Hi Gayle:
I'm so sorry you aren't getting good service from your dealer and that you don't like your Janome. I wonder if you maybe got the "lemon" that people talk about often when they buy a car that has nothing but problems and becomes a money pit. We once had friends who worked in the car making factories who said all year they would build cars and any defective parts went into a warehouse but at the end of the model year people would order last year model new cars AFTER the new year models came out so the factory maybe wouldn't have all the parts they needed to build the custom last year's model car so they'd go to the "cull parts" warehouse to get the parts needed. Maybe your machine was built at the end of the year. . . Just a thought.
I have a New Home Memory Craft 8000 that I've had for 15 years and I love it...only problem I've had is the light went out and that was expense to replace. I also have a "White" machine that is over 100 years old that my grandmother made her living on as a dressmaker after her husband died back in the late 1800's early 1900's. It still works like a champ.
Last year I bought an inexpensive Brother machine model XR65t ($169.00) with all the embroidery stitches for classes and quilt guild. I LOVE IT. I actually like the look of the embroidery stitches from the Brother better than from my very expensive Memory Craft altho I'm NOT complaining about my Memory Craft. It does a great job, too. I think the New Home/Memory Craft is made by Janome.
What I dread...I'm not good at putting on bias tape or binding on a quilt. I have arthritis so handwork bothers me and when I put bias tape on by machine it always looks like a mess when I'm done. I always dread that part of quilt making and crafts (potholders).
Merry Christmas...keep on sewing.
Randy