Wanting to buy a simple quilting machine?
 

So this year for Christmas I decided to buy a simple quilting sewing machine. I would really like to get a Laura Ashley but lm still seeing what else is out there i might like better my goal is a juki one day. But because its not with in my budget I can't buy it right know. I would like to spend between 200 and 500 dollars, I'm not close to a sewing machine store so I'm not really able to try any machine out. I would like to know what u suggests. BTW I mainly do donation and family quilting.

I have a Laura Ashley machine since I'm just learning to sew. The one thing I will caution on it is the size of the "throat". If you plan to do anything larger than a baby quilt, it might be very difficult to get it to fit under the throat space since it's rather small.

I did a 4 x 6 quilt with a thick batting (because it will be used at concerts to sit on) on mine, and I was just barely able to get it in there, had to roll it up and smush it. I have the CX155LA model.

I don't have any suggestions though, I'm hoping to do a lot of quilting on an old Singer 301 I found at an estate sale.

You might want to check out the Juki's online at various retailers. Somewhere here, someone mentioned they are discontinuing the 2010's and renaming the machine. Making the same machine but with a different name. There may be some great deals out there. The 2010's retail for around $1,000.

Not familiar with the Laura Ashley machine. If you don't need lots of fancy stitches, perhaps a vintage machine? Some of the 'newer' vintage machines have cams for some of the decorative stitches. Most vintage machines are real workhorses.

The Juki 2010 has been discontinued and renamed the 2200 QVP Mini. It's exactly the same they just added a purple end and some flowers. The Juki 2000 is another great machine, it's on Amazon for 720 but it was on sale for 575 in Sept so you could keep watching the price. The 2000 doesn't have a speed control or a "pretension" knob that the 2010 does. I was going to wait for it to go on sale on Amazon and grab it at 575 but my hubby surprised me with a 2010 for an early gift. The throat is a bit smaller than the Juki but I have a Janome HD3000 that I got for 349 and I've made several large quilts on it. I know someone who makes tons of quilts on her HD1000

you could contact some of the sewing machine stores that might be a driveable distance (online or call) to see if they have reconditioned trade ins that customers traded in when they bought new. If not and if you are willing to wait, maybe they would call you if/when they get a trade in. Perhaps you can also get the sewing machine's instruction when you go to purchase it.

I have the Brother Laura Ashley & just love it. I piece by machine, quilt by hand, so don't try to fit a big quilt into it for machine quilting. I think for the price it is a great machine with a lot of really nice features. My 33 year old Kenmore died on me & I replaced it with this - sewing machines have come a long way in 33 years!

I bought the Juki 2000 for around $600+ a couple years ago. At the time the Brother 1500 was about 529 and I had planned on getting it but after talking to people that sew professionally on Jukis I went with it. Not a big price difference, and I have been very happy with it. If you cam swing a bit more go with the larger throat.

I ordered my Juki 2010 online and negotiated the price. I love it for piecing and quilting or any straight stitch sewing. I've not tried quilting a large quilt yet but I will.

I too work on a limited budget but wanted a good machine. I asked my local Viking dealer to be on the lookout for a good previously loved machine for me. She had three machines for me to try ranging from $150 to $300. I ended up purchasing a Viking Designer 1 for $300. It had been serviced and ready to go and was also able to take a free class on how to use it. The first class was on the basic machine as to what all the buttons and feet are for. The second class was the embroidery part of the machine (I didn't know that it was an embroidery machine until it was being carried out to my car and there was another case that contained the embroidery arm), I was the only one that came to that class so I got a private lesson. So anyway check out your local dealer.