boykinsmommy

Hello you lovely quilters! I'm new here at the QB and am happy to join you all. I'm a quilter, knitter, stamper and just general craft lover. I'm mom to 3 lovely boys, wife one very patient man, and as such I wear a variety of hats!

Here is my issue. I am in need of a new sewing machine. I purchased a Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 875 in 2013. Biggest mistake of ALL TIME. >:/ It has had ongoing tension problems.
So, my dilemma? What machine should I get? I know that machines are a very personal thing, what one loves, another doesn't, but I really need some advice or thoughts.
When I first looked into machines I fell in love with the Janome 8900. I mean like, when I walked in, it was speaking to me like Barry White. My hubs almost died of sticker shock.....who could blame him? So he talked me into the machine that is now the bane of our existence....
The shop is willing to give me $1,000 for my machine and are selling the Janome 8900 for $3,999...that would make it's cost to me $2999. I thought the $3999 was high as that was the price 2 years ago!
In the meantime, I have found Juki. I really like the looks and reviews (and price!) of the Juki HZL F600 and the Juki 2010. Both of these machines together total less that the Janome, even with my trade in! They also offer me more options for quilting. The problem? I can't go and test drive them anywhere within a reasonable drive. The closest place is over 3 hrs away.
So, I can either go with the Janome I originally loved but have read in some places it's not that great for FMQ and I would still want to get the Juki 2010.....someday...probably not for many years because I just spent a ton of money on the Janome. *sigh*
OR, I can buy the two Juki's but am taking a chance I will not like them then what? Pay to ship it back? Yikes! Have no idea how finicky they really are or are not. I mean, my Viking was "raved" about online and it truly is awful.
OR I can consider maybe a smaller Janome for piecing and so forth and get the JUKI 2010 for FMQ.
I finally can get what I want (within reason) but just am not sure which direction to go. Please don't suggest Pfaff's, Elna's or whatever. At this point these are the only two options I'm willing to consider. I know Bernina's are great but they are even more expensive and I don't have a dealer near by. Pfaff is also owned by SVP company (same as Viking) and they are now having the same tension issues as my machine.
Thanks ladies! I appreciate your thoughts!
Bethany

feline fanatic

You are in New England and the closest Juki dealer is 3 hours away?? Wow you must be in the extreme northern area of Maine. I was going to suggest going to the Quilters Gathering show in Manchester NH in November or the MQX show in April but that is probably too far as well. The Bernina 700 series are in the same price range as the Janome you mentioned. At least the ones I just saw at a recent show were. I definitely would not buy a machine without trying it out and for $3K I would want it to have ALL the features I needed and wanted. I think I would drive the 3 hours to try out the Juki.

PS welcome to the QB

Skyangel

Why not look for an older all-metal machine, get it serviced and it will probably serve you well while you save up for the new computerized machine you want. However, you might go try a Bernina. Yes, I might be prejudice as I am a Bernina gal, but not all the lines are that high. B350 is in the $1500 range. But the availability of a dealer for classes and service could be difficult if you don't have one nearby.

PaperPrincess

Welcome! Sorry you are having problems with your Viking. I love all mine, but they are older models. If you can provide us with a list of your top needs in a machine we can probably give you better suggestions. Meanwhile, I would go to a thrift store or a generic vacuum/sewing repair place and get an inexpensive older machine. You need a backup!

Tartan

Welcome from Ontario, Canada. Sorry I have no experience with the Janome brand so I can't comment on those. Nothing worse then a LEMON machine, you have my sympathy!

Prism99

Personally, I would not go back to that dealer. I can't see that you got any benefit from them, and their prices seem high. I found the Janome 8900 on Amazon for $2,499 (free shipping with Amazon Prime) and, if you scroll down and read the answers to questions there, one person mentions she got it locally for $1,799. If you consider your existing Viking machine is scrap, you still get a better deal buying from Amazon that using it for "$1,000" worth of trade-in value at your dealership.

You could purchase all 3 machines from Amazon, try them all out at home, and then ship back whichever one(s) you don't prefer. To find out how much it would cost to ship each machine back to Amazon, go to Amazon (don't log into it, or log out of it, if you have Amazon Prime so you can see how much it will cost to have them ship it to you), add it to your shopping cart, and start the checkout process to see how much shipping is. Amazon is ***very*** good about taking returns if you change your mind, as long as you return within their time period (check, but I think it is 30 or 60 or 90 days). It's easy to return. Just go into your account, click on "return" for the item, and print out a packing slip and postage sticker for the box. They will deduct the return shipping from your refund.

Edit: You could always sell you Viking on eBay for scrap value.

Edit 2: Oops, sorry! The Janome I found on Amazon when I searched is a 7700. Personally, I would probably opt for the Juki machines anyway -- especially if my only option for purchasing the Janome is that dealer.

Edit 3: You have to create a free account and log in to read the full review (and there may be other reviews there), but this one lists her purchase price of the Janome 8900 as $1600:
http://sewing.patternreview.com/Sewi.../Review/1/5614
Here's another one that says she paid $2,000 for the Janome 8900:
http://sewing.patternreview.com/Sewi.../Review/1/5659
and another who paid $2,400. All 3 reviews were posted in 2015.

ManiacQuilter2

Welcome from Southern California. I bought a Bernina in the 90s and she is still going strong. I HOPE that you find as much inspiration as I do from this board.

boykinsmommy

Wow! You all are great!

Thank you all for your warm welcome!


Feline Fanatic, yes, I live at the endof the earth so to speak. I live in Southern New England but in avery, very small town. Basically it's the end of the earth, or atleast you can see it from here. Just to grocery shop is 20 min andthat's just one store. The rest are 30min. Unfortunately there justaren't many stores around here that are selling sewing machinesanymore. So sad. The closest three are over an hour from me andthe closes Juki dealer that has machines in stock to try is out onCape Cod...3 hrs from me. There is one about an hour away, he is anauthorized dealer but he only carries the larger industrial machinesin stock. He can get any Juki that I want but he doesn't have any ofthe domestic ones in stock to play around with.


One of the dealers an hour form me doeshave Berninas and Janomes. Hmmmm.....


Paper Princess, you are sooo right, Ido need a back up. I kind of have one, but it too needs someservice. It's a Brother Innovis 80...more for garments thanquilting. The ¼ inch foot is not that reliable. You are correctthough that a good solid old machine is the way to go. I'll have tocheck out Craigslist and Ebay. Buyer beware on those sites butsometimes it can work out. I never buy from anyone with a bad ratingon Ebay and with Craigslist, if the price is really good then a smallrepair price might not be a bad way to go.


Prism99...I am an Amazon Prime member!Yay! Hmmm...I wonder if the 7700 would be just as good? I'll haveto see if there is any difference between the two. You raise anexcellent point that items can be returned. Not a bad way to try. The “local” (ie: nearest) dealer who can get me these Jukimachines doesn't want them returned unless there is something wrongwith them. Like I said above, he doesn't have them in stock and hetold me that if he orders them and I return them, basically he'sstuck with them because his market is industrial and not home sewers. I do not know if that is true or not. I thought the distributor hadto take them back. Maybe he just loses money on it. ??


I will have to give this some thought. I will post what I'm looking for seperately so you all don't gocross-eyed reading forever...

boykinsmommy

Ok, what I'm looking for.

I am a quilter first and foremost whodabbles in hemming pants, machine applique, and other things sewingso I need a machine that does the fancy stitches.


I also want to be able to FMQ well andwith less hassle by having a “long arm” (probably more like a midarm) that is actually affordable. While Tin Lizzies, Sweet 16's andso forth are wonderful, I cannot even begin to consider one of those. The Juki is what Leah Day uses (was happy to see that) and I noticedthat Grace Company has those on their frames. Again I have neverused one and I'm sure that the other bigger ones are much better butthis is a price range that is do-able for me and it appears they havea good reputation. I also like that the 2010 can just straightstitch too so it would be a piecing back-up.


So, I've used a Janome 8900, (I agreePrism99 that their prices at the place I purchased it at is too high,I think it was their way of making back what they said they wouldgive me for mine. Which is so stinky because they will undoubtedlyturn around and sell it to some poor unsuspecting customer who willjust inherit my headaches...I just don't like that idea). It's beena few years since but it was an amazing machine.


However, maybe a 7700 would be just asgood, cheaper AND if I can get a good deal on it, perhaps I can getthat and the 2010. Too many decisions.....if these shops were closerit would sure make it easier.

tessagin

I just wanted to say welcome to the board from the Gulf of Mexico way down at Corpus Christi, Tx.