Rhonda Lee

First I am a quilter. Then everything else falls into the sewing category. I have a wonderful Baby Lock Ellisimo sewing and embroidery machine. When I was making my decision to buy a new machine I had not thought about the embroidery aspect of any machine out there. I went into the dealership to buy a machine for quilting. I walked out being the proud owner of something much more than I had ever anticipated, with promises given by the dealership my quilting would be sensational. Up to this point all my sewing machines were either hand me downs or garage sale specials all set up on card tables and I used the dickens out of them. I have made 100's of quilts. I have had my Ellisimo for 3 years and have been very happy with it. However, learning the embroidery aspect of it has been a constant learning experience. I've spent money on additional software and upgrades all with the expectation of things being a bit easier to handle. I don't think anything has been easier -- just more learning. I have not been satisfied with the results of quilting motifs used with my embroidery machine work on my quilts. I have been happy with many other items made in the hoop and it has been an enjoyable experience. But not so with the quilting. So my point is..know what you want before buying. Am I sorry I bought the machine I did, not really, but I am somewhat disappointed in my expectations of what I could do with the quilting aspect in all of this.

Lori S

My advice is to take some classes , they will assist you in getting you to fully enjoy all the capabilities. The dealership where you bought the machine , probably has classes. I have looked at that machine and would not consider purchasing it unless I had lots of classes , there is so much to that machine.

Gay

Rhonda, I agree with you. Buying the machine is only the beginning of the learning curve, there are so many other variables to add, what with computer programs etc. Check out http://www.jennyhaskins.com/ Look at her Boot Camp classes, due to begin in Sept. You may think it's expensive, but I think it will be well worth doing it. Jenny started making embroidery designs and quilts, then developed other ways of assembling them. She is an encyclopedia for this craft, and if you choose not to do the boot camp, I'm sure there are cd's to tempt your creative juices.

Cheers

Lyncat

I've had an Ellisimo Gold for a year and a half, and I'm still learning something new with every project! I've had the most success with the quilting motifs that are built into the machine, but am experimenting with other brands of motifs. I love this machine. It's just amazing.

Rhonda Lee

I do love my machine! And I am happy with it. It's just that the embroidery part of it has cost me much more than I anticipated and I'm still not where I'd like to be with it. I have made coin purses and hand bags and table runners and Christmas ornaments, mug rugs and much more by using the embroidery feature but what I want more of is the quilting. There has not been a lot of available classes on that one.

Lori, thank you for your feedback and yes I have taken classes and they helped tremendously, but before that I devoured the workbook that come with the machine and I had learned most before I took the classes.

Gay, I checked out Jenney Haskins website and was amazed at what she does. Thank you for the info. I'm still looking for more on quilts.

Lyncat, I know your feelings well about your Ellisimo. (something of a love affair isn't it). I've updated my machine to the Gold level and have enjoyed all of the features I know about and I too, am still learning. But I guess that keeps my brain working and that is a good thing!

I just really want to use it with quilting too!

cathyre

Sad you have not been happy with the standard of the quilting with your machine , I have had
great success with my Bernina 830 and look to it to quilt as much as I can , but I do agree it is a learning curve , but one I have enjoyed . Cathy

Sandygirl

To clarify.....She is referring to using the embroidery function to quilt her projects. Not the sewing function. I have a Janome 9900 combo and a Janome 9700 combo. I learned early on that the machine embroidery designs for "quilting" do not have pretty backs. I would suggest quilting the batting and top with the embroidery design motifs then finish the real quilting of 3 layers using the sewing function. Embroidery is embroidery.

sandy

nabobw

I have a diamond and embroider on my quilts, quilting them, all the time. I also have the 4d software so I can digitized outlines of patterns to use for quilting. I very seldom use a quilting motif.

Nammie to 7

I learned (the hard way) that when using the embroidery machine to quilt you need to set the tension so it is balanced to the middle -- when in embroidery mode the top thread is pulled all the way to the back.

wolph33

me too-learned the hard way too