New Juki!

I think I mentioned, recently - that I have been fighting with my Janome 6500. It has betrayed me and I went looking for a replacement. I did some test drives and a lot of online searching, before settling on the Juki. This is the machine I almost bought when I decided on the Janome because I wanted the zig-zag (which the Juki does not do) back in 2004.

In the background you can see my Pueblo quilt made of pieced rust dyed fabrics. This quilt has been in a drawer for a very long time. I had to abandon using rust dyed fabrics because my Janome could not handle them. The electronics would just freeze up.

When I tested the Brother - I took this quilt with me. The Brother did not freeze up, but it did skip stitches when I tried quilting over a seam. Natch on the Brother.

The biggest downfall for going with the Juki (which had an impact on my decision back in 2004) is the fact that there is no Juki dealer in town and thus no place to do a test drive.

However, this machine is recommended by several friends. I wanted speed, reliability, space between the arm and the needle. The Juki gives me all three at an affordable price. Plus - it fits into my sewing table where the Janome used to sit!

I do not want a long arm, although I considered a sit down model of the HQ16 and the Tin Lizzie Queen Quilter that comes built into a table. I did not want to spend the equivalent of a used car on a sewing machine, and I did not want to completely rearrange my studio for new equipment.

So far, I am really happy with my purchase!