Meet My Machines

So, yesterday I listed the machines of my past and today I'm going to tell you about the machines of my present and join up with the Meet my Machine Blog Hop.

A few years ago when I retired from a rewarding but emotionally draining health career I knew that I wanted to renew my sewing hobby.  I didn't think my Sears Kenmore machine was up to the task.  In hindsight I think at least part of the problem was me and not the machine, but nonetheless I was convinced that a new machine was needed to maximize my experience.  Here's the funny part:  I was NOT going to quilt.  I was going to do crafty sewing, but quilting was not on my radar.  So my little Bernina 330 seemed just right for the task.  It's not fancy, but it's well made:

In all honesty I couldn't image ever needing anything more than what that machine had to offer.  And then I made one quilt and another and another and suddenly smashing them through that little machine became rather frustrating.  And I started to wish that I could reverse my decorative stitches for certain applications and I lusted after a stitch regulator.  So a mere two years into things I was looking longingly at new machines.  But  I never did bond with my local Bernina dealer and the next closest one is an hour away.  I wanted a local dealer and hopefully one that I liked.

Then, I discovered Baby Lock.  I visited a different fabric store and instantly liked the friendly helpful and enthusiastic staff.  So now I have a Baby Lock Elegante 3 living at my house and I love it.  It has some great features like automatic thread cutting, stitches that come in two sizes and reverse, a knee lifter, and even an embroidery module.  I'm still busy trying out all of the options.  I'm super pleased with all of the results so far.  (Not to mention that the price point is much more affordable than a Bernina with comparable features)

Since I switched brands, I didn't trade in the Bernina and it still comes in handy for travel to a guild meeting or to piece while I'm trying to embroider on the Baby Lock.  It's probably more machine than I need, but I've managed to use lots of the features to good advantage. 

I'm linking up with the Meet My Machine blog hop.  I'm really enjoying reading about all the different machines out there.  I think going with a brand that is sold and serviced near you is a good start.  I like having friendly, helpful people available to ask questions of and it's great knowing that someone is available to fix  problems that might arise.   I'd encourage you to hop on.  There are four different blog posts each day this week and then a link up here of other bloggers sharing their machines.  There were also questions about sewing rooms and storage, but mine is sort of in transition now so maybe I'll save that for another day.