peaceandjoy

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Bernina girl. The first one I bought - 20 years ago - still sews as beautifully as it did the day I brought it home. My "travel" Bernina, a 240 (since discontinued and replaced with a 300-series machine) is a little lighter than my 153QE, but still over 20 lbs. It also sews beautifully.

In between buying my 1st and 2nd Bernina, I tried 2 different Janomes for traveling with. I go to a retreat (sometimes 2) each year, as well as several sewing days with the guild I belong to and the occasional class. Berninas are still all metal, with the exception of the housing, so they are heavy and I was looking for something lighter. The Janomes just didn't do a thing for me.

All of that said, Berninas are pricey. Until you know that quilting or sewing is something you want to do, I'm not sure I could say they are beginner machines unless you have quite a bit of discretionary money that you don't mind spending on something that you may or may not use. A Bernina, should you decide you don't want to keep it, will hold a good resale value if you want to deal with selling it, but still, that's a pain in the neck.

Do you have dealers in your area, or within an easy drive, regardless of brand? What do they offer in the way of support with a purchase? You should have an opportunity for classes to get familiar with your machine. What kinds of reviews do they have for their service? What to they offer as far as trade in if you decide to trade UP?

What are your needs, and what are your wants? Some folks love the knee lift on the Berninas - I've never gotten used to it and don't use it. Do you anticipate sewing through multiple layers (lots of seams coming together, batting or stabilizers), or very basic piecing? Do you like the look/feel of embroidery?

The only things that I wish my machines had that they don't have are BSR for free-motion quilting and an automatic thread cutter. Both are just wants, not needs by any means, so I'm not upgrading to a higher level machine that would have them.

Don't rule out a good used machine from a dealer - they get them from people who are trading up and many offer excellent value. There are scads of threads here on machines, and you'll get lots of different opinions on every brand out there. Another source for machine info is www.sewingpatternreview.com; some info there is open to all, some requires joining their site (which is free).

Budget, dealers (for sales, support and service), and features are the things I'd look for if I were starting out again. Take some fabric with you and sit and sew on each machine you are considering. The only thing I would tell a beginner to NOT consider is a machine that comes in a box that you are not able to try.

Good luck - a sewing machine that you find intuitive can make a huge difference in whether or not you enjoy any type of sewing, be it quilting, garment construction, decor, etc. If you are forever struggling with the operation, jamming, stitch quality, etc., it will end up being an expensive dust collector.

zozee

What's your budget? If under $1000, check out the Janome 4120 QDC. A friend of mine has it and has made over 50 quilts of various size (from baby to queen) . It has needle up/down, auto thread cutter (which often can't be found on machines in this price range, alphabet, a ton of fancy stitches and it's easy to use. I'm a fan of Janome . I have the 8200 because it has the 11" harp, but I was using an entry level Janome ($300) before that, so that I could see if quilting was something I really enjoyed enough to justify a better machine.

Obviously it was! I can be obsessive about a hobby and then fizzle out after a while, but I'm addicted to quilting. So I'd advise you get a low-end machine and give yourself a year to figure out for yourself what you enjoy and don't about quilting. That can help you decide later on when it's time to drop bigger bucks. You can always take the lower end machine to classes or on the road with you.

Hulalulu

After making your "got to have" list -- make sure you try out machines. While there are tons of very good machines out there, one will stand out as "this is comfortable". I've had my machine 8 years and still pleased that it's the one I use! If you buy a mid- to upper-range machine, finding a tech service is important. Some stores sell "service maintenance agreements" which charge you a flat fee to do service on the machine without additional cost for a number of years, and include parts and labor -- my three-year contract averages out the cost of one service a year without it - and allows me to bring it in anytime there is a problem. Please avoid buying untried "in the box" machines... you might be fine, or you might regret the money spent on something that doesn't please you in the long run.

Sharonquilts

Depending on your budget, take a look at the Juki machines. I purchased the F600 about a year or so ago and love it. It was in the $1100 range, came with the knee lift, extension table and lots of decorative stitches (which I use occasionally). There are a lot of good Juki reviews and you need to do your research. I especially like that the machine is quiet and sews through thickness easily.

A big factor is having a dealer nearby and being able to try different brands with the features you want within your budget. Then you will know which machine works for you. Good luck and let us know what you get.

skaduzy

I love my Janome. They are easy to use so are great for a beginner or someone who has been quilting a long time. There is something in every price category. Be sure to go to a dealer whatever kind you get because they are a good support system and usually provide free lessons to learn your machine.

Jordan

I have a Janome 6600 which I bought used from our LQS and it had the features that I wanted. I love it and saved for some time to buy it but I love it. It all depends on your budget and what features you want. If you have friends that are quilts you might want to see what they like in the machines they have. Good luck.

gshalom

I have a janome 6600 and 8900 and I like them both. But I recently got the juki tl2010q and it's in a class by itself. It's only single stitch but it beats the pants off the janomes in stitch quality and the quarter inch foot almost makes it impossible to mess up that quarter inch seam. Harp space on the 8900 enables me to quilt the sandwich with ease. Just finished 1st time quilting with invisible thread on the 8900...no problems at all. Don't know how the juki would have done but I was in a hurry to get it done and the 8900 didn't disappoint me.

TJ Legge

Lots of good advice here! If you already have a sewing machine, are you able to quilt on it by dropping the feed dogs? I used my vintage straight-stitch-only Singer 301 to learn FMQ, because I could drop the feed dogs, and the stitch quality was also lovely for piecing. I enjoyed quilting on it for one year, and then decided I needed the wide harp space to the right of the needle for larger sized projects. I jumped right up to the Janome Horizon line, was thrilled with the bells and whistles, and love my 8900 for all things quilting. (But I still take the very portable Singer 301 to classes!)

Nanax4

Lots of good advice above. I just bought a BabyLock Crescendo in April 2015. Love it! It does everything a person could want, except the dishes, and I'm pretty sure it'll have that figured out by next week. It's a great quilting machine. And will also be a great all-purpose machine for my sewing.

I just started my first sewing project this week. That machine is just the best to sew with. I'm making satin nightgowns for the granddaughters. Machine is doing a wonderful job!

OhCanada

- make a list of features you desire
- visit your nearby dealers to find out who is best
- test drive!