I love my Janomes I have the 3160 and the 7700. Love the thread cutter and I have never had any problems with tension or maintenance of any kind. The 7700 also has a built in Acufeed system (walking foot).

I have 5 Vikings and love them all. I have the Diamond and love it for its amazing embroidery capabilities and computer access. I have the Topaz 30 and like that I can use the memory stick and the same hoops as the Diamond; often have both going at the same time. I have the SE and love its bobbin winder and wind all my bobbins on it and also keep the walking foot on it. I have the old Designer I and that is my workhorse. All these machines have the sensor foot that detects the thickness of fabric and can go over thick seams with ease, auto thread cutter, auto presser foot drop and raise, auto needle threader. Also have the Viva that my DGD uses, has fancy stitches but none of the other features. Love my Vikings!!!!

I have a Bernina 150 Virtuosa/Quilters Edition I bought used a few years ago, and a Bernina 180E I bought new in 1999. Dependable! I know everytime I sit down to sew my machine will have perfect stitches. And when I embroider I will have great designs stitched. I love the knee lift and the needle down
as well as the 5 needle postions.

I have 2 Babylocks, the Symphony and Ellisimo, love them both. I have owned several Babylocks and keep trading up. They are so user friendly and have all the bells and whistles. I also own HQ's Avante and the sit down model. My thing is the quality and ease of use of these sewing machines.

I have a Kenmore, bought about three years ago, and it wasn't my first. I do like them and will continue to use them......

I bought a cheap little Brother XR9000 (right around $200) which they don't make anymore, but there are similiar models available. I bought it about a year & a half ago because I wanted to learn to quilt. I love the features and especially bought it for the drop feed so I could learn to FMQ. It has a ton of decorative stitches which I seldom use, but it's nice that they're there. Also, has alphabet & numbers, but they are at a fixed size which it so tiny that I never use them, and to me is a wasted feature. This little machine sews like a charm, but the throat space (5" to 5 1/2" from the needle to the body) is way too small to do medium to large quilts (unless you work very hard at it...ask me how I know...ha) and so I tell anyone that asks me to ALWAYS look at machines that have a large throat space just to make your quilting easier. I bought an old 15/125 Singer, because it has 7" of throat space & try to do all my FMQ on this machine. It's a work horse, but still I want more throat space....Dreaming of a long arm!

I have a Bernina #730 Embroidery machine. It's a wonderful machine.

I have a Janome 6500 and I love it. It runs great, sews perfectly, and is easy to clean! I use the embroidery stitches quite often for all machine embroidery bindings and it stitches beautifully!

I have a Pfaff, it is 10 years old. I love the built in walking foot. I like the way it free motion quilts. I don't like the foot it has, but the actually mechanism works well.

Is it the best machine? I don't know, I haven't used them all, but it has kept up to me.

I LOVE my Pfaff 7570. I pray that it never wears out!!!!

Does anyone know what kind of machine this is, All i can fine on it is JC4 serial # A3472142 606 Super DeLuxe

Which Viking machine do you own? I have the DesignerI, LOVE IT. Just purchased the Designer Diamond, am still learning what it can do, but so far I LOVE it too.
I have the Pfaff CV 5.5, HATE it.

I have a Singer CG 550, and yes I would purchase it again and again.

TreeFrog

hi what viking do you have there are so many ?

I have a Janome Memory Craft and it keeps sewing with no repairs. It is at least 18 yrs old. Always great tension and no problems with thread frays and such. My dream is the new 7700

I have a Pfaff Creative 4.0. It was expensive but worth every penny. I have had Pfaffs for year. I first bought one for the integrated dual feed, which is a built in walking foot. This one has it also. I love the thread cutter. I was always misplacing my scissors. When you have the needle down feature on, when you stop the pressor foot rises about 1/8 of an inch so you can slip your next piece right under the pressor foot. Love that feature. It FMQ beautifully. No stitch regulator but with practice I don't need one. It has a 10 1/2 inch throat. That extra room is priceless. The bobbin is a little bigger than my last Pfaff so I don't have to wind bobbins as often. You can get this machine with an embroidery unit, but I barely have time to quilt so I thought I would wait on that.
The down side is that this machine is big. It is hard to take to sewing classes. But I have gotten so used to all the features it has I lug it around anyway.

I'm with you. I also have a Viking & there are design features about it I really don't like. Like the reverse button being right above the needle where you can't see what you're doing while pushing that button. Never did understand that feature.

JANOME 6600 Excellent quilting machine. Has all your features.
JANOME 3160 Great to take to class...as auto thread cutter great for piecing...

I, too, have a Futura 150. I haven't figured out all that it can do, but I love what I have learned about it so far.

I have a Husqvarna Viking Designer SE (previously had the #1+) and wouldn't trade it for anything. It stitches and embroiders beautifully. I love the needle up/down feature, floating presser foot, the fix/stop feature, all of the decorative stitches, extra lift for the presser foot, auto tension, on board advisor, and all of the feet that are available for this machine.♥

I have a Viking Designer 20 embroider machine and I love it. Also have another 30 yr old Viking and a Singer Confidence Quilter that I take to workshops. I had a old Kenmore that I sold and that was a work horse (from the 70's) and also an old Babylock that I bought in the 80's and got rid of because I couldn't keep it threaded.

Turns out the thread makes a big difference. If you are using old polyester thread in your Viking, throw it out and get cotton thread. A good quality thread makes a lot of difference. What brand of Viking did you get?

When I bought my Viking, I looked at the new Bernina's and didn't like the way they handled. I do love my mother in laws 25 yr old Bernina though.

With so little information, you would need to post a photo.

I like my Bernina QE 440. It's intuitive, sews beautifully. It's heavy to carry to classes but I manage that ok as I have a Tutto rollable bag with steerable wheels.

I also have a small Brother 6000i that is very portable and good for classes where I'm mostly doing straight stitching. It was inexpensive. Only downside was I had to take it in for servicing because it requires a 90/14 needle if using invisible thread, embroidery threads or 40/2 ply threads. With the 90/14 needle it sews anything and everything.

I have a Viking Designer 2 that I hate (have had it 6 years) so I replaced it with the Bernina.

I have a Viking 630, bought in the mid 80's because my Singer wore out due to the plastic inside. This machine replaced it, had my requirements of all metal and no computer. It was $850 when new

I have a very old Necci(?) just sews straight, weights a ton.
But I use it and it purrs. My main machine is a Bernina 155, and I am very pleased, never had to have it serviced.
I wish it had a stitch regulator on it, and the stitches
for letters are small. I also have used a Baby Lock and
they also have nice features, most places will let you
trade in for another model, Viking does guarantee and if
your not happy I would take it back with your complaint.

I just bought a Viking Sapphire 835 and I love it. It replaced my Viking Quilt designer which had a blown sewing head. This is my third viking and I truly love the machine. I also have a 35 yr old Janome that still works like a charm.

I have a Bernina 830 that I bought over a year ago and am still struggling with the learning curve on this machine. It does not like to quilt with metallic or monofilament thread and I use both these in my FMQing. I paid big money for this machine and am so mad @ myself. The store I purchased in from does continue to help me and Bernina has come out with a kit to make these threads work. I tried it a few days ago and the thread does not break as often but you have to go so slow. When I get frustrated I get out my old Bernina 1530 to FMQ but it does not have the long arm that the 830 has. Thanks for letting me vent. :oops:

I have a Bernina Artista 635... and I not only like this machine, I LOVE it. (I am purchasing a 200 to take to classes) It sews like a dream, and with Bernina the service and support are phenomenal. Their website is a wealth of information, I have come to know and love the people who work in the shop I purchased it from, I feel connected to all other Bernina owners.
I did a lot of reserach before I made my purchase and visited retailers and tried out the machines, that is a tell, believe me.

I almost purchased a Viking, I actually brought it home and then took it back to the shop. I am so happy that I did, the level of professionalism between the retailers is like night and day. And the difference in the machines, well, again like night and day!

As they say, you get what you pay for, and nothing sews like a Bernina, nothing.

I have a Bernina 200E and a Bernina 440 I love them both and have never had any problems with them and I would buy another Bernina before anything else. I also have 2 Featherweights which I use for piecing. They stitch great and are light enough to take anywhere I go. The Bernina's are heavy as is the machine case to take them out in.

I have been told that it helps to put the heavier speciality threads in the bobbin.
The 830 is an incredible machine, but (imho) probably too much machine for someone who is non-technical, yes, there is an incredible learning curve to this machine. Maybe you can trade down to a different model, I have the 635, amd very technical, and after 6 months feel I am getting a good feel for it, and hope to be able to move up to the 830 one of these days, but don't know that I can justify the cost for personal use!

i have a memory craft 8000 janomy and love it its realy heavy to take to class but its a real work horse and has quite a few fancy options yes i would buy another one if they still made them and i could aford it

I love my 2 Pfaffs, a Creative 7530 and an Expression 2.0. They just keep on going with only routine cleaning at home; the 7530 has only been to the shop for cleaning once in 14 years. Would love to have the latest/greatest, but not for the $$$ when mine work so well. I bought both of these on end-of-year sales and got great savings.

I have a pfaff 7570 also, and I love it. I had a Pfaff 1222E many years ago and I loved it. It is still working perfectly, can sew thru 10 or 11 thickness of denim and then on to lace and no changing tension. Love it.

I have 2 Berninas 200E and 830E. I use the 830 all the time and 200 for a back up.I have 2 older Pfaff 7570 I just sold and a 1475 I'm saving for a g-daughter maybe some day one of them will like to sew!
I love my 830 but some thread it doesn't like, but learning to find the ones that work well!

I have OLD Vikings 5230 and 6000 series and love them--doubt i would buy a new one, though I think quality might have improved lately..They do EVERYTHING--sew jeans, leather, fancy stitch, which I use rarely, and have made thousands of garments, etc.

I also love the old Riccar 555, which is in the shop right now.

And I have some old Singers, an old Domestic that sew PERFECT stitches and are easy to service....

Some of you mentioned IDT. What is that?

I love my machine (Janome 4000. It's about 20 years old -- only estimating). I do wish it had the thread cutter, knee thingy to lift the pressure foot, etc; but I'm from the old school and what I have is plenty good enough for the kind of sewing I do. I still love my Singer 404, my White (very very heavy) from the eighties, and my New Home heavy duty school machine. I would love a new serger that "threads itself" but I don't use one enough to justify spending that kind of money. Would also like a "simple" embroidery machine, but I can't see that happening, so I'm grateful for what I do have.

Oh-- and I do have a turn of the century treadle Singer that needs restoration. That I WOULD like to have done. It doesn't seem to need too much attention as far as getting it running, but it does need a lot of cosmetic work.

I have a Bernina 440 and the Viking Mega quilter and a featherweight. I love them all! I use the Bernina for piecing and the Viking for FMQ. My Bernina has the stitch regulator but I have no problem with the Viking with uneven stitches. I buy them all again!

I also have the Janome 7700 and love it!!!! :D :D :D :D

I lovelovelove my Babylock Espire (now marketed as the Symphonie). She is such a lady: quiet, runs smoothly, lots of pretty stitches, even stitches, not picky about fabric or thread, easy to handle, great throat size, good light, ONE STEP threader, aaaaahhhhh.

Used to be a Pfaff fan on account of the IDT but find that I do just as well with "Quilla."