Crafts
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Question for quilters
I am a beginner at quilting and would like to upgrade my sewing machine to have a quilting feature. I don't want to spend thousands or event several hundreds of dollars but rather an affordable machine that will serve as a steppin stone for my limited skills. Any suggestions?
Re: Question for quilters
What kind of machine do you have now? What do you like about it?
What kind of quilting features are you looking for? Just a straight stitch and the ability to move the feed dogs up and down?
I have this machine and I like it a lot:
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-XR9000-Sewing-Machine/dp/B002ROVEY8
I had to buy the walking foot (about $30) and the free motion quilting foot ($12) separately, so you're looking at a total investment of around $300 with extra odds and ends you may want.
I've been quilting about 2 years, and the upgrade to a machine with the features I want will cost a couple thousand dollars, so for the money this is a great value.
This machine is almost the same (a couple fewer stitches and no alphabet), and about half the price since it includes quilting accessories (but not the walking foot):
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11748478&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|90608|28071&N=4047457&Mo=12&No=8&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=28071&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=
I bought it for my mom last October for her birthday and she really likes it.
I know a few other people on this board also have this machine, and it is mentioned in the FAQs at the top of the board. There are other machine suggestions there too, so check it out.
Stand up for something you believe in.
My machine now is a cheapo I got at an auction. It has worked fine for years but is finally starting to have problems and it is not worth getting serviced. Since I am new to quilting I'd like a machine I can handle now but also grow with. I think the ability to move the feed dogs would be helpful and give me more use.
Either of these machines are probably good. I have used mine from completely teaching myself how to sew to making small baby quilts to free motion quilting queen sized blankets on it. I think you'd have more than enough room to grow on either machine. It will take you a while to get to the "outgrown" point, and I've included a couple of examples of why you'd outgrow the machines.
Reasons I am outgrowing my machine now:
-I want more than the straight line right, centered, and left position straight line quilting options
-I want a machine that has built in feeders on the normal foot, eliminating the need for a walking foot
-I want more space in the actual arm of the machine (between the needle and the body)
There isn't a machine that will do all of those things for less than a couple thousand dollars.
Stand up for something you believe in.