A BIG Week Ahead!

I have always been a one sewing machine girl. I learned to sew on my Mom's Elna so when I bought my 1st machine after I got married it was an easy choice to buy an Elna. This was in 1984.  

It wasn't until I took a beginning quilting class in the winter of 2002 that I started getting the itch for a new machine that was quilt friendly. Once again, my Pfaff was an easy choice. One of my aunts who was an avid quilter raved about hers, I had a local dealer 20 minutes away and I was able to test drive it. Total love at first sight! The IDT is so amazing and I just love piecing on this machine. 

This fall as I dove into actually finishing quilts (meaning quilting them!) I had my first Day of Discontent with my Pfaff while working on Pink, White & Black Strings in early November. I was so immersed in shoving that quilt through my machine that I was startled to look up and see my husband home from work and peeking around the doorway. "I thought you could pay someone to do that for you?" he said. Obviously my frustration was written all over my face! After a short discussion, he sweetly suggested that I should look into a new machine BEFORE I had a chance to tell him that I was already dreaming about one. Love him!

Next step was a LOT of reading on blogs, on quilting boards and sewing/quilting sites. The local dealer where I bought my Pfaff closed a few years back. After about a week of this I was leaning toward a Janome Horizon. Big investment but a lot of machine and a HUGE harp. But the more I read the more I kept being drawn to the Juki TL2010q.

The TL2010q is a semi industrial machine and is straight stitch only. It's designed for quilting and can be used on a quilting frame which is a nice option to have down the road. Of course I have to learn to FMQ first!  

It's a big decision to choose a new machine to invest in. The good news is that most quilters fall in love with whichever machine they choose and it's really a personal thing. I chose not to look at a new Pfaff because of a persistent opinion out there in CyberLand that the newer models were lacking the quality of the older ones. And, no matter what other machines I considered... the Juki TL2010q just stood out to me. 

I'm a person who starts out my decision making process by absorbing a LOT of information, thinking it over, reading some more but often in the end I make the decision based on intuition. It just feels right!

Then, the last week of December when I was quite set with my plan this machine suddenly caught my eye.

This is a Juki HZL F600 featuring loads of decorative stitches, free arm breakdown and several of the same features that drew me to the 2010q like a thread cutter and knee lift. I'm wanting to do more applique and the blanket stitch looks amazing! Oh boy... now what to do?

The Juki HZL F600 is due to arrive tomorrow and the Juki TL2010q on Wednesday. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Early Birthday to me! I am so excited I can hardly stand it.