Well, this site has got me wanting an electric (have 2 treadles 27 and 27-4, both shuttle) vintage Singer but I am confused as to which vintage machine to watch for. I can only have one. What would be the best for FMQ and has the longest throat space? What is better the shuttle bobbins, drop in's or side mounted. On the 301's, they made long bed and short bed's...other than looking at them is there a way to identify a long bed? I read that (I think) the black and mocha were made as long beds and short beds. Is it the size of the flip up table? On e-Bay it is really hard to tell the difference. Is the slant needle any benefit for FMQ? I'm so confused but anxious...LOL I would love to put a motor on the 27-4 but that seems like desecration but, this machine also has no family ties. It has an 8" throat space but I can not for the life of me coordinate treadle and sewing at the same time. How did they manage the crank style!?! Anyways, any input would be helpful. It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional and I don't care about the weight because it isn't going to any classes or anything. Thanks!

15-91 gets my vote. It has a vertical bobbin, huge throat/harp, a gear driven motor - no belts to fool with. Parts are readily available, it uses the big class 15 bobbins and since the bobbin is under the bed of the machine you don't have to remove your work to swap out new bobbin. They are plentiful and inexpensive. I have 3 of them.

Would you mind measuring the throat distance? With my 27-4 at 8", I would like to get a comparison in my head. Thanks!

Another fan of the 15-91 here. I picked up a second one (table top) this summer for $20 at a garage sale.

I love these machines, just bought one on ebay. Can not wait to get it.

I think the 15-91 is about 7.5" throat. There is an easy mechanism underneath to drop the feed dogs. Very strong machine, will sew through almost anything! (leather, etc)

Also, easy to find. ;)

I know where there is one for sale in york county, pa. $70, the "twin" to my machine. Pm me if interested.

If you dont mind industrial singers, the 30-15 and the 241 have 10-11" throats. The motor hangs underneath, though, so they would need modification to go on a frame.

No, I don't mind an industrial at all but wondering about parts availability...I found a 241 on eBay (pricey @ $180)but found nothing on a 30-15, even on Google. That 241 looks like a quilters dream! Thanks for the info!

I love my 301 for FMQ. It's 7 1/4" from needle to pillar. Saw a good looking 201 yesterday, but I think it had a shuttle and I have no idea how much thread they can hold. The machine is in Clare for $200 in a simple cabinet. He had good looking 301s for $175, which seems high, but they are reconditioned and ready to sew which is worth something.

I think she meant 31-15 when she was talking about industrials. I have one, but I haven't used it much, so I can't comment on how well it quilts.

Parts for the 31-15 are generally super easy to come by and fairly cheap.

My favorite quilting machine is my 15-91 - lots of room under the arm, big bobbin vertically oriented, droppable feed dogs and very forgiving as far as balanced tensions go. I regularly quilt large quilts on it - queen and king size.

I also have a Singer 28, 27, 127, 66, 201, 301, 316, 401, 403, 500 and 503, but my favorite quilting machine for large quilts are my 15's.

Wow, I'm impressed! My modern machines at 6.5" just can't do that kind of stuff! Thanks for the info, so far the 15-91 wins hands down!

On the 15-91 the distance from the needle to the pillar is 8 inches. It is probably very close, if not the same size as your 27. You could probably swap the 27 head out of the cabinet and replace it with the 15-91. You wouldn't have to remove the treadle belt from the cabinet, just let it hang, but I don't think the cabinet will close, but to sew and use the cabinet as a work area, not a problem.

The 31-15 is an industrial with a 19 inch long bed. The distance from pillar to needle is about 10 1/4 inches give or take. Most come with a clutch motor if they have the power stand with them. They are a little noisy because a clutch motor is always on. You can swap out the motor for a servo motor which will only use power when you depress the pedal. A power stand takes up much more room than a cabinet that can be closed. My stand is 42 x 18. My top is narrow, they are usually 22 inches deep.

I paid 125.00 for mine off of CL. I posted a Want To Buy ad. It took me days, and I mean daaaays to get it clean enough to sew on. I don't even want to think about what was covering it.

I think the table on the 301 short bed is 3 1/2 inches versus 6 1/2 long bed and yes it's the drop down table.

From my "research" today (instead of housecleaning), I don't think I can convert the 27-4 to electric because it doesn't have a motor bracket and my BF (he got it for me) really didn't want me to ruin the antiquity value of it either, so, that clears me to bring another machine into the house...LOL He loves old Singers too...LOL The 15-91 is really sounding like the way to go so far... I drove 15 miles today to look at one that was on Craigslist as Vintage "Swinger" Sewing Machine but I was so disappointed when she opened it up and it was a Touch and Sew...she looked at me like I was crazy when I told her it wasn't old enough...LOL I never asked her about the "Swinger" part but I would have really been cleaning that machine! :oops: :roll:

Thanks for that info, the 301A just looks so sturdy, stocky and '50's ish that I am attracted to it but the 15-91 sounds like it might be more of what I need. But...that's not saying that in my search I was to find one begging me to take her that I wouldn't grab her up and give her a good home! :lol:

Trust me the 301 or 301A...Doing FMQ on her is heaven...you wouldn't be disappted

I like the 301 - it does a beautiful straight stitch and it handles pretty heavy tasks without balking and without making any noise about it, either. The large opening under the arm is great, too.

The vertical bobbin orientation helps make the machine more forgiving for FMQ than the other slant needle machines and for most quilting, you will like the results.

But there are some cons: I don't like the much smaller bobbin because that means more bobbin changes. I used 25 bobbins on the last quilt I finished (92" square - queen/king) and that wasn't even heavily quilted. It would have been at least 50 bobbins with the 301.

I also don't like the slant needle, which reduces the machine's piercing power and causes more of a problem with needle deflection than you have with vertical needle machines.