That's the one. I bought it the other day but haven't watched it yet. Our quilt store is the candy store in the movie. I have no idea if my quilt is actually seen in the movie but I'll watch and let you know.
Anxiously awaiting the verdict if the quilt got in the movie or not... what a privelege to have the store used.
Speaking of quilting stores and sewing... Meggie, you and EStewie have me really wanting to replace my old machine before it totally gives up on me. I've been looking and have a number that I'm considering. What machine do all the rest of you sewers use? How do you like it and why? What is your dream machine?
My sewing machine is an antique tank! Just kidding, it is a Kenmore that my mom bought used from a garage sale in 1982! Nothing fancy, just straight and zig-zag stitch, but is metal (not plastic) and very sturdy. Sometimes I wish I had a new machine, but the ones they make these days are made of plastic and too lightweight to just sit on the table.
One day (when I get into our new house and have a sewing room) I would like to get a new machine in a cabinet. I'm not ready to shop for a new machine until I can actually HAVE a new machine, so don't even know whats out there to choose from.
Gee. Now you've got me thinking. I have a Singer that is in a cabinet which I used to make outfits for my kids...and myself. It eventually developed some issues plus, the kids grew up and I was working, so it has been stored and ignored for years. Once upon a time I made some beautiful stuff. Rather than getting a whole new machine, do you think it would be worth having it brought back to life? ......... At night, when the kids were in bed, I'd often have a Barbie doll handy and would make something for her from the leftover fabric scraps. The pathetic workman ship in the over-the-counter Barbie doll clothes drove me to distraction.
I bought Emily a sewing machine for Christmas. My aunt's best friend is a home ec teacher so I asked for her input when I was shopping. She said that Singer was sold and is no longer the same quality as the Singer of old. She strongly recommended against getting a Singer. She recommended that I get Emily a Sears brand machine. She also recommended some higher end machines like Husquvarna but since Emily is only 12, we went with a Kenmore.
This was Emily's request, so I'm hoping she enjoys it. My mom got a great deal on a sewing machine case at Joann's on Black Friday, and everyone has bought her sewing accessories and fabrics and patterns for Christmas.
I'm not sure who makes Kenmore anymore but they've always been good machines---absolute work horses and reasonably priced. I had two of them over the years and they were great. I made my own clothes, kids clothes, drapes, quilts.
For piecing and quilting, I love my Pfaff because it has a built in walking foot to use on several layers of fabric. You can use a specialty foot as well as the walking foot which you can't do on machines that have a separate walking foot. Elna now has a built in walking foot on their 'quilting' machines. I've had mine about 10 years and the most expensive repair I've had was about $80 when I managed to drag a pin into my bobbin case and jammed up the whole thing. Quilters really use their machines, too. It's not like sewing clothes. We can have our machines going for hours at a time.
I also have a Brother 1500 which is a basic straight stitch machine with a longer arm that I use for free motion quilting (ie with the feed dogs down). I use it for the bigger quilts, although my friend borrows it and uses it for piecing too.
If I was going to buy another one, I'd look at the Elna 7200 which is a combination of both my machines. The local quilt shop has one for use by students and hasn't even had it serviced in 4 years. It just keeps going.
kfc, what a great gift for Emily. I hope it's the start of a love for sewing and fabric, and appeals to her creativity. Most quilt stores have classes for kids that she might like. If she can sew a 1/4" seam, she can make a quilt.
Ruff, about your older machine, I'd take it to a proper Singer repair place and ask them. My Mum had a high end Singer that my Dad had bought her as a gift but she'd hardly used it. I had it serviced for my dil to use and was told that it wasn't worth putting any more money into it if it had problems. On the other hand, a lot of quilters use the old Singer Featherweights for all their piecing and just love them. There's actually quite a market for old Singers.
KFC, what a wonderful gift for Emily! I can only imagine how excited she will be... I started sewing back when I was six and would have loved having my own machine.
It's nice to see how many sewing people we have here :) KarenGa, I hear your concerns about replacing a good sturdy machine with something plastic. I've got the same concerns as I look to replace my machine. I got it back in 1978 and have never had it serviced/repaired, never replaced a belt, never had any problems in all those years. The bobbins are the plastic sort that unscrew from the bottom and the top is larger than the bottom. I've not seen any of them in years so when the ones I have are used up, or the bobbin winder decides not to work anymore, my machine is history as the bobbins don't fit in any of the bobbin winding machines. BTW, it's a Singer (1425N to be precise ;) )
I've been concerned about these all electric machines and whether or not they'd hold up like the old ones but they sure do look nice. There's one I'm drooling over in spite of the electronics which can embroider as well as quilt and straight sew... It's a Janome Memory Craft 11000. I'm sure it's waaaay out of my price range (haven't been able to see any ads with a price on it) but it doesn't stop me from drooling ;) Oh, the things I could do with that baby... and Meggie's Elna 7200 looks pretty good, too (but haven't seen a price on it either). I'm having a LOT of fun looking at the various ads but all the brands are confusing after a while. If I'm going to retire my old machine, I want to replace it with something that's going to last as long. That baby has seen a LOT of action- most of my clothes, most of the clothes for my 3 boys until they got in junior high, lots of quilts, draperies, doll clothes, stuffed toys, and soooo many other things. It's seen marathon sewing weekends which ran from sun up to midnight when I'd finally fall into bed. I want something that's going to hold up under the work ahead...
Ruffles, you need to get that old friend of yours out and get it dusted off. Sounds like you had some pretty good times sewing on it. I'd take it in and get it adjusted.
There are just way too many machines out there to be able to make a decision quickly and it's such a shame not to take advantage of some of these sales. I just would hate to get something on sale and not be happy with it...
Not sure how accurate the info is, but I was told that Janome makes the Kenmore- and Janome is supposed to be a pretty solid, good manufacturer. After looking around a great deal, I think I'm going to go with a Kenmore. There are a number of different machines I'd love to have but they either only do straight sewing or do so many things that they are out of my price range. The Kenmore I've got my eye on will combine quilting with sewing and adds monogramming, which would be nice. I'm going to head over to Sears later and check out the one they've got in the store. :)
Thanks for the help, everyone...
And then the next thing to find is Meggie's movie, which started this thread :)
If you are going to put out money for a new machine, I'd suggest that you at least get one with a 'needle down' feature where you can touch a button so that the needle stays in the down position when you stop sewing. It makes such a difference especially when you are quilting. My Brother has a thread cutter as well that is great. At the touch of a button, it cuts top and bottom thread and the machine is ready to start sewing again. If you are quilting the middle of a quilt, you don't have to stop and dig under the quilt to cut the thread, then move the quilt.
I don't use a lot of the features, but those two plus the built in walking foot on the Pfaff and now Elna are invaluable to me.
Thanks, Meggie :) Since I'm new at machine quilting itself, those suggestions are well noted and much appreciated. I have added them to my tablet of notes to take with me for when I go to look the machines over :)
Thanks again, so very much. You're right, if I'm going to spend a good bit of money on a new machine, I'd like to make sure it has the features I want. It may cost a little more but it would be rotten to save $20-50 bucks and wish I had them for the next 30 yrs...
One other suggestion, light. Be sure you can drop the feeddogs easily on the machine. I remember a quilt class where the teacher had just bought a $3000 Bernina only to find it was so computerized she couldn't drop them without a huge program change.
