Get a drop in table setting for your machine.... The table supporting the machine has just as much to do with good machine quilting as the machine itself.



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Yep! Sure could. I am at my office and going from memory only. Do you have info on the "Free" machine?

Charae, Any chance it could be a "Free" sewing machine ? I love to hunt info about old SMs but couldn't find anything about a Freedom make.

Sue

Thanks, Margo. I'll get that information when I go home tonight. I appreciate the help.
Sorry, everyone for the typo in my original question. I love seeing a mistake just as I'm hitting the submit button!

Charae, are there any other markings on the machine? Is Freedom the brand name, or is it the model name? Maybe if you could post a photo, someone could help.

I have a Freedom sewing machine and cabinet that belonged to my grandmother and would like to find out a little more about it. Can't find anything on the web. Does anyone have know anything about this particular machine? Thanks!

Some terrific ideas and thoughts. Thanks so much! Now I can spend the next few days doing more research. And then I think I'll need to go do some test driving!

I did SO much research on this very topic this year LOL! I finally settled on an Elna 7300, and could not be happier. Elnas are made by Janome, but to Elna specs so not the same machines. A close cousin of the 7300 is a Janome 6600MC, very popular with quilters. I have almost 9" of throat space. But with the variety of stitches and ease of combining (and setting combinations into memory), it's a great machine for multiple applications. I truly believe, for the money, one could not do better than an Elna 7300. The one difficulty is lack of dealer saturation, but I was able to get mine online for under $1100, new with warranty.

http://www.elnausa.com/en-us/model_sewing_elna-7300.php

Good luck, and happy shopping!

I am attaching a link:

http://www.pfaff.com/us/18574.html for the Pfaff Grand Quilter. It is a neat machine...has feed dogs...can be used to quilt on a table (w/o a stitch regulator) and has an optional walking foot for straight line quilting. The sewing bed(harp...space, etc) is longer than my Bernina 200 or 450, so you might like that. I love my Berninas and use them for machine quilting on smaller projects but use my Handi Quilter sit down for larger quilts.

The Pfaff Grand Quilter does not have a zig zag that I can remember, which would be important for freeform emb. But I would ask a Pfaff dealer. I like the fact that you can use it with a quilt frame and even though you don't have as much space as a long arm, it sounds better than your current domestic machine.

I guess most of us like what we are used to.... In which case (now don't laugh) I should recommend you look for a secondhand Frister & Rossman Cub4 from the 1970s.

Seriously: When I have saved up enough money for a machine with a few bells and whistles, I'll plan a proper 'campaign' during a holiday. I'll prepare a stack of small projects at home, the type that need all the sort of thing I either normally do on my machine (decent invisible appliqué) or would love to be able to do (very small machine blanket stitch a la Bernina). I'll then phone the dealers of several machine makes and arrange for me to go and test drive their machine. I will take as much time as I feel like, and I won't be pressured by over-zealous sales people. I'll then go home with my test pieces and a ton of written notes, sit down, look at everything, read everything, and then...... yes, you got it.... buy a machine that'll hopefully prove to be a marriage made in heaven.

Until then I listen to what my quilting buddies say, and I love workshops where machines are provided (a sneaky test drive), so when the time comes I may not feel like having to 'hit' every single make of sewing machine that exists.

And they better convince me that their after sales service is superb!

Laura, I keep my fingers crossed that whatever you decide will be just right for you.

This is Handi-Quilter's sit-down model. It is their machine head (with a 16" throat space) mounted in a sit-down cabinet. It is a fabulous QUILTING machine, but it's not a sewing machine and because it doesn't have feed dogs it also can't do embroidery.

This is the machine that David Taylor (Episode 406) uses to quilt his wonderful quilts.

The Handiquilter has a table model that has a large harp. Margo has posted on this I believe.

I love my Bernina 200. I don't know the going rate for them anymore tho. I even pinch-hit with my Bernina 1130 at times. I do all my own quilting on the 200.

Janome just came out with a 7700 that has an 11 or 12" throat (gee, I own one and should know this!) It is an awesome machine and won't break the bank!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois