pippi65

I'd say that since you are a newbie at this point. There's plenty of time to check out machines and see what else is out there. I still piece and sew on a featherweight and I quilt on my 15 year old Janome MemoryCraft 9000. I've been quilting for over 20 years. Get good at quilting on your machine and then you'll have a better feel for what you really need and can afford. Good Luck.

chuckbere15

I haven't read everyone's comments, so if I repeated anything I'm sorry. In my opinion, I would buy the machine with the most bang for the buck. Will your dealer be helpful after the sale. Hang out by the store and talked to people as they are leaving. Next, you will not use 90% of those stitches. Some of the features I love about my Janome 7700 are the throat size, adjustable speed, knee lift for the pressed foot, and built in walking foot.

Panchita

I think I saw the same advertorial that the original poster did, and whilst they made the machine sound great I am not convinced.

The other Silver that was shown working did not look as if it had a great stitch - as the demonstrator held it up and noted that the machine was known for excellent stitching the stitches on the fabric looked distorted. This could obviously be a tensioning issue or similar, but the fact that it looked 'off' when doing a simple straight stitch (and when she looked at it she didn't say - oh, my tension is off let me do it again, as she did with other items like selecting the wrong stitch) did not give me confidence.

The 'quilting' Silver also did not look to me as if it had throat space much more significant than that of a normal machine. I haven't looked up the details so perhaps I am wrong on that, but it was my impression.

And I echo the others in that whilst it is nice to have a selection of stitches, there is no way you would use them all.

Whilst I understand your enthusiasm, I would stick with a 'normal' machine for the moment and wait until you can get to a shop or a show where you can actually try the machine out before handing over a significant chunk of money. The difficulty with QVC-type shows is that you can only see what you are shown and have to take an awful amount on trust. And sewing machines are a very personal choice - even if the machine itself has no issues, you may still not like it. If you look at any of the threads on here talking about who has which sewing machine you will see that there are many differing views, and all equally valid because people like and dislike different things.

Let us know what you choose, but I would advise waiting for a 'hands-on' opportunity

purplefiend

I have the Sapphire 875, its great machine. I agree that there could be a bit more room to make changing needles and feet easier. I don't use very many of the decorative stitches either. All that throat space makes quilting and garment sewing much easier. I make more quilts than garments currently and machine quilt all of them.

hobo2000

Just who is going to repair this machine? If there are no "Silver dealers", you are going to be in a pickle. Find your closest dealer/repair shop, and look at what he is selling/repairing and find yourself a good machine and a kindly repair person. That is worth it's weight in "silver"!

JaneH

Thanks for all the replies. I think I've now decided to go with a better-known brand and am considering the Brother Innovis 600. I've been able to find only a few reviews but they're all good. I just haven't been able to push the 'Add to Cart' button quite yet....but my finger is hovering just above it!

elliej

I agree if you can't test drive, don't buy. What would you do if the machine has a problem. Some dealers will not repair brands they don't sell, and what about warrantees. Also if you Fan fold instead of rolling, have enough flat area around your machine, add a small table or lower ironing board next to you to hold quilt weigh. I think you will find that you can use the machine you have.

kiffie2413

The main things I love about my machine are the 9 inch throat area, the knee lift, auto thread cut, the pin feed system, and ability to drop the feed dogs...those are really the only things I need to have as far as a sewing machine for quilting...I do have another machine that has all the fancy stitches, but as some of the others have said straight stitch is really the only stitch I use for machine quilting...the machine I use for quilting is also an industrial model, meaning it can go up to 1500 stitches a minute, and it is all metal construction. It cost me under $700.00, and I love it!
Good luck to you,
Kif

maryel

I have the Pfaff quilt expressions 4.0 with a 9 inch throat space, with IDT and it makes a huge difference to me. I can't afford to send my quilts out to a long arm and this machine has enabled me to quilt them myself! I went back and forth trying to decide if I truly needed this machine and finally gave in an am so glad that I did...

QuiltedCritterLady

I may be too late to jump in here, but I have a Quilter's Choice by Baby Lock and love it. I am new to quilting, but I got this machine while taking a class at JoAnn's and didn't have the stitch I wanted on my old machine. I love the features and the extra throat space. I cannot imagine making a quilt on my old machine with smaller throat space. I also use the knee-lift for applique and really like the needle threader and thread cutter. Those are just a couple of other things you might want to look for if you think they would help you.