Elna Lotus

I can only speak for Elna's serger. There's a 945 here and it is a fine machine. Don't know if the Lotus feed dogs drop or not. 'They say' that if not, you could simply set the stitch length to zero. I'm not sure that's a happy solution. It just seems that the teeth would still be there and interfering with moving about. Polly

I am so jealous! I would love one of those.

If the feed dogs don't drop this is what you do. Tape an index card over the feed dogs. The needle will make a little hole where it needs it and you can free motion quilt away.

marcella

Hi Polly, Thanks for your quick response. I don't know if that would be a happy solution for me either. Because I am so new at it, I am not confident enough to improvise. Agree about the Elna, though, my main machine is an Elna 3007 and I am very happy with it. Take care, Julie

Hi Marcella, Hmmm, well, if this isn't the cleverest thing!!! I may try that on another machine I have and that may negate the need for another machine at all. Thanks! Take care, Julie

Julie, a quick email to this site about the elna you're interested in buying should be able to tell you about those feed dogs dropping or not. worth a shot anyhow. j. nayy

No they don't. You need the feed dog cover plate for it.

I'd love to have an Elna Lotus, too. I've always had Elna machines and have liked them a lot. I think the Lotus would be great for classes and for piecing, but I'm not sure how well it work for machine quilting because it is so small. It might be difficult to maneuver anything very large under the arm of the machine.

The full-size Elna I got in the era of the Lotus had a plate to cover the feed dogs instead of dropping them; I don't know what the Lotus has. I never used that machine for free motion quilting, and I'm not sure how well it would have worked, as it was designed more for darning. People weren't doing a lot of machine quilting at that time. I don't remember whether I was told to use it for free motion embroidery -- never did enough of that to become very accomplished at it. Generally, you should be able to do free-motion quilting without dropping the feed dogs because you can stop the feed dogs from moving by setting the stitch length to zero.

Julia in MN

julie wrote:

Here's a link to some in depth info on the Lotus-

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Sometimes setting the stitch length to zero works better than dropping the feed dog, ie, when using a darning foot- that way you get a better grip for the stitch part of things. When the darning foot "lifts" between stitches the feed dogs also "drop". Then the two come together to squish the fabric as the needles passes thru. It might not work so well if you were using a different kind of food or if you were a "pedal to the metal" kind of FM stitcher. But that is not me :) Allison

Polly Esther wrote:

Thanks, j, it did indeed answer a whole bunch of questions. Julie

Ahhh, I did not know there was such a thing. I did know that you liked this machine, but did not know if you did any quilting with it. Thanks Kate! Julie

Hi Julia, This machine would have been to take to the classes that teach machine quilting so I would only have worked on 14-16 inch squares. The feed dogs not dropping is an issue, though. Thank for your response! Julie

Yes, alas, the feed dogs do not drop so this is not the machine for me me thinks. Thanks for the link, very informative. Julie

Hi Alison, This is good to know. I am a newbie to machine quilting so this sounds like a complication I don't need. It is very enlightening however. Take care, Julie

Julie - I have taken Jill's classes. It doesn't matter if the dogs drop as long as you can cover them with either a feed dog cover or a business card. Jill probably mentioned that.....

However, a machine that does have feed dogs that drop is really a bonus!!! Good luck with you machine search.

Where did you take Jill's class? Must be Calif. I'm guessing.....

~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA

Hi Alison, This is good to know. I am a newbie to machine quilting so this sounds like a complication I don't need. It is very enlightening however. Take care, Julie

..

Hi Laurie,

I didn't know about that until I asked this group and got some great help, ideas, links, etc.

I, too, thought it would be a bonus to have one with dropping dogs :) so I got myself a Janome Jem 2. My main machine is an Elna 3007, which I love dearly and don't want to heft to and from class. I can't wait until I get the JJ2 in about seven days.

I took Jill's class at Thimble Creek, formerly of Walnut Creek and now in Concord. She did not mention anything about feed dog covers so maybe it was that no one in the class needed that information. I can't take her next class at TC because of a time conflict, however, she teaches at so many places that I just may opt to drive a bit to take the intermediate class.

Take care, Julie

Buttons

> Click on Kate's Pages and explore!>

They are too small to do serious sized quilts, but I have made one for the cat on one of the Lotus machines, and they are perfect for piecing.

You must live close! I belong to the Carquinez Strait Stitchers guild in Benicia. Jill has taught at our guild before and we want to get her back but she is booked until into 2010. She is a great teacher!

It's fun to find someone in your own backyard (so to speak) on a group that is international! :-)

~~~~~~~ Laurie G. in CA

CA

~~~~~~~

Hi Laurie,

I didn't know about that until I asked this group and got some great help, ideas, links, etc.

I, too, thought it would be a bonus to have one with dropping dogs :) so I got myself a Janome Jem 2. My main machine is an Elna 3007, which I love dearly and don't want to heft to and from class. I can't wait until I get the JJ2 in about seven days.

I took Jill's class at Thimble Creek, formerly of Walnut Creek and now in Concord. She did not mention anything about feed dog covers so maybe it was that no one in the class needed that information. I can't take her next class at TC because of a time conflict, however, she teaches at so many places that I just may opt to drive a bit to take the intermediate class.

Take care, Julie