sashiko---yes or no??
 

i think i want a sashiko machine, but they seem to be hard to find. do you have one? do you use it? like it? hate it? don't care at all? i'm really interested in what you have experienced with it. i know i don't want to pay full price, but what would be reasonable for how much you use it or like it? thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!:)

I would certainly take into consideration this is a new technology. Bernina was suppose to come out with something that looked like hand quilting but I wasn't impressed with it. I would certainly want to see an in person demo before I shelled out the money they want for this sewing machine.

There's a workaround to get your regular machine to do a faux sashiko stitch:

http://ripstitcher.com/hand-stitch-look-faux-sashiko/

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t221530.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/links-r...o-t264606.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...e-t195628.html

Here are just a few threads where we have discussed this machine. If you go to search above and use the advanced feature and type in sashiko you can find even more info

I do Sashiko by hand....cheat though, by using embroidery floss (3 strands) - I have also done this with stencils not necessarily 'Shasiko' by design. They work up into nice accents.

I have only done sashiko by hand. I have heard about the machines but that is all. I do have a friend, when these machines first came out a few years ago, ordered one but later cancelled because the manufacturer kept delaying their release. Don't quote me ..... lol ..... but I think the company was Babylock.

i purchased a Babylock Sashiko machine about three years ago. I really liked it. Quilted a few quilts, did placemats and center pieces. I recently sold it for 1,250. I have learned to free motion quilt. So I wasn't using it as much. Sone times I miss it!

I saw one demonstrated and for me the drawback was it only does the Sashiko stitch no other. For the price a single stitch specialty machine was way more than what I wanted to spend. I think Babylock is still the only company that makes it.

My viking Opal 650 has a hand quilt stitch. I haven't really tried it but for the money would think a domestic machine with a quilt stitch would be the way to go.

I saw the sashiko machine at the Houston Quilt Festival when it first came out, and the next year, there was already a sashiko 2. The first machine was selling for $2,000; the next year, it was $3,000. IMHO, it is a one-trick pony. You can lengthen or shorten the stitch length, but it still does only one stitch. I decided to pass and nothing I've read or seen has changed my mind.