What is best machine for new quilter

[Gingermom]

Hi,

I want to begin quilting but don't know what machine would be best for a beginner. I want something that will last but not be over the top in price either. Any ideas?
Blessings to all!

[cyndiofthevortex]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Welcome to the forum from New Hampshire! Good luck with your machine search. You'll get lots of good advice here on what to look for in a machine. Have fun!

[Kgrammiecaz]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Welcome from Florida. While waiting on responses do a search on the forum. There are several threads about machines you will enjoy reading through

[vchale]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

What kind of price are you looking for? Not everybody has the same idea of "over the top".Do you know what features you want or what you want to do?

[Preeti]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

I am a newbie quilter. I got a Janome for $1050.
And I like it a lot.

[Slokarma]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Go used and simple until you decide what is important to you.

[Bubby]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Most of the major sewing machine brands (Janome, Brother, Bernina, Pfaff, Baby Lock, Singer) have machines in a wide range of features and brands. I recommend going to a website that carries most of them and preview them. One site that carries a wide range of brands is: Sewing machines, quilting machines, embroidery machines, vacuum cleaners : Singer, Brother, Janome, Miele - Sewingmachinesplus.com. You can click on the different brands and check out the prices and the features.

I recommend you buy as much machine as you can comfortably afford. I'm a fan of Janome machines but there are many good machines out there. My machine is electronic. One feature it doesn't have is auto thread clipping and I wish it did. The needle up/down feature is very good to have. Decorative stitches are very nice but you don't need 300 of them in the beginning (or ever). Another good thing to do is visit your local sewing machine dealer(s) and test drive some machines.

Good Luck - buying a sewing machine is very exciting.

[EnumclawGramma]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Most of the major sewing machine brands (Janome, Brother, Bernina, Pfaff, Baby Lock, Singer) have machines in a wide range of features and brands. I recommend going to a website that carries most of them and preview them. One site that carries a wide range of brands is: Sewing machines, quilting machines, embroidery machines, vacuum cleaners : Singer, Brother, Janome, Miele - Sewingmachinesplus.com. You can click on the different brands and check out the prices and the features.


I recommend you buy as much machine as you can comfortably afford. I'm a fan of Janome machines but there are many good machines out there. My machine is electronic. One feature it doesn't have is auto thread clipping and I wish it did. The needle up/down feature is very good to have. Decorative stitches are very nice but you don't need 300 of them in the beginning (or ever). Another good thing to do is visit your local sewing machine dealer(s) and test drive some machines.

Good Luck - buying a sewing machine is very exciting.

This is all super good advice! And all so true! I would rather shop for a new sewing machine than a CAR!

[auntiemern]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

The best machine for you is one that has the features you want, and are helpful in quilting (needle down is a must), and within your price range. Go to as many dealers as you can and test drive what they sell. Each quilter has their favorite brand so you need to get what you are comfortable with and is easy for you to use. To many bells and whistles can be daunting for a newbie. Good luck in your search and be sure to share with us when you find it. BTW Welcome to the forum.

[GrammaBabs]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Welcome,, I agree with all of the above... the test driving is important to find your comfort zone.
for lower price.. Brother,,, more but in the best quality category.. Janome... High end Phaff and Bernina... Hus, Elna not as good as they used to be I think,, baby lock great,, but the first two are my favorites. then there is the Singer 500 series that is simple cheap but a real workhouse and basic...

[songbird857]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Ditto on the test driving!! Take your time and take notes. Do you have a machine at all right now?? What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is a must-have, what can you live without... much good advice already given - have fun!

[Pandabear]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

When I was looking for a machine, I made sure to go and test out what was in my area. I wanted to see what they were like and ask questions. I ended up with a Brother because I really like how comfortable I felt with it. Not to mention the salesman answered ALL my questions - even the stupid ones.

So, my best piece of advice is to try out as many machines as you can as part of your research.

[BobW]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

I'm picking up my third machine tomorrow. I started with a 1960's Capitol Zig-Zag machine. It runs really well, but it is so heavy I'm not able to carry it or move it. I purchased a used Pfaff Hobby 4260 from a sewing machine dealer. It doesn't have the features that I want, the main one being needle down. The dealer I work with has a trade-in Janome and I'm picking it up tomorrow. It is cleaned, serviced and he is putting a year parts and labor warranty on it. I test drove it and loved it. The nice thing about finding a new to you machine at a dealer is that you can test drive them and see how they feel. My dealer has used machines from $100-$2,000. He is a Bernina and Pfaff dealer and has been in business for 12 years. He answers my questions and the one problem I had with the Pfaff, he took care of the day I walked it in, even though I didn't have an appointment.

I don't know how long I will have the Janome, but I'm sure I will trade with the same dealer when I get a different machine. I also kept the old Capitol so that if I ever decide to do FMQ. It has a large opening and the feed dogs drop with the push of a button. It is also a heavy duty machine that should handle FMQ.

Find the best machine that does what you want and buy it. You may want an upgrade sometime in the future. And also, welcome to the forums, I have learned so much and know that if I run into something I can't figure out I have a great resource at my fingertips.

[ozziepuppy]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Start out with a machine with a very nice straight stitch that can easily go through multiple layers of fabric and batting without having a problem. This will make the piecing, the quilting, and the binding much easier. A really good machine is an OLD (mechanical) Bernina 830 or 930 IF you can find one. The current mechanical Bernina is also awesome (around $1000). You may not get bells and whistles but neither will you have tension problems, thread problems, broken needles, etc. You won't need to worry about your machine and can concentrate on designs, fabrics, patterns, etc. Bernina has an annual sale (July or August I think) where everything is 25% off (that is when I got my walking foot).

Other people will have other good ideas, too. I think people are generally quite happy with their Janomes, Babylocks, and Brothers as well. Whatever you are looking at, open the machine and be sure that it has a metal frame, even if the metal is coated in plastic. My understanding is that machines that are completely plastic tend to have more problems in the long run because they get "unadjusted" quite easily.

[icul8rg8r]

Re: What is best machine for new quilter

Hi,

I want to begin quilting but don't know what machine would be best for a beginner. I want something that will last but not be over the top in price either. Any ideas?
Blessings to all!

I'm a fairly new quilter, too. I test drove a few machines and selected the Pfaff Ambition 1.0 because:
1. Under $1000
2. Built-in Walking Foot (known as "IDT"), where I'm able to engage the walking foot AND use a quilting foot (such as the 1/4" Foot or the Stitch in the Ditch Foot) at the same time. The IDT is very fast & simple to engage (does not require you to remove the shank, etc). The IDT also allows me to quilt/sew through many layers of fabric with ease.
3. Wide/Deep enough "neck" to get a rolled-up twin/full size quilt through.

There were two features that I **THOUGHT** I really wanted, that were available on the Brother and not on the Pfaff. However, after test-driving various models I decided that the IDT was more important (and worked better than the Brother with a Walking Foot). Those two features were the auto thread snips, and a better needle threader (Pfaff has one, but Brother's was easier). Like I said, neither were a deal breaker for me, because of that IDT. To find the auto thread snips on the Pfaff, I would have had to jump up to a much more expensive model.

I loved all the fancy built-in stitches of both the Brother and the Pfaff, but truth be told, I don't use them much. Like others said you want to make sure your machine can do a really nice STRAIGHT stitch through multiple layers of fabric - that's the one you will use the most. So make sure you compare the PFAFF IDT and other models using a Walking Foot to compare apples to apples and see which you prefer.