Quiltingboard Forums - Which Sewing Machine??

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I have a Viking Designer 2 that is 7yrs old and I am ashamed to admit I have never taken it to be serviced. I sew an average of 8-10 hrs a week on it. You really should take it once a yr. I am finally breaking down and taking it in when I go on vacation in February for a week. There are a couple of things that need to be fixed but nothing that keeps me from sewing. Figure I can schedule an appt. for them to have it while I am gone. :) Make sure the place where you buy it has been in business for a while and will be in business in the future. And they have someone there that is qualified to work on the machines. Good luck on figuring out which machine to buy.

I also say get the one you love I too just purchased a new quilting machine I had the MCJanome6600P and the viking ssSaphire as my last 2 choices I chose the MC6600p because I already own a Janome and loved it and because the dealer is close and has always had reliable service, that he does himself. the vicking srevice is a tech. that comes once a week.so it came down to a service issue for me.

I LOVE my Viking! I have had two different Viking machines, and now have the Designer I. I know this isn't the one you are looking at, but I have never had any issues with reliability or repairs, and I love the stitch quality I get. I especially love the free motion stitch quality I get. Most Viking machines are also upgradable, which is nice.

From a VERY HAPPY Viking owner..........I would strongly suggest you buy that one if you have test driven it, and you like the way it sews!....I have 2 Vikings (both with embroidery arms) that I use heavily.............Other than the annual checkup, neither of mine have ever been in for repairs......I have no issues sewing with any of the specialty threads...........the issue you refer to (have heard this called "eyelashes") on the back of your FMQ project, is definitely tension related. If you cannot adjust the tension on the Janome to get this gone, do not buy that machine......The thing I like about my Vikings is the support that I get from my local dealer......FREE CLASSES (no time limit), and if I run into an issue on a project, I can either call them or run my project over to the store, and they will help me with it. I do not believe you can go wrong with the Viking machines......GOOD LUCK and CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW PRESENT!!!

Have you tried the Janome 6600 with FMQ bobbin case in it? It has blue markings instead of red. It made a lot of difference in my fmq when I bought the bobbin case.

I was also checking for a new embroidery/sewing machine after the holidays. Does anyone have an opinion about the baby lock Ellegante 2?

I have two Pfaffs and love them. They have never been in the shop for anything except annual cleaning. But I would buy the machine that feel right for you.

Well, I've owned a Janome, Pfaff and currently have a Bernina. Janome just didn't sew as nicely as the other two. The Pfaff I had was a 3.0. My experience with Pfaff was basically good, but I found the embroideries a little less than perfect. The Bernina 730 has been my dream machine. It has perfect embroideries and the software is allot more user friendly than Pfaff. I do miss the IDT of the Pfaff and do enough sewing that I'm in the process of trying to find a Pfaff with the IDT, needle down and knee lift since I would like a machine to sew on when the Bernina is doing embroideries. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions. Good luck! :-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lady.quilter

So, I have been saving for several months and I just got an incredible Christmas bonus. So now I get to go shopping for a new sewing machine! Yay! But which one?

I looked at the Bernina 430. It was alright. The way it sewed felt a little 'heavy' for some reason. It just didn't seem to glide for me. But it had a lot of features, but all the 'quilting' features were extra - the extended table, walking foot, clear or open toed darning foot, etc. I did like this one because it was upgrade-able. If I wanted the stitch regulator at a later date, I could add to it. Or I could add the embroidery functions as well. But it seemed like it was one of the more expensive machines for the least amount of extras.

I looked at a Pfaff Quilt expression 4.0. I really didn't like the way this one sewed. So I have kind of thrown this one out the window. It had some nice features, but it just didn't feel right.... lol

I looked at a Janome 6600. This one is sold at the LQS, so of course that is the one I have heard about the most. Everyone seems to love it. But when I did FMQ, the back looked awful with the feathering (is that what it is called?) around the curves, where the top thread pulls around and makes the loops look funny. Hope that makes sense. When I had borrowed a friends Janome DC when my Brother was in the shop, I had the same issue throughout the entire FMQ. I had played with tensions and speeds, and just thought that it was because it wasn't a top machine. But then after I got my Brother back, I never had that problem again.... This machine had a LOT more features than any of the others I looked at, and all the feet were included, and there is a sale going on until Christmas eve that includes a sewing table cabinet for the machine. So the price and extras are right....

I then looked at a Viking Sapphire. I really liked this one. I liked the way it did free-motion and I liked the feel of the sewing. I liked the large throat. And I loved the hands free feature that you used with the peddle, not a knee press. I liked the feature that every time you stopped sewing, the needle went down and the foot came up automatically, so you could rotate the fabric without have to do a thing. It came with a great darning foot and an applique foot, but the walking foot was extra. The sales lady said she would even throw in the extended table. I also loved the automatic sensor that adjusted tension and foot pressure for you, but you could also manually adjust these tensions

So I guess my question to you all is, which ones do you prefer and why? The sales lady for the Viking thought that the Janome wasn't powerful enough. She didn't even think that a Janome was in the same playing field as the other three brands, because of the different type of motors. But then the LQS sales lady had NOTHING good to say about the Viking or Pfaff. She kept going on and on about the reliability of the Janome and how she knew that the Viking & Pfaff machines were always in the shop, 'every 3 to 4 months' she said.... So, is that true? have you Viking owners found that your machine is in the shop a lot? That you have issues with it? The Janome sales lady also said the she had less issues with specialty threads with the Janome than with any of the other machines she had owned. Have you found that to be true?

I really liked the Viking the best, but I don't want to purchase a machine that I will later regret. Also, all the classes are at the LQS and I kind of feel like a betrayer if I don't get a Janome. But the fact that the FMQ on the Janome could be a struggle is a HUGE drawback. I wonder if I would ever find the right combination and practice to not make the feathering happen? I have only been doing FMQ since this summer, but have loved it. And I have not had this problem on my Brother since the first week. But I was never able to cure it on the Janome that I had borrowed. Have any of you ever had this issue with a Janome and not with some other brand?

Thank you thank you for all your input!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a Viking or Pfaff. They are very good, well built machines. The salesperson should have been telling you what's good about the Janome, not criticizing other machines, especially ones as good as Viking or Pfaff. But, at the end of the day, you need to pick the one that "feels" right to you, and where you can get support for learning about it and service if it needs it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lady.quilter

So I spent about an hour with the Janome today. Loved the features, but still having issues with the quilting. No more feathering since I used the single stitch throat plate, but the top threads show up on the bottom of the quilt. Still not happy with that. Sales ladies said it was just a matter of finding the right tension, even though we played with it a long time and never found one just right. She also mentioned a bobbin box that has a separate bobbin tension you can set and then just pop that in when you want to FMQ so it always has the correct tension... But seemed like I was having to get these 2 accessories (bobbin box & throat plate) just to get the result that might be what I wanted. Anybody else had this issue?

Will spend about an hour with the Viking tomorrow, the dealership is closed on Sundays....

Thanks for the help so far!

I just bought a Janome 6600, and a Janome rep. did a demonstration of the bobbin case that has a pre-programmed tension just for FMQ, and the FMQ foot that goes with it. I purchased them both, as I got 15% off at that demo (they weren't that expensive), and am very pleased with the stippling that I can do with them. It makes sense to me, that I don't have to do a lot of fooling around to get the right tension - it's pre-programmed, ready to go. So far I love my machine!!! My previous machine that I have had for 9 years is also a Janome, and I've loved it (4800), but I wanted all the latest features. Good luck in your decision.....