It's a Babylock Quest. It has a longer throat area--8.5", which was a huge priority with me. Besides a blanket stitch, a 1/4" foot, and needle down, that's all I wanted. But this came with a lot more. Yikes. The second page of stitches is all alphabet. I've been playing with it and tried some fancy stitches, but a few don't look like they're supposed to. (se photo) I followed the trouble shooting guide, but I couldn't fix them. :? But most look great.

I found a Janome I loved (6240?), it has fewer stiches than this one, but the throat was smaller than the machine I have! This one came with a LOT more features--and was only $100 more than the Janome. It was comparable to the next Janome up, which was $1400--and this one was hundreds less.

I have to say this was an agonizing decision. I visited three shops today, and almost just came home to find a 1/4" foot for my Singer. It's a lot of $$ to pay for the few things I wanted.

Mark was 100% supportive, so I just went ahead and bought it. I can't believe I spent that much and it's not a horse! :shock:

Here it is. Oh--it came with a big clear shelf thing too--it's not in the picture.

Merry Christmas, barnbum. :D

http://www.babylock.com/sewing/quest/

Merry Christmas, girl! I know you'll have lots of fun creating with that new machine. It's a beaut! Bells and whistles galore!

Very Nice. :!: Looks like fun with all those stitches to choose from. Congrats and enjoy! :mrgreen: :D

Yippie! May you enjoy years of sewing with your newest family member, congrats and happy early Christmas. It's it nice when the dh supports us, hu? Sometimes it makes me feel more torn! So glad your efforts yielded such a pretty machine. If you're having trouble with those character stitches don't hesitate for one moment to talk to your dealer about it. :) It's a quick phone call and you'll feel better.

Congratulations, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary and everything else as my dh told me :lol: :lol:

Looks like you are already having a great time with it!

She is a BEAUT!!!!!!! Have fun Karla!!!!!

Oh it looks wonderful, I'm sure you will enjoy it!!!

Wow!!! Merry Christmas.

I'm starting to look at new machines too. Does it have a feature to help you with free motion quilting like the Janome and the Bernina have?

We'll expect to see some great things coming out of your sewing room, girl!

That is a nice machine. Does this mean we won't be hearing from you much because you will be sewing instead of here with us?

hey girlfriend, what a beauty! congratulations! i see many hours of fun in your future.
i know it isn't a horse, but you don't have to shovel up after it. :lol: :lol: :lol:

CONGRATES!!!!! OO what fun you will have now.

Can't wait to see what your first creation is!

Well, you deserve it Karla! Merry Christmas to you. I'm glad you have a great new machine to play with...now can't wait to see all your new creatioins!

She is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! Congrats and Merry Christmas

I hope that's not your Christmas present but I suppose it will do :roll:
:P :P I know how happy your are and what fun you are having. I broke down and bought my Memory Craft 6600 (Janome) about 3 years ago. It was almost an impulse buy but I really needed a decent sewing machine. Can you believe I haven't tried all the stitches on mine? Look how much more sewing you're going to get done and faster too because it has a needle threader, right and a walking foot?. Those are my favorite features. GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

WOOHOO!!! She's pretty!
My machine has all those stitches too.
Ya just gotta work at it to get them right, that's what I finally figured out.
Congrats and happy, happy sewing!!!

Congratulations! That looks like at really nice machine. You'll love the free hand leaver and the extention table too!

Nothing more fun than a new machine!

It's fun to share this with all of you. :D

Jackie--I haven't figured out the needle threader--it's, so far, just easier to thread it the long way. Or is it the long way? :roll:

Dawn--my first creation was an oak leaf, a tulip, and a perfect 1/4" seam. Is that good enough? :wink:

Harmony--I'm not sure what feature you mean. It has a lot of neato things... like a walking foot that's part of the machine and locks into nearly every presser foot. I haven't tried free motion yet.

Elizabeth--I already emailed about those stitches. :D

I have to work on report card comments (I do involved ones :roll: ) so I can't play tonight!! Darn. Plus--there are Parent-Teacher conferences till late two night this week--so this is going to be torture.

Do you think my old machine feels bad? I told her she needed to rest before Rachel gets her in a few years. :D Plus, I think it'll be nice to have two machines in case one has to go to get adjusted or be cleaned.

Congrats. looks like a very nice machine and oh all those wonderful stiches :)

Oh! I took a break from report card comments to play more and I got the off stitches to work!!! :D :D :D The tension screw needed to go further toward the +. See the red oak leaves? That's how it's supposed to look. :wink: And the single daisy needed the same. The cursive letters (I'll never use those) need adjustments too. The first goof on Mark was my fault... I had to undo the walking foot. Ooops.

I'm using too much thread. :roll: :shock: :D :lol:

OOOOOOOOOOOOO I am loveing what I am seeing here.. my imagination is going wild with thoughts of the things I could dooooo...


I am not looking for a new machine until AFTER I move.. shhh don't tell my husband that plan!

The stitches are looking GOOD!

Okay, Dawn--what is dancing though your imagination? Except for a cool stitch around a doll blanket... I'm not being creative here. My machine now has a straight stitch and a zigzag and it's always been enough. :lol: I longed for a button hole stitch for applique... but I have no idea how to make good use of all these fancy things. :roll: :?: :?:

I saw a stocking in the store that had fancy stitches across it to embellish--but I'm not into making those.

You can use some pretty stitches to embelish the cuffs and front placket of ready made shirts, or use the hearts for little girls clothes.

You can use the stitches to embelish anything from quilts to placemats, purses etc.

last year for x-mas I made my grand daughters raggedy ann's and used the hearts for the bottom of the apron on her.

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: I'm so so jealous!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: I want a new machine so bad. My LQS is the regional dealer for Pfaff and I've used them in my classes. You always think you don't need the frills, but boy they make sewing alot less tedious. I keep telling myself I have to wait til I get better at it, then I think I'd be better at it now if I just had a better machine :lol: :lol: :lol: I'm sure eventually I'll manage to rationalize enough and one will appear on my sewing table!!

Enjoy that baby, you do deserve it :D :D

WOW that is awesome Karla.....I feel those wheels a turning in your head.....oh where can I use this stitch.....enjoy my friend!

Very cool. She's beautiful. :D :D :D :D
I know you're going to love it, and I agree the sewing space is very important. I looked at a Bernina 830 on Friday but I haven't made my decision yet. :roll: Hope you get a chance to play on your new machine soon. :thumbup: :thumbup:

OHhhh congrats Karla!!! I'm sooo happy for you! Enjoy your new baby :)

Karla, she's a beauty and I'm sure you love her already.

About the needle threader: On my Babylock the pressure foot has to be in the down position to thread the needle. Hope that helps.

you are going to have a blast with your new baby. those extra inches to the right make a HUGE difference, don't they?

:P

Ok ladies....now we won't see Karla much.
She'll either be tending the horses or playing with her new machine. lol :)

I'm thrilled for you and am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish with it! :mrgreen:

For the decorative stitches that don't take very long to sew (you know the ones that take a while - not those) you can zip around stitch in the ditch so easy and carefree and those extra inches will be an amazing help too! Something tells me those decorative stitches will be devine on those learning quilts you make! Or just think, on those pillow case cuffs!?!? :D :D :D It's gunna be grand!

you must have been a very good girl to get one of those new fangled sewing machines! The close ups of the stitches make me want to shove you off your chair and say- my turn now! (and I'm very non-aggressive)

Enjoy!

:lol: Barb--I'd move over and give you a turn!! :wink: Come on over!

I'm sewing some 9 patches for a Cat's Stairway to Heaven wall hanging... and my it's going fast and easy. :D :D :D I finally stopped playing with the new stitches and got to work. I think I'll use some fun stitches for the quilting on this piece....

I was thinking of using the fun stitches to quilt ragged flannel squares... and I like all your suggestions! Keep them coming.

You asked... Down and dirty binding, sew onto the front and then decorative stitch instead of hand stitching the back. My Tendonitice gets really bad when I hand sew so that's how I do it. You get to the point where you know which ones are better for doing that. It looks great on things for kids and no one suspects you did it on purpose.

Oh and another. Instead of quilting you can tie the quilt, by "tack stitching" with a decorative stitch on the machine. One for each place you would have put a tie. It's nice because there aren't any of the choking hazards from loose yarn ect.

But barnbum, you DID buy a horse. A work horse. And the only thing you will have to shovel up is thread from the floor. :lol: Congratulations. Now raise you right hand, reach over and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Elizabeth--you have great ideas!! Thanks!! :D :D

Okay, Gail, I did. :lol: If I had another horse it'd take more time from quilting. I have PT conferences till 7:30 tonight--so no sewing, maybe. :wink: More conferences tomorrow--then I'm done. Sigh... so much I want to do, so little time. The horses' tails need washing, braiding...and the new machine needs attention... but work is in the way! Wahhhh. :lol:

Karla...you sew and I'll tend to MY ROSIE!
I'll bring Bill with me and he can take care of Jazz lol

Well, I guess I could take care of the others too. Just make sure Kennedy is there because I'll probably need some help. I'm sure she won't mind. :)

So, now with the horses taken care of....you can sew, sew, sew.
Oh, and Mark can bbq for us because we will all be hungry from all the work we will have done. :) :) :)