MargeD

I feel your pain. I usually go into withdrawal if my Janome 4000, has to go in for it's routine "physical exam", however, I was fortunate enough to find an older Brother machine for $0, best price ever. It really does a great job stitching, in fact I think it's shorter zig-zag stitch is better, but at least I have an alternative. I had an older Kenmore machine, which served me well for many, many years, and it was exceptional at thicker fabrics and quilts. Unfortunately, I managed to burn out the motor - very disconcerting to have smoke coming out of your machine.

callen

I think we can all relate to this! We all have our favourites & when we have to let them go for one reason or another, it's hard. Stay patient, I hope time flies for you. Enjoy your Diamond Royale........it's an awesome machine. I traded mine in for the new Husqvarna Epic & I said, the Epic had better be good to beat the Diamond. It's a pretty amazing machine but the Diamond is also pretty awesome itself.

franc36

I can identify with you. My favorite machine was my Bernina. Several years ago, the machine was in the shop for repairs for about six weeks. After a few weeks, I got out my Featherweight which I had never used. In almost no time, the Featherweight became my favorite. Now, it is the only machine that I use for piecing. The Bernina is used for appliqué and FMQ. I am so glad that I finally started using the Featherweight. I love, love, love that machine and I can service and repair it myself.

pegstar

Try the 301, you might like it....made my granddaughters wedding quilt on 301, it did a great job...like it better
then my Featherweight

Peg

2manyhobbies

Oh dear. I have three machines, and I have to say, I like my Singer Featherweight the best, but I use all 3 for different things so I'm not really attached to any. I like all the suggestions given, but Onebyone's I should follow, so that would be a good place for you to start. It's amazing how fast days fly by and it will be March before you know it.

quiltingbuddy

I feel your pain. It's hard to be without my favorite machine. I'm having withdrawals just thinking about taking mine to the shop for servicing and it needs it. I think I'll just breakdown and do it after reading here and either use a different machine for a few days/weeks (I shudder to think weeks) or start organizing. I got those comic book cards for Christmas and haven't started organizing my fabric on them yet. Darn, I really want to start a new project instead. Isn't that always the way it is?