Can someone give me a guide to the price you would pay for a reasonable quilting sewing machine. I have a Janome DC2101 (I think from memory) and am thinking of upgrading to a machine with a larger throat area and also which has a few more stitches, automatic thread cutter, an inbuilt walking foot, if possible and a few extra bibs and bobs. I have been quoted between $1799 - up to $8,000. I definitely can't afford the latter but would like a more heavy duty machine than I have presently, but not break the bank!! I am happy to purchase from the USA and pay the required postage if needed. I would appreciate any guidance you can give.
Thanks

Well, you really need to try out a machine (and frame if you go that way). You won't know how you will like the feel of it unless you try it first. There is an article in the new "The Quilter Magazine" about the new mid arm machines that are mounted on a table so they don't take up gobs of room. I wish I had waited now for one of these instead of the Mega Quilter and 10' frame that hogs up my sewing room. Check out the magazine. You might find it helpful. Good luck.

Hi Carol-no way would I spend that much on a machine at this stage. I just bought the Brother PC460 Project Runway thry Amazon.com for about 450.00 and no sales tax plus free shipping. It has so many features-plus 294 stitches, knee lift, auto threader, needle up/down, and comes with a walking foot plus many extra fee/gadgets. It also has a 7 1/2 inch throat. I LOVE this machine! I bought the extension table that fits it from Amazon.com too, and got free shipping and NO sales tax. They had the best price I could find-and I spend a long time looking! Everyone has their favorites, but the features on this one went way beyond my expectations and for the price, can't be beaten as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, check it out! No way should you have to spend a thousand or more for a machine with all those features!

However, if your wanting a long arm, those are the prices they go for from what I've seen. By the way, where are you if not in the USA??

I say vintage machines are the way to go. They do all the basics, and not too many things go horribly wrong with them. Carol, in what country do you live?

good luck it is a very hard decision

brother makes a workhorse of a home machine that they call a quilter - fast, strong stitches and a few other bells and whistles. i have a janmome that fits your bill and i love it. everyone will tell you a different machine. you have to try them all out. very time consuming, but the best investment for all that money.


see where this takes you:

http://www.taunton.com/threads/pdf/S...chineChart.pdf

i found it by typing ' home sewing machine comparisons'.

If you already have a Janome, the Janome 6600 ($1800.00 - 2000.00) is a wonderful workhorse. It comes with Accufeed, and quilts kingsize without difficulty. The throat space is a generous 9inches and the machine can handle anything you do. However, that being said, currently I am also looking at the HQ Sweet Sixteen. It is a table mounted, sitdown longarm with a throat space of 16" ($ 5000.00 - 6000.00) My reasoning is I want to keep my Janome 6600 for sewing and piecing and use the HQ Sweet Sixteen for quilting. The one thing I have learned about asking about machines on the board, is, that you'll get as many differnt opinions as there are different machines. You really need to test drive different machines to make a informed decision.

I just bought a Pfaff Expression 4 and it's got a huge throat and all the bells and whistles. It was £1100 UK (don't know where you are).Pfaff have built in IDT so quilting is a dream.
Have fun looking.

try the Janome 6600. It is great for quilting.

Sorry I forgot to mention that I am from Adelaide South Australia. I went online yesterday and looked on Amazon.com and also at a few other online sites, however most of them only had smaller machines. I will keep plugging away and see how I go. I broke the news to my husband last night and he just shook his head. Oh well he may like to learn to quilt too... he's retired so he has the time!

Adelaide South Australia. Sorry forgot to mention that little bit of information. Thanks for taking the time to reply to my message.

Here in the USA, a Janome 6600 runs $1000-$1500, a Babylock Quest Plus (very similar, but with free arm) about the same. They have a 9" harp and many buttonholes and stitches also. The Janome Horizon has an 11" harp and many high end features for the quilter, at $2500-3000. The Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 is on sale nearby for $1900, but I wouldn't pay more than $1500 for it myself-10" harp. Very good straight stitch only machines with 9" harps by Brother and Juki run $600-900. Dunno if this helps.

Thanks very much. It helps a lot. the Janome 6600 in Adelaide is $2000 and if I trade in my almost new Janome I can get it for $1600. I am going to have a trial sew with it and see how I fare. In Adelaide there are not too many places that stock machines so the few that do have a bit of a monopoly on the market.

Carol, whatever you do, be sure to have a backup machine, preferably an older metal model. As I said before, very little goes way wrong on those. Computerized machines...when they break, NOTHING on them works.

Carol, just a reminder that very few machines from N America work in NZ/OZ. I brought a Husqvarna down to NZ with me because it can change from 110V to 220V. I am not sure which others do. I am also very happy with it, I have the sapphire 870 quilt, and it did not break the bank. Check with your quilt guilds and shops for a good 2nd hand machine. Good luck

i HAVE A jANOME 6600P IT WILL DO ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT. MY DEALER IS THE CHEAPEST AND VERY HONEST. i PAID 1,250 US DOLLARS NO TAX.
wE JUST PURCHASED A jANOME 11,000 HE HAS THEM FOR 5,000. IF YOU USE NAME HE MAY SHIP IT FREE. iT IS AN EMBROIDERY MACHINE AND HAS ALL THE FEATURES OF THE 6600p. iF i HAD TO CHOOSE i WOULD BUY THE 11,000 BUT i WILL ALSO KEEP THE 6600P AS i LOVE BOTH MACHINES.

Here is the information Auger and son Vacume and sewing machines.100 chestnut hill rd Rochester,n.h. 03867 tel 1 866 462 0884 he will ship to you. Tell him Warren and Vivian Bailey sent you to him. His name Brad.

I have the HQ Sweet Sixteen sit-down and I love, love, love it!