So here's my machine story.
I have had the Brother Innov-Is 8060 for 5 years now.
Some of its decorative stitches didn't work well - they have never worked well, but I thought it was me who couldn't set it to function properly. So I decided to get a technician to fix them and guess my surprise when I found out that the problem was not me, but the machine. As it was out of warranty I decided to go to the service to ask for help. They said that it'll take a loooot of time to fix it. I mentioned that I've been meaning to try embroidery and really, really, really would love a machine with a bit longer arm than my innov-is, so they offered me the 9000 something:) I started looking for reviews about it and stuck upon one really helpful site I read a lot and decided to write a review about my Brother. By weighing the pros and cons of that machine I found out that the things I don't like about it highly exceed the things I like, so I started thinking whether it would be a good idea investing in another Brother... At the same time I bought a Husqvarna for my mother - a used one and fell in love with it. I couldn't leave it for a whole month, but even that I liked it a lot I knew this wasn't my machine either. I spent many, many days and nights reading reviews and calculating costs and finally decided I won't take the embroidery and sewing Brother, but will choose a separate machine for both actions. I had a great luck with the embroidery part - a used, perfectly functioning Janome 200E. As I live in Bulgaria we cannot count on ebay to buy and sell heavy machines, so it was a great luck. It's perfect for my humble embroidery needs:) It works alone and I'm very, very happy that I chose the separate functions alternative.
For a quilting machine... after a looot of additional thinking and reading I decided to buy the Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0. As it has a large arm and the word "quilt" in its very name I had never expected what am I "investing" in(I bought a new one for a great deal of money). It took me a lot of time and effort to become acquainted with that machine. I don't mean choosing the programs and adjusting the stitches etc. - just the way it sews. I had various thread tension problems, it even didn't want to free motion quilt and when it did quilt it broke thread every few seconds. I did everything I could, everything I found on the internet as a possible solution, but with no satisfactory result. I kept repeating myself "You need time to adjust, you need time to learn your hands to work together with her"... Things changed a bit after I got my Pfaff quilting tool kit for the additional 150 euro :( It free motion quilts FINALLY, but the pleasure of quilting on it is all gone. Now I only check my stitches on both sides and pray I don't have to thread and rethread. If I have to answer the question "Would you recommend it?" I would definitely say NO - I have never spent so much money on something as unuseful as that machine... Anyway I'll keep sewing on it - it's my choice and I have to take it, but I'm definitely hunting for THE free motion quilting machine :) This time it will be a semi industrial full automatic (probably a second hand one):) I would really love to buy a machine that I can put on a quilting frame one day when I'm big enough to do so:) Any suggestions?
