Free Motion Quilters....

Want to thank everybody for your well-thought out responses. I've copied and pasted all of your responses into a file. They will be used in my SM research. :-)

Much appreciated! Michelle in Nevada

I am absolutely passionate about my Janome 6600. It has the larger harp space, every conceivable option a quilter could want (needle up/down, knee lift, built-in even feed system (like a walking foot), and oodles of other things we quilters want and need). And the special free motion bobbin holder virtually eliminates any eyelashes- *if* you have your tension adjusted properly.

I can use any type or weight of thread and as long as I have the correct size and type of needle it handles them all without complaint- and I work my machine HARD. It's very much user friendly and isn't terribly expensive- in the $1000 to $1500 rabge.... depending.

Did I mention I LOVE my machine? LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I'm glad you've tried your bobbin holder and can report on it! I haven't taken mine out of its box even - I'm desperate to be sewing again. . In message , Leslie& The Furbabies in MO. writes

Wow Leslie! You ought to be a Janome 6600 salesperson! Full endorsement added to my research list. :-)

Michelle > I am absolutely passionate about my Janome 6600. It has the larger harp

On Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:58:29 -0600, Michelle C. wrote (in article ):

My Viking Lily!

Maureen

I recently acquired the Viking Mega-Quilter. My understanding is that it is made by Janome - perhaps it's similar to the Janome 6600? It has the larger harp & I'm thrilled with it. I consider myself a novice FMQ, but, with this new machine, I'm encouraged for what I may be able to do. I'm working on some kids quilts at the moment & doing simple stuff, but my stitching is even & I have not had any tension problems with the machine. If anyone is familiar with Jill Schumacher - she teaches FMQ in the San Francisco Bay Area & Nevada. (She's my new favorite teacher.) She was so impressed with my machine, that she bought one after trying it out in a class that I brought it to. It has needle up/down, knee lift, a separate motor for the bobbin winder, speed control. I'm very happy with it. I do have a Horn Sewing cabinet, so my machine sits flush with my cabinet. (I had TAP Plastics make the insert for me.)

Happy hunting Michele. I think I tried all the "mid-arm" machines before I settled on the Mega-Quilter. Most of my friends have the Brother 1500, but none of the Sewing Machine Dealers around me sell it anymore. I finally found out that Brother has lifted the "exclusivity" factor & anyone can sell it now - for any price they like. Does that change how the machine is made - I don't think so. A good friend has the Juki & loves it - I tried it out, but it was too noisy for me. She brought it to retreat & those of us that were sitting around her, could not talk while she was quilting:(

Good luck with your search. I would encourage you to try out as many as you can. I originally rejected the Janome - why, I don't remember, but, it turns out that my Viking Mega-Quilter is essentially the Janome. I tried most of the machines up to 3 times. It would be great if you could try them all side by side, but that's unlikely since most of the dealers only carry a few brands.

My very faithful Pfaff 2044.

What is a free motion bobbin holder?

Do I 'need' one?!

Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

Leslie& The Furbabies > I am absolutely passionate about my Janome 6600. It has the larger harp

Babylock Quest....love it!

Sally, it's specifically for the Janome machines- I *think* it's only for the 6500 and 6600. I really haven't studied it but it has a blue mark rather than red like the 'regular' bobbin holder. Whatever it does, I noticed that my eyelash problem is gone when I use it and reappears when I forget to change to the free motion bobbin holder. I love MacTavishing, so losing the eyelashes on quilted curves was wonderful.

I don't know if you need it. But I'm sure glad I bought one!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

Thanks so much for your informative post, Pauline. I'm saving every word!

Best regards, Michelle > I recently acquired the Viking Mega-Quilter. My understanding is that

I don't have a problem as long as I remember to sew fast and move my fabric slowly. You don't really want the machine to run slowly -- you want to move the fabric around slowly while the needle moves quickly. I simply put the feed dogs down and the special foot on the machine and that's it as far as set up is concerned. But then, my Kenmore is about

25 years old so I'm lucky it has a hem stitch in it :-). CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I'm another happy Janome 6600 owner. I'm not terribly proficient at the finer points of free motion quilting, but I do love to make squiggles a lot. LOL I adore my 6600. It's just perfect in almost every way. And Leslie is right, the FM bobbin holder takes the eyelashes off the backs of my quilts. It's a great machine. And a real workhorse.

I will also say, I do FM quilting on little projects with my Pfaff

7570. The harp is small and the speed isn't great for anything big, but I do like the smooth ride and the ability to work in very small places with ease.

Two machines, love 'em both.

Sunny

I don't like FMQ at all, whether on my Juki 98 or Viking Platinum, because it just doesn't feel right. I know, not very scientific. The Viking seems to have too many "finicky" problems. The Juki does eyelashes on most corners, even if smooth and slow, thread breaks often, and the HandiQuilter frame base just does not seem smooth. I get so frustrated with having to rethread whenever the thread breaks and decide whether to reverse sew or not the eyelashy parts. Plus, even though hubby has tried, the whole setup just is not ergonomic. I guess I am just not satisfied with the results, no matter how much I have practiced, and I've probably done 35 bed-sized quilts using FMQ.

Trixie

I love my Viking #1Plus, but for FMQ, I had to fiddle with the tensions too much & then remember to unfiddle when I went back to piecing. Plus, the small harp area was such a struggle - for me. I'm a stuffer, not a roller, so I had to do a lot of stuffing! Now that I have the Viking Mega-Quilter, I doubt that I would even FMQ a table runner with my #1 Plus

Pauline Northern California

My Bernina came with a special bobbin case for FM but I've never used it. I stitch slowly and honestly never saw what you call eyelash stitches until last night when a neighbor's Viking produced some - but, of course, she FMs with the pedal to the floor and the devil take the hindmost. (whatever that means). Polly

"Taria" It is really just a spare bobbin case that is adjusted to better suit

I bought one, too, Sally; but I haven't done any quilting since I had it! . In message , Leslie& The Furbabies in MO. writes