Thank you Jody, that is very helpful. I initially evaluated the 6600 as well until I heard it doesn't have a free arm, which might make garment sewing for my little girl a bit tricky, or have you tried this without any problems? My husband also mentioned that it might not make sense investing a lot in a machine while I am about to start working fulltime again... I do understand your reasoning though :)

Thanks and happy quilting to you too,
Loes

Hi Cheryl,

Now that would be a wonderful idea, but then I would have to set up a fabric shop as well as most fabrics here cost around 35 dollars a metre which I think puts a lot of people off. Thank goodness there is online shopping and low delivery rates! I don't think knitting is very widespread over here, but crocheting is being practised by quite some people, especially in the south of Italy. I did some knitting as a little girl with my mum, but forgot just about everything. One day, when I have more free time on my hands or need a lot less sleep :)

Thanks for the idea on the signature, I immediately inserted one!

Thank you very much. I would like to ask you some specific questions I still have as you actually own both machines (now that would solve my dilemma, wouldn't it!!). Firstly, have you tried sewing with light weight fabrics on the machines as well? I read some reviews saying that the pfaff has a tendency to "eat" the fabric. Secondly, how do they behave on bulky seams? And last but not least, have you experienced any thread breaking on the pfaff? Thanks again and apologies for firing questions at you like that :o

That is true, but there are so many reviews out there and not being very experienced half of the time I don't even know the purpose of the features people are enthusiastically describing! Lol!

Hi, Welcome from Maryland. I am a devoted Bernina fan so I don't know much about the other machines. I have discovered that sewing garments, especially those with lightweight or sheer fabrics are harder on the machines that have the wider stitch capacity. Just yesterday I was working on some little dresses for a local charity project that required the armholes to be bound. The binding extended to make a strap that tied at the shoulder. I have a Bernina machine that also converts to an embroidery machine. The "feed dog" area is rather wide. The machine actually sucked the narrow binding I was using down into the bobbin area and chewed up the binding. While I love being able to do all kinds of decorative stitches with the machine it it is not nearly as stable when it comes to working on delicate fabrics. Many machines offer an alternate "throatplate", with just a small hole for the needle to pass through. I will have to look into getting one for my machine for when I just want to straight stitch, if they are available. My first thirty years of sewing that was the only kind of machine I had. You may love the decorative stitches for decorating garments for your child but for basic garment construction and quilt construction, the basic machine will do a good job.

I agree with mpspeedy on the trouble of having a wider stitch capacity. My Bernina is hard to use when sewing the 1/4" seams when piecing my quilt tops. Also, the fabric seems to 'skate' around when trying to sew 1/4" seams even when using the single hole needle plate and the quarter inch quilt foot. But....I love my Bernina for everything else, including quilting smaller items! But, because I wanted perfect 1/4" seams I just bought the Juki TL Q98 machine and I LOVE piecing on it. It has the knee lift just as the Bernina, but it also has a separate "RED" button next to the pressure foot that you use to cut the threads. It makes it so much easier to work quickly when piecing. And, because it's a straight stitch machine with a larger work area, I am able to sew perfect 1/4" seams without problems!

Loes ...

As for the the 6600 not having the free arm, I did give pause to that; but I have my 43 yr. old Bernina if I need a free arm ... and I do have a grand baby on the way (girl ~ due July 26th), so I'm sure I will be using the Bernina if I need that feature.

Someone mentioned sewing on *light* fabrics. Well, one of the demos I was shown on the 4120, was sewing on Kleenex (tissue), and it sewed beautifully on this tissue. I couldn't believe it. Of course, this shop only sold Janome, so they did say it was pretty much a feature, only Janome could do. True or not ... but it was impressive (and NO puckers/wrinkles either).

As I said, I probably would have bought the 4120, but the shop I got it from does not do the *trade up within a year* program; and I know, IF I wanted to upgrade, it would not set well with my husband. He thought there was nothing wrong with me sewing on a machine 43 yrs. old .... and I finally told him: *hey, it's "almost" a half century old* .... and I think he got the picture!! lol

Again, I think the 4120 is just a great sewing machine and you could not go wrong with it .... or the Janome brand.

jody

Hi and welcome to the board! You will probably find many supporters for each machine you mentioned! I have a Pfaff 3.0 and love the built in walking foot and the wide throat. Maybe reading some reviews on the internet will help. If you google "sewing machine reviews" you can see some places that are not affiliated with any brand.

Let us know what you decide on!

I have the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 and love it. The only drawback is its weight, but I have an old Elna that I take along for classes, etc.

I have the MC4800 Janome and love it.