The 2140, 44. and 70 Pfaffs do have a quilting stitch setup that looks like hand quilting. It uses a weird tension and invisible thread on top. It does look like hand quilting.

I have an "old" Viking #1plus that also has a stitch that looks like hand quilting also using invisible thread on top and regular thread on bobbin. It has something to do with adjusting tensions so that bobbin thread is pulled up to top to make every other stitch... Used it a few times looked good. Isn't sashiko sort of like what I call primitive quilt stitch -that is a larger stitch?

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t127547.html

Did you see this post? You can get a similar result with a regular machine. Not perfect of course, but pretty cool. If you would only use it once in awhile, this might work out.

In my opinion, this does not look the same. The sashiko stitch truly looks like hand quilting. the Pfaff (or for that matter any other brand) still looks like a weak imitation to me. That's not to say it isn't an adequate stitch, just that it doesn't look like the stitch from the Sashiko, which is the best imitation of a hand stitch I've seen. Again, just my opinion.

I don't really like the look of the stitch on the back side of the Sashiko. It looks like one long running stitch, but not the same as a regular machine stitch. That, along with the cost for a one stitch machine, is what's held me back from buying the Sashiko.

If anyone ever figures out how to make a machine that skips a stitch on the front and the back so it truly looks hand stitched, and it doesn't cost too much, I'll buy it!

I didn't realize there was a Sashiko 2.

I have thought about the possibility of renting the machine to other quilters, but they would have to come to my house, and I don't know that I have that kind if time or space.

I showed my husband a video of the Sashiko machine and he did a whole bunch of research on it. He said the problem with the way it sews is it does a chain stitch on the bottom, so if the thread breaks, the whole thing unravels. Also, there is only one thread - the bobbin thread. It is brought up to the top to make the stitch. Makes you wonder how often you have to put in a new bobbin.

I haven't done a lot of research myself, but am very thankful for what your husband has done. I want the back of my quilt to look like the front, but that doesn't seem like a possibility with this machine. My husband was going to get it my birthday/mother's day present, but I think something else would be more rewarding.

Thanks

The stitches do Not unravel! Each stitch is locked. The back of the quilt does not look the same as the front. I'm very glad I purchased my Sashiko II.

Okay to clarify... My husband is on a plane so I can't ask him where he did his research regarding the stitch. However, I did call a BabyLock dealer and asked a technician about the machine. He told me the Sashiko does not do a lock stitch. It has to have both upper and lower threads to be a lock stitch, and the Sashiko doesn't use upper thread. Then I asked him about the bottom stitch, how it is made and whether it's possible to unravel. He became quite cagey and didn't really give me much of a straight answer, other than to vehemently state that He's never had it unravel on him. His answer makes me wonder what they changed between the Sashiko and Sashiko II.

Short story - who knows. I still think it's an interesting machine, and given some tweaking and adjusting, might make a really cool quilting machine.