Two items I would really like to have need input

Don't own one, but I wonder how long is the warranty? If it's less than 5 years, that tells you something. (My Pfaff had a 5-year warranty when I bought it.) Machines of all kinds have a depressing tendency to die a week after the warranty expires. Roberta in D

"Jacqueline in KY" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Roberta, in my family we have four sewing machines that have been used for years and all that has ever been done to them is about every five years taken in to a dealership and have serviced. My mother's Brother Machine, don't know what model but weighs a ton is over 50 years old and still sews like a dream. Both my sister's have machines that are over 30 years old and mine is I think 12 years, but now it hasn't been used much until lately, I always used mother's machine, when I did any type of machine sewing. My mother had made every outfit we had growing up on her machine and also a lot of drapes, valances and slip covers. Lots of doll clothes too. My dad would get up in the mornings and load her machine in the truck and take it to town so she could sew at the store when they were not busy, then he would haul it home again in the evening so she could sew when she had the time. Now my middle sister's has been used a bunch too, my oldest, well I am not sure have often she used her's, but she used it much more than I have mine, so we have not had that experience with machines, Thank God!

Machines don't have that tendency at my house, I just replaced our microwave this month and the one we had was the very first that my father ever got in his furniture store. Until my parents retired we hadn't replaced an appliance in this house since it was built and that was after we had lived her for over 30 years. Funny, dad sold every appliance known to man back in the early years of his business and nothing tore up until he sold the store and went out of business, then our refrigerator went out, dish washer and oven, all in a week's time. That proves to me that you shouldn't buy all new appliances at one time unless you are prepared to replace them all at the same time. My dryer is almost 40 years old and works like a dream. Washer a different story, have replaced it 3 times in 35 years. I realize this is not the norm for things made today though and you do have a good point, I will check that out if anyone posts they have it and it is a good machine. I won't buy it unless someone says yes I have that machine and it is fun and wonderful. I think that it is Pfaff that is now making a sewing/quilting and embroidery machine. My sewing machine is a Pfaff and I love it, my sister's are both Singers and as I said my mother's was a Brother, but my middle sister got it when my mother could no longer sew.

Jacqueline in KY

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 14:12:35 +0100, "Roberta Zollner" wrote:

Here's the Warranty info on the machine.

LIMITED 25-YEAR WARRANTY ..on SEWING MACHINE HEAD The sewing machine head and any of its parts other than those covered by either of the separate warranties below or those subject to normal wear and tear are warranted to be free from manufacturing defects for a period of 25 years from the date of purchase. If any manufacturing defect appears in the sewing machine head or in its parts other than those parts covered below or those subject to normal wear and tear within 25 years of purchase, we will provide free replacement parts, but at your cost for labor. However, during the first 90 days from date of purchase, we will repair any manufacturing defect in your sewing machine without charge to you for parts or labor.

LIMITED 5-YEAR WARRANTY ..on MOTORS, LIGHT ASSEMBLY, WIRING, SWITCHES, SPEED CONTROL AND ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS The electric parts of the sewing machine are warranted to be free from manufacturing defects for a period of five (5) years from the date of purchase. If any manufacturing defect appears in these parts within five years of purchase, we will provide free replacement parts, but at your cost for labor. However, during the first 90 days from date of purchase, we will repair any manufacturing defect in your sewing machine without charge to your for parts or labor.

LIMITED 1-YEAR WARRANTY ..on ADJUSTMENTS, BELTS, RINGS, BULBS, ATTACHMENTS Within one (1) year of purchase, we will provide required adjustments, and replace defective belts, light bulbs, or attachments at no charge. We will repair any manufacturing defect, which appears in your sewing machine within 1 year from date of purchase without charge to you for parts or labor.

FREE 3-YEAR EXTENDED LABOR WARRANTY THROUGH SEW VAC DIRECT

Jacqueline in KY wrote: Jacqueline, I recieved the CE-100 in January of this year as a Christmas present from my husband. I had researched the machine and joined a couple of newsgroups devoted to the Futura embroidery models. I recommend the Futurahelping hand group as very freindly and helpful. The other group is a running advertisement for the moderator's store and she won't tolerate negativisms about the machines and Singer in general. My machine was defective out of the box. It was older stock which had the infamous bobbin issue but more than that it also had an alignment problem that made everything else work wonky. Late in May after trying

I don't know much about embroidery machines but I have a number of machines that I use for quilting. I just picked up a Janome 1600P-DB long arm machine from an online retailer. It has 9.5 inches clear between the needle and the motor housing. This machine is a promotional model without all the bells and whistles of the other machines in this line and, as such, is less expensive. It sews very fast if you need it to (1600 stitches per minute), or can be operated on a slower speed as you wish. It only sews straight stitch, but that is all that is needed for quilting. It has a number of different feet that allows you to do free motion quilting or straight stitching. I don't know what your budget is but I bought this machine with a number of accessory feet and a large number of bobbins and needles for under $850.00 including shipping. It is a dedicated purpose machine and is used often on quilting frames. It is a semi industrial machine so it is a little louder than a household machine if that is of a concern. I am judging this machine against the 2 Bernina sewing machines that I already own, one mechanical and one computerized and the stitch quality is equal to both of these machines. I have had other Janome machines and never had any problems with them. You might see if you can find a Janome dealer to take one for a test drive and then base your decision on that experience. I am very happy with the one I have and would recommend it wholeheartedly. Good luck in your search.

John Taylor Jacqueline in KY wrote:

Atta girl, Donna. Yeeeha! Hot dog. Way to go. A million years ago, I too unearthed the name and address of the president of Singer. I had a very simple problem that nobody was willing to help me with. All in the world I needed was a new bobbin case that fit my relatively new SM. He sent me one AND he called me on Christmas Eve himself to be sure that the stockings were finished and ready for Santa. I'm just really tickled that you stayed with the problem until it was fairly resolved. Polly

"oldhag" wrote and I can't bear to snip one word! > Jacqueline,

WTG, Donna! It's so easy to just say, "To heck with it!" and live with it when a product turns out to be crappy and the customer service is worse! I am so proud of you for persevering! For the same reason I have bought my last Dell computer because their customer service is very poor.

As for Singer SM, a sister told me to be cautious about buying one--she wore out two Singer Golden Touch-and-Sew machines while her daughter was growing up, and won't buy another. However, as the proud owner of two Singer FW

I can see me wanting to get an embroidery machine in the next few years, and I read all those posts with interest. When the time comes, I will be fishing for reviews! But I don't want to spend as much on a sewing machine as my parents spent on a 200-acre farm and I would currently spend on a car!

Wow, John, a great recommendation! Yes, I have looked with longing at a Janome just because it is a good machine for long-arm quilting. Thanks very much for your input! That is far less than I expected to pay, and I think I can play music louder than the sewing machine, LOL. Could you please email me your supplier? I would be very grateful.

Carolyn,

I have said the exact same statement about Dell computers, I don't want another one, although I have 3 of them right now. One is awaiting a new home, one is this one I use daily and the other is a LT that I do not like but I have never had problems with it either, I just have no need for it now that my mother is gone, that is one reason I was asking about this machine, I love embroidery, back when was younger did lots by hand and counted cross stitch, also, but I can't do it now and I really had a hard time when I bought my first machine because I wanted an embroidery machine rather than a sewing machine, yet I wanted to learn to machine quilt. I will never be able to spend a fortune on an excellent machine and this one did hit a price range that I felt I could afford. For now I guess I will just learn to quilt and hopefully be able to afford more later. Who knows I may get into quilting so that I don't even want the embroidery machine anymore. I pray that happens, but I was feeling a little down and out from having this pneumonia and thought I might just buy this, but I have now talked myself out of it, by what I have read and heard. Thanks to all,

Jacqueline in KY

Jacqueline, I hope I didn't scare you away from the CE-100 as an embroidery machine for entry level. It does work good but the early models had a design flaw that is now fixed. I just wanted you to be aware of that. Most of the problems with this machine is because of user error now. I love the fact that this machine doesn't need any other boxes or add ons in order to download the free patterns out there.you also don't have to convert them to your machines format because it will accept all of them. All the extra money you spend will be on Thread and stabilizers and thread and needles and wait did I say thread. Also I love the way it does applique and am now working on a baby quilt with appliqued squares. I am doing it real slow because making monogrammed towels, table runners and Free Standing Lace decorations for Christmas got in the way. The only draw back is you must have a computer connected to it all the time to run it. Think of the embroidery machine as a kind of printer attached to your computer. The higher priced machines come with the computer in the machine but the Futura does not.That is why is is so much cheaper. OTOH if I was to do it over again, I would buy a stand alone embroidery machine like the Janome 300E because I don't know if this machine can sew a straight seam. :) but if it does I can part with my workhorse Singer2210 for maintainence as it has to go 150 miles and stay for a week when I send it and I would still have a machine to sew on . Donna inNWOntario where we are having a rainy day instead of snow!!!

Donna,

Thank you very much, I am not sure if you scared me away or not, but I don't think you did. I am going to watch and see what kind of reviews I can find on it elsewhere too, and also I have decided that I need to focus on one thing at a time. I have a bad habit of getting involved in a lot of different things. I normally always get them competed but sometimes it takes me a loooong time to do so. I was feeling really rough, sick with the pneumonia, sisters being the way they normally are and they day to day pressures of running a household with a person with Alzheimer's in it. Stress, yes, but I am sure there are lots of others that have as much an more stress. Let's say I was having a pity party attack and almost spent money I really don't need to spend right now.

I too am where it is raining instead of snowing and happy of that.

Thank you for clarifying things for me,

Jacquel>Jacqueline,

Jacqueline , That's ok, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't really complaining about the machine. I work in an Alzheimers unit so I know a bit about what you are going through. At least I only have to be there for 8 hours a day and not

Donna, thank you so much. I appreciate the caring.

Jacquel>Jacqueline ,

On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 13:06:33 -0600, Jacqueline in KY wrote (in article ):

(((HUGS))) I know that feeling. I usually get dangerously close to spending money I don't need to as well (Sometimes I suceed, too). I'm going to try to do less of that this year, and more playing with my stash when I'm blue.

Maureen

Donna, I recently went looking for a new sewing machine. And after research and experience on a Singer, I decided on the CE-200. It has turned out, so far, to be a good sewing machine. However, it is a very complicated Embroidery machine. The manual is very limited in it's explanation of how the software works, just how to load it. But when I open the software and try to use it it bogs down in vagueness. I can't seem to input designs from other sources (even the singer site). I constantly have to reboot the software or turn on and off my machine to get it to transfer and begin the design on fabric. I am so frustrated. This is my first embroidery machine and I purchased it because the description made it sound so easy. I am very computer savvy and have been sewing since junior high. So I don't feel like I am a complete idiot when it comes to figuring these things out. I can't contact Singer (which sounds like a good thing, based on previous comments) because it is the holidays. So I am searching the web for help from someone. Any comments, suggestions or words of comfort would be appreciated.

Thanks Christy

oldhag wrote:

Ah, yes. The old I-hurt-but-buying-something-will-make-me-feel-better syndrome. I know it so well! And I come by it naturally. Mom says that even when we were really poor she could pull herself out of depression by just buying one new (to her) plate at a second-hand store, or sending off enough Betty Crocker coupons for a couple of pieces of silverware. I bet if we checked with our Sainted Mums many of us would find that same attitude. The purchase doesn't even have to be something personal, but as in Mom's case something the whole family will use.

Of course, that doesn't explain or excuse my occasional overspending at the LQS..............

I may have made a huge mistake and no I wasn't depressed at the time. I found a brother Disney embroidery machine on ebay at a reasonable price, new, with warranty and all and I bought it. I hope it is a decent machine, I do know that you can only do 4" embroidery or smaller but I can't see me needing much more than that and to see if I even like it, well, I can't beat the price. Anyone out there got one of these it is the Brother Disney SE-270D Sewing and embroidery machine?

I hope I didn't just waste a bunch of money because I really did study about this and a light to go by my machine, too, got that with Christmas money. OTT-LITE TrueColor(TM) 18W Dover Floor Lamp, is what I bought, I hope that is a good one too.

Jacqueline in KY

On Tue, 9 Jan 2007 21:51:35 -0600, Jacqueline in KY wrote (in article ):

I don't have that exact machine, but the model your machine replaced (I got a good deal on it a couple of years ago!) I love it. It runs really well and has never given me a day of trouble.

In fact, I like my Brother embroidery machine so much, I've been thinking of "upgrading" to the new model with the 5x7 sewing field so I can do some larger designs.

I don't think you've wasted your money.

Maureen

Thank you so much Maureen, that's what I needed to hear, esp. when I realized this morning that I paid for it with my checking account rather than my credit card, I guess that is a good thing, other than I had to transfer money out of savings because I just don't keep much extra in my checking out.

Jacquel>