue. It all (eventually) works out!