Hi,

I'm new to quilting, I would love to by a nice sewing machine, but
can't afford 2 to 10 thousand dollars at this moment, does anyone
know of a sewing machine that is good but won't put a strain on my
checking account.
Linda

how much can you budget for the new machine? that will help the others make practical suggestions of brands and models for you to consider.

If I were you, I would do what I should have done when I started sewing and quilting. Buy a vintage sewing machine, like a 60s model. They are very heavy, but they are dependable workhorses, and the beauty of it is, they are only able 20-40 dollars.

Now please understand that you are going to hear from a lot of people and everyone loves their machine and their brand. The best thing to do if possible is to try out any machine that you are going to think about buying.

I recommend the following Janome sewing machine only because I have first hand experience with it. Just bought it for my daughter who is a beginner sewer and quilter. She is accomplishing both with this machine. It was easy to set up. The manual is beautifully written and works perfectly with the machine like it says it does.

http://www.hancockfabrics.com/Janome...VVviewprod.htm

If I were going to buy a new one in that price range that would be the one. I fell in love with it just setting it up for her......lol.

Having said that, if you have access to a 60's or 70's machine......I have both which are Singers.......they are work horses.....

Hope this helps,

I have bought several old singers and love them. I could buy a new machine if I wanted I love the old singers. You can pick them up at sales or flea markets cheap. They usually just need a good cleaning. You might want to try that first. If you don't like it you aren't out much money.
Judy in Ohio

i started out with a brother machine that had the drop feed because i love to do the stippling. it was less than $200. I frankly wore it out though and had to get another one 2 yrs later. I found a used one Elna that is great and will hold me til next time. I have made quite a few lap quilts and a few larger quilts on these "cheapee" machines and did quite well.
good luck

IFW045 On the Janome you listed does it come with any special feet? I am thinking about buying me one too.
Darlene

I would like to know the same. The description does not indicate if it does, but the price sounds good - $149.00!

To answer both of you, I don't believe it comes with extra feet. I honestly can't remember and the machine is in Texas.......bought it for my daughter as I mentioned in my first post to this thread. However, I did find a link to accessories for the machine you may be interested in with some extra information on the machine. Hope that helps. I do love this machine though.

http://www.sewvacdirect.com/janome-2139n.html

Just a word I will mention, that it seems from my research that the Janome company no longers makes this machine (just means they have replaced it with a newer model for this year). But this is one machine I will remember if I should ever need to buy a new one and would even consider it if it was used and still in good shape. Like I said before, I fell in love with this machine and so did my daughter. She had never sewed before so I was teaching her on this machine.

Good luck and hope this helped.

thank you lfw045 for your quick response. Isn't that the way it goes, find something you like and they discontinue it :(