Portable machine to take to quilting guild
 

I'm looking for recommendations for a machine to take to quilting guild meetings (I'm going to my first one next month) and other sewing get-togethers. I have a Brother Quattro Innovis 6000D and love it, but it's a little large to take to meetings. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I have a Janome Platinum Gem machine that I highly recommend. I cannot say enough good things about it.

I have a Janome 3160 and I love it. It's light, almost the same weight as a Featherweight and sews great. Many of my quilting friends now have the same machine and they all love it. It has plenty of fancy stitches and you can get a walking foot so you can quilt smaller quilts.

I second the Janome 3160 - it's an excellent machine. I would also consider the Pfaff Passport, because I like the IDT.

I really want a Featherweight because all I really want to be able to do while travelling is straight stitch. I took my Elna on my last road trip and it worked great, but would prefer not to have that wear/tear. So I think the FW is my next purchase (but it might be years since the ones I am finding are $400+)

After researching for a travel machine around Christmas time I finally got the Brother cs6000i. It is a great machine for the money. It is lightweight too.

I have both a Featherweight and a Brother cs6000i, and the Brother is by far my favourite for quilting retreats and such. I like the automatic needle up/down and the fact if I need the zigzag stitch, I have it. And I've been amazed at the number of times when I'm on a retreat that the zigzag comes in handy. But the Featherweight is much cuter!

Since you are used to Brother machines, I suggest that you look at some of the smaller Brother machines. I have a Brother PC420PRW that I love. It has the automatic needle threader, needle up/down function, lots of decorative stitches, comes with lots of feet and knee lift. It is light enough to carry to and from classes but is heavy enough that it doesn't move or vibrate when sewing. It can be found on-line for between $400 and $500.

If your budget is higher, then the Brother dealers offer some nice machines in the $1200- $2000 range that are smaller than your Quattro.

If you want a bare bones basic machine with a few utility stitches, there are a number of Brother machines that are sold at the big box stores for $100-$400' you will need to read some reviews on these to see if they would suit.

Rob

I also take my Janome 3160 to class. Has everything I want but the foot up feature. It even has an extension table.

If your quilting guild is like mine, no sewing goes on at guild meetings. However, we do meet once a month at a fabric store to sew. I usually take my Janome Jem Platinum to sew-ins.

I also have a Janome Platinum Jem. Since I already had a larger Janome, it made sense because they both use the same feet. AND it fits into an airline carry on bag. In fact it will be flying with me next month. It would be a good idea to check if the feet your current machine uses will be compatible with your smaller machine.

I have discovered a new brand 'Ever Sewen'. Gosh, I just love it. I think it weight 17 lbs and is white and a beautiful raspberry color. The machine is all metal so it doesn't shake when I use it. It has slow/fast, needle down, needle threader and lots of beautiful stitches. So easy to use and it's quiet. After I got mine, I think about 7 other guild members got one too. We all are in love with this machine.

My brother from walmart is my go to small machine. It has been a workhorse and a dream. I love it. It is the SQ-9050. It was replaced by the SQ-9185 which is also popular

I have the same - works great.

I have a Babylock Sofia. Has lots of nice features and also does embroidery. I paid $700 for it but have seen it on sale for $500.

I found that it is much easier if both the machines use the same bobbin and feet. That being said, I have a Brother Innovis 4000D and a Brother CSI6000. I had a small Janome, but had to read the manual every time I used it and it used a different bobbin. It did sew better than the Brother CSI6000, but I lost time every time I used it.

FYI......most quilt guild meetings are not sewing meetings. Usually they are for business, show & tell, education, challenges and charity. I would go to the first meeting with an open mind and see if you even like what is going on. Bees or sew days is where you typically use a sewing machine. A large group that I belong to has sewing bees for different types of projects. You can learn a lot there, but mostly everyone wants to work on their own stuff. Even though I love to sew with others, I find that packing up, traveling and unpacking and then the reverse takes 2 or 3 hours out of my sew day and defeats my purpose of getting something done. A good thing is that you might meet others that want to meet and sew with only a single other person. This is where you can leave your sewing machine there, have access to rulers and cutters so you don't have to bring yours and just sew, visit and have fun. That's the sew days I like.

If you aren't one to miss needle up/down, speed control, variable needle positions, auto cutters, etc.. the Jem Gold or a featherweight (or other mechanical) are perfect due to compact size, beautiful stitch, ease of use, low maintenance and cuteness. If you do like those computerized features, you may not be happy using a mechanical machine for long. I go to a large quilting group sew-day and quite a few do use trolleys to bring in TOL $$ combo machines, a few others use mechanical vintage or newer..always there are a few Jems but most popular w/ this group are the janomes at the <$500 range, and most all of those are computerized and full-sized. Also the vast majority of these are not recent purchases at all. Well, its a large "sampling" of different quilters each time and I always pay attention to what machines are there! All of this to say..many janomes of all types are in use at each event, year after year in my area even though there are dealers of all brands nearby.

The Sofia is what I have also, and that is why I bought it - to take to a monthly sewing group get-together. LOVE IT!

I have three older portable machines that are easy to tote. Featherweight - has no features but being super lightweight and cute. Brother 420 (before it became PRW) - all the features you will ever need. Janome Gem Gold - older model and it's a perfect basic machine.
I sometimes take my Bernina 1260 but it is heavy even though it is not that big in size. My favorite? I guess it would be the Brother.

At my last retreat there was a woman with an Eversewn Sparrow 25. The stitches were beautiful and it only weight about 15 lbs and not overly expensive. I'm thinking about getting one for retreats.

I love my 3160 for a light weight travel machine. In fact, it was the first machine I bought when I learned to quilt in 2010 and was a trooper for an inexperienced quilter. I used it to learn free motion and it did a great job on a twin size quilt. Many of my quilting buddies have this machine and we all comment on how great it is!

For those of you who like older mechanical machines like the featherweight, consider the Kenmore 158 1030 (also 1040 and 1050), aka as the rose Kenmores. I have a featherweight but the 3/4 Kenmore is my absolute favorite portable machine. My Rosie is awesome and cost me less than half what I paid for the FW. And she still had the hang tag on her handle! Brand new! Here's a website that talks about them: http://temptedthreads.blogspot.com/2...-restored.html
This series has a tool storage bin that actually tilts out to provide a larger flat sewing space ahead of the needle. The only problem I have with Rosie is that my sister keeps borrowing her for longer and longer periods before I get her back! LOL!
Like all mechanicals, she's a tiny bit heavy but she stays put pretty well and I have no trouble carrying her as I approach 70. When she gets too heavy, i'll invest in an old lady cart for us.

I hope you find a machine that meets your needs. I have a featherweight, a 58 year old Singer 401A, and a Viking 1200 (I think) and I use them all. I use my FW for mending mostly now.

I purchased the Pfaff Passport 3.0 recently. I love it! It's lightweight, and does a wonderful job for workshops, meetings & any other place I need to tote a machine. Good luck.

I have a small Janome that I take to club meetings and retreats. It was about $300. If you don't want to spend that much there are some nice lite weight Brothers available for under $150. All lite weight and nice machines. Just remember the more you pay, the more bells and whistles.

I have a Singer Featherweight that I use for sewing groups. Love it, it is light weight and sews a great seam.

You can get inexpensive Brother sewing machines that are perfect for what you want. Just visit Walmart. I'm pleased with my little Brothers and recommend them.

I find that if I work on a ufo, I want the same machine I started the project for. I just came back from a retreat and I took 2 machines, my Featherweight and my new Kenmore. I use the Featherweight because I had started with the Kenmore.

There were machines there from very expensive Babylock's to reclaimed machine.

As to lightweight machines the size and less features it has the lighter it is. It all about what you want to achieve at the retreat, but mostly to have fun.

I love my featherweight. Good luck have fun shopping for a machine!

I just looked at the Ever Sewn Sparrows -- neat looking machines. But I still think you can't go wrong with the Brother CS6000i -- $159.00 at Amazon, 60 stitches and comes with a nice sized attachable table. I've had mine for 5 years and have sewn on it several times a week during that time, sometimes several hours a day for days on end. Love it!
BTW, I'm a Janome person, but the Gem just didn't do it for me as it was too stripped down for twice the price.

I wouldn't go out and buy a portable machine until you are sure you like sewing with other people, and plan to do more of it. Go to the meeting with your big machine the first time and just check it out.

For my portable I have a Singer 301 that I got at an estate sale for $50.

I also like my Janome platinum Gem. It only weighs 12 pounds versus 48 pounds for my big Janome 1000. I'm going to take it to my retreat next week as its so handy I can lift it myself.

JANOME 3160 OR 4220......AUTO THREAD CUTTER is a plus....light weight to.

My friends all swear by Janome, and they love the Janome Gems.

I've noticed a lot of Sparrow 25 Eversewn machines at classes and retreats. Everyone that had one loved it.

Thanks Rob. I do like Brother machines. Sounds like the PC420PRW has the basics that I want--auto needle threader, needle up/down and knee lift. I'll check it out.

Sharon

Thanks for the good advice! This guild is a meeting and sewing group that meets once a month. The "homework" for the April meeting is to have hourglass blocks ready to make Disappearing Hourglass blocks at the meeting. I'm not sure I'll like working with a large group, but I'm going to give it a chance--like you said, I'll go with an open mind.

There's a new, small machine out that's under $500 that has lots of decorative stitches. It would be perfect to take to class. The mechanism is all metal, so I was told. There are 3 models at 3 different prices, so something would fit your budget. Made by Bernina. Since I'm not in the market for a machine, I didn't note the name. These were sold by independent quilt shops that were not dealers in other machines.

So SharonPye, did you make a choice yet? Let us know what you chose .....