Speaking of s/m trouble.....
 

I have a BL ellure plus, about 4 yrs old, among an older Viking, same age brother and singer. I was using the BL the other day to put on a blanket stitch on the edges of an Easter bunny (fused w/ lite weight fusible). It was going fine, then it suddenly decided it didn't want to do that so every 6/7 stitches it would do a zigzag sort of stitch...I watched and it made the first part of the "swing" but didn't complete it in the same place...feed dogs seemed to move it a smidge and it looks like a V. Ok, checked out for lint, thread, anything....no! Did it on another piece of cloth..same thing....btw, new needle before started.......turned on Viking....no problem, that thing does anything I ask of it! Finished project. Will take this "thing" in to dealer when I'm planning a "road trip" in that direction...or I may just put it on the middle of a road and watch an 18 wheeler do its thing.
This had not been a good investment! Think,I'll check out the Viking dealer at JAF.........or are they all the same.....POJ

I also love my Vikings. I have a Designer I that I purchased used before the turn of the century :D and it is still going strong and will sew thru anything. Just check where the machine is made. Since the company was sold, some machines are now made in China. Look on the bottom for the 'made in' info.
Also ask the dealer about getting a used trade in. They usually come with a limited warranty.

Sounds like something is wrong with your machine. I would get it in for servicing because something is partially failing.

Maybe compare new price vs. servicing. May be something minor.

Another loyal Viking fan here as well. My Platinum (a tad newer than the Designer) will sew anything I throw at it. Love that machine! Sounds like a service is in order for your BL.

The dealer can probably fix this with a tune-up. I had a similar experience with my Janome 7700. All's well now.

I too love Vikings. I just found the perfect 6430 to replace one that I used for over 30 years. It has proved to be everything I loved about my previous one.

I always say that if anything goes wrong while sewing on my Vikings.....it is the operator not the machine. I have the platinum, Diamond, and I traded in my 6430 to buy my new Epic. Love these machines. I think I may sell the Diamond d/t loving the Epic so much!

If uou are in the market for a new machine...take a look at the Janome 8900. Made for quilting.

Me too, While I've switched just about everything else, especially my software over to Floriani and baby lock, I love my Diamond Deluxe, the tension fixes itself, it likes all threads, sometimes I may have to switch positions with the spool but then it'll do what I ask. I love all the large hoops and the 5x7 magnetic ones too.

Every time I have that problem I switch to a larger needle, and that fixes the problem.

I agree. I went from a Viking D1 to a Pfaff to my 8900 and love it the best.

I bought a Viking Diamond before they were manufactured in China...and I would not take twenty thousands dollars for it; I too love mine

Update...took to dealer this morning...I hr, one way! Besides the funky stitch, I had decided maybe it was linty, so cleaned the bobbin area, but when I put it back together...it ate the fabric...so I just unplugged, grabbed my purse and off I went! Dealer/owner was kind...she told me the "trick" of removing/cleaning/replacing bobbin the correct way....that should be in manual, but not! Then I showed her the funky blanket stitch....answer was....must be fusible used, or needle to be replaced, even though new, try another. I didn't even mention that my old Viking "took over" without new needle and no funky stitches........so see why BL is not my wisest investment.........will be " shopping" soon........

So what is "the trick" that the dealer told you about?

Sorry you had the hassle with your Baby Lock. I just bought a Baby Lock Soprano and love it! My daughter has a Baby Lock Ellure and loves hers too. Hope you'll give your Baby Lock another try as they really are good machines.

I hope I can explain in " words". To disassemble you know you unscrew that metal part, and usually that plastic part come with it...now the bobbin and the case are there. Remove bobbin and case...clean....oh btw they use can blown air...so to put back...put back that little black case(or whatever the tech term is)...making sure the dot matches the arrow...THEN screw back the metal top part-then drop in bobbin, then plastic part...I was putting bobbin back before screwing on metal and plastic and it gets hung up on some small metal thingamajig underneath(?)...... Anyway that's the secret!
I shall never forget that!

Well I hope your daughter has better luck than I. Does hers take bulky seams ( 4/6 layers).....this one will just sit there and make knots or it will jog over, stitching a crooked seam...just what one does not want in a quilt seam! And how does she like that 1/4" foot...does hers catch the fabric on the left side as she sews...I ended up getting the generic plastic little foot from Nancy's notions..true 1/4 and no hang up.
.....and I'm thinking all machines that are made today are basically the same engineering/design and have the same weaknesses.......
sad thing is when I talked to the Viking dealer and told her about how I really now appreciate the old V plus1, she said to just keep up on cleaning out lint, and do whatever one can at home because to take it in for repairs could be a problem...getting parts is almost impossible....so that means another good thing bites the dust......

Sad! So darn sad that all of our greatest industry has now vacated the premises and gone to China. Not much we can do about it now. Too bad we weren't watching and being aware of what was happening over the years and done some really cautious thinking and stopped the evacuation of our own manufacturing. We didn't want to pay the price in dollars, so now we are paying in sloppy and cheap construction, and even cheap isn't cheap any more.

The Ellure and the Ellure + were not the same machine. Though the case was different, the original Ellure was the same as the workhorse Brother PC6500. I had both. The Ellure + changed some things especially for embroidery. You didn't have to use cards, and could use USB.

The machines were all right, but I still prefer vertical bobbins. The buttonholes can't be beat, though.

One tip for when your needle doesn't want to go over the bump in the fabric, if you have that little black button on the side of your presser foot, right before you get to the bump, push the black knob and it helps this process along. I was so excited when I learned that trick. That was the only complaint on my Kenmore and that stopped that. If you watch you tube there are other tricks but for the right presser foot, this is the easiest