BeckiQuilts

Please let me know who uses Baby Lock esante. Looked at one today and fell in love. Will it be good for light quilting, and embroidery? And what about the learning curve. Will I get my money's worth, or will it stay in the shop more than at my house? Thank you QB friends.

sammie

I wish I could answer your questions.. I just bought a Babylock Ellamiso. I love it, but have a lot to learn. I have had 2 classes .... one on just learning my machine and the other on embroidery. I'm still lost on the embroidery. I have been quilting and love it. I have been pratcing on the embroidery but still have so much to learn. Hope others can help you.

Dolphyngyrl

Embroidery, I wouldn't know, but I have the Espire for almost 2 years. I love it. It quilts lovely if I can get the hand motions down but the stitch quality for the FMQ is excellent, does the esante have AHA that keeps the stitches great and I rarely have to adjust tension even when changing threads fabrics and thicknesses. Most people love their babylock embroidery machines so I can only imagine it will be great for that as well, There are so many stitches that can be used for quilting. Learning curve is pretty easy, however once you are used to your fancy machine you will miss these features when you use your cheaper machines. I do. Babylocks are little workhorses so it should be fine for light quilting.

runninL8

I bought my Esante - I believe around 1997 or 1998. I have been using it steadily since. It is a workhorse for embroidery. I use it very little for general sewing - use my Bernina for that. The learning curve is fairly short - just begin with some of the patterns and fonts built into the machine. I use the Pallette software program for lots of the editing and for using designs downloaded from various sites on the internet. Overall - It's a great machine and I have had almost no trouble with it! If I can answer more specific questions - let me know.

emmy

I have the Babylock Quest Plus with the built in walking foot for quilting. Great machine, does not do embroidery.

ChaiQuilter

I have an Ellisimo and I love it. No problems at all. The manual is extremely detailed, so always take a look at it before panicking! lol

scowlkat

I've had my Ellisimo for a year and a half now and having used many other machines have to say this is the easiest learning curve ever! I am very impressed with the documentation too! Can't imagine any Babylock products that wouldn't be the same. I have a friend with an Evolve serger and it is the same for her.

JNCT14

Ihave an old Baby Lok serger withthe manual threading and a Baby Lok Quilters Pro mid arm that is just fabulous. I can't say enough about the machines - they really put thought into how people use them and added all kinds of features that make it so easy!

vickig626

I have the Esante BLN (the newer model) and absolutely love this machine. My previous machine was a Babylock Quilter's Choice and was perfectly happy with that until I test-drove the Esante. I've had my Esante 3 years and it was only in the shop once for cleaning and replace a cracked bobbin case (too many broken needles- oops my bad).

From what I've seen so far, the Babylock machines are very easy to learn and use. The manuals are well written and you should be up and sewing within minutes.

My embroidery unit is the same -- very easy to learn and use.

Babylock makes a great, reliable machine. I'm hoping to upgrade one more time and would love the Elisimo but will probably go with the Ellegante 3 (more in my price range).

I know the Esante BL is the older model but I'm sure it's a great machine. I would just say try it out and see what you think.

NanaCsews2

I have the Ellegante and will someday upgrade to another Babylock-hopefully the Ellisimo (Gold??) (I was told the Ellegante 3 has a few upgrades from my Ellegante, and some of those I already put on my machine). I asked several questions regarding repairs on the Babylocks, and was told that very seldom do they need repairs. Yearly maintenance-YES! Simply clean it often, especially when going from one project to the next. Use the right needle and thread for your projects. They are workhorses, yet sew very very smoothly. I am in the process of embroidering flour sack tea towels for gifts with the Ellegante, and I love that I can just go from the Ellegante to my Babylock Jane and piece blocks after the first couple of stitches are started, returning whenever to change the color of embroidery thread. I have used the included embroidery patterns, used those 13000+ design discs on Ebay, and purchased several from Emblibrary.com. Every single design I have used has stitched out perfectly. My machine uses every brand of thread I have tried, and I use Schmetz needles. There is a workbook for the Babylocks, and I have printed off and use the instruction manual from Babylock.com. I have never taken a class-I am all self-taught with sewing. The instructions, workbooks, and manuals are very easy to follow, with pictures included. The key is to practice practice practice. I still refer to the books after all these years for a refresher. I don't know anyone that has regretted purchasing a Babylock.