My signature tells my story. 😱

sandy

I love my Laura Ashley, NX-2000 by Brother! I started quilting with a small, lightweight machine HS-2000 which is a great machine & I put some fabric through that baby, but I like doing the FMQ, so I wanted a bigger machine. I researched all brands for over a year & for the money got the NX! I have had it for 2 yrs now & I still adore it!! It has a needle threader (that works), a thread cutter, it came with an extension table, 17 feet (including the darning foot for FMQ & the walking foot) and I can make bobbins while still sewing if I want. Plus it came with 460 stitches & can be programmed with more! It's fantastic!!!

I started with a Singer, it's about 30yrs old, has lots of fancy stitches. About 5 yrs ago I decided to get into real quilting, you know, HST and flying gueese(yuck) lots of civil war quilts so I found a machine at Sears that someone marked wrong so I got it half price, it's a Kenmore made by Janome. Sews great. about 4 yrs ago I got the Viking Ruby and then 1 yr later I traded it in for the Diamond Deluxe. I did not pay full price for any of these machines, they were listed as slightly used so I got the warranty, cases, etc. I love my diamond deluxe, my kenmore Im giving to my daughter and my singer to my daughter in law. I also bought the TOL serger (ovation) this yr and so far have had classes on making 2 jackets, table runner, place mats, quilts. Right now I'm making a fleece log cabin full size blanket. It works great, my friend thought I was crazy because she had tried to make on on her sewing machine and it was a mess. You should of seen her face when she saw mine. I do have another serger, 2nd to TOL, I bought it right before I went to the serger class for Brother and fell in love. Knowing that I could sell my viking for what I paid for it, I got my Brother. I just have to advertise it, its still in box and never registered so should have full warranty. It is a great machine but the air threading was great but what got me really hooked on my brother was the wave stitch, It's great and only Brother has it.

I started collecting post WWII Japanese made sewing machines (generally sixties) before I ever sewed a stitch. I just liked the look and found them fun to tinker with and get running.

I move between 4 of my 6 machines, depending on what I'm doing. I use my Kenmore Trispan 158.880 for piecing, my Kenmore 158.850 for FMQ (attempts only) and just bought a walking foot for it. My 3rd Kenmore is a lavendar 158.540. They all take cams which is pretty neat. I would love to find the monogrammer that goes with one of more of them.

I don't really have the space to open it up (all my Kenmores are in cabinets) as much as I'd like and it works off a knee pedal that needs to be rewired so to use it I have to grab the floor pedal from my 85. I occupy a corner of the kitchen and try to contain the mayhem. I keep my Pencrest (JC Penney's) Swing & Sew set up for zig zag and it is my most portable machine. I use my Montgomery Ward's UHT J 1964 too, as it is my only free arm and is also pretty light to move about as needed.

I need to rewire the power cord on #6, as the original looks as if rats chewed on it. The interior electrical (going to the light) cord is great and the machine looks in good shape. Everything moves as it should once I oiled and lubed it but I haven't yet been able to plug her in. It is from the same era/country of origin as the Kenmore's but is badged as an American Beauty. It is bright blue with a rose on the bed. It is supposedly a portable judging by its carrying case. Ha! It weighs over 45 lbs. Not something I'd casually lug around.

I'm afraid to try anything newer, as I love bright shiny objects and I have neither the room nor the bank account to justify another machine that has features that I would likely rarely use. The most I've ever paid is $85 and that included the mid century modern cabinet, all the cams/feet/buttonhole templates/original manual and the little sewing chair that opens up for storage. I'll save the money for more fabric! : )

I love sewing machines. They are so much fun to run. My favorite time in sewing is when I get to put the presser foot down and hit the gas. Until I joined this board, I never thought about having more than one machine. Now I have lots of different machines. I have three Singers, a 3400 XL, a 401A, and a 15 hand crank. I also have a Bernina 1530, a Brother PE770 (embroidery only) and a Juki serger. Two of these machines were given to me by friends because they needed new homes. I will never turn down a free machine.

I love my BabyLock Ellageo for embroidery something bigger than 5X7; my Brother PE770 for embroidery 5X7 an smaller, and my Babylock Sofia for sewing and as a lightweight machine to travel. I have a Janome 9000 also that is wonderful for sewing AND small embroidery as my backup machine! Fortunately I have never gotten a "bad" machine so have not gotten rid of any of them.

For years, while growing up, I used my Mom's Singer. In my mind, all Singers were like hers, old and reliable. That's why I wore out my original, I thought hey, it's a Singer, it must be good.
I'm a much better shopper now

For years I assumed all Singers were junk after using a Touch and Sew in Home Ec...

Early 70s Bernina 830. it does everything. The backup is a late 60s Elna Super, the blue one. I have a number of the green Supermatics out in the garage, waiting for something to break on my first two machines, but... might be a long wait. For awhile I had a Pfaff which I kept in a hard side suitcase in a hotel in Germany. It was 208v so I couldn't bring it home but I was doing enough travel that for two years I quilted every trip I made to Germany. The quilt on my bed was done in my hotel room in Europe. Gave the sewing machine to the fiance of one of my European friends and she is quite happy with it. Anyhow, my quilting machine is a Tin Lizzy 90 lb behemoth. I have it set up with QBot and a 10 foot frame.
tim in san jose

My Babylock Ellegante for embroidery, Janome Memorycraft for piecing, and Babylock Tiara II for quilting.