Janome Horizon 7700QCP
I now use a Janome Horizon 7700QCP as my main machine to do my sewing and quilting. It was a birthday present as an upgrade to my Viking Lily 545. I really like the Viking but the Janome gives me more room to free motion quilt.
It makes working on some of my quilts much easier as the arm is longer and gives me more reach. I have sewn a lot of quilts and table runners on it, learning to free motion quilt on the smaller ones. I have a number of feet and other notions. My husband made me a table for my Viking that he modified to fit the larger machine. It allows the machine to be inserted into the table so that the machine is level with the table. You can see this in the photo albums page.
I would recommend the Horizon to anyone interested. It makes quilting a lot easier for me and I have gotten used to all of the new options.
Viking Lily 545
I used to use my Viking Lily 545 as my main machine to do my sewing and quilting. But now I use it as a back up and when I travel. I got the machine several years ago after upgrading from a Viking Sophia. I got the Sophia after upgrading from a Huskystar. My upgrades have stopped for a while! I was able to upgrade as I won a couple of jackpots in some Bingo games my mother and I went to. Actually the Bingo pots were less than the cost of the machine, but don't tell my husband!
The Lily 545 is a nice little machine and does me fine. I have sewn over 20 various quilts and table runners on it. I have a number of feet and other notions.
I would recommend the Lily 545 to anyone interested. You will have to get a used one, since they no longer make these. However, my sewing teachers have always told me to never get rid of this machine!
Huskylock 905
I also have a Huskylock 905 serger that we got to compliment my gear. I use it for various projects and such that require a serger. I have had some issues with it in the past when it would lock up, but they replaced the machine and it has been running fine ever since. I don't really sew with it, but for those times when a serger is needed, it comes in very handy.
I would recommend getting a serger if you ever get into projects that need one. I like my Huskylock but I know there are better ones out there but cost more.
Janome 350e
I use a Janome 350e for my embroidery machine. I like having a dedicated embroidery machine rather than one that doubles up as a sewing machine. That way when I am doing embroidery projects, I can still sew while the machine is at work. I have the machine with a small hoop (4 x 5), the large hoop (5 x 7) and the giga hoop. I also got the clothsetter with it. The clothsetter comes in very handy. The 350e uses a USB flash drive (thumb stick) to transfer files from my computer to the machine. This seems to work much better than having the machine hooked up to my computer.
Getting into embroidery is like opening up pandoras box! You don't quite know where to start, and you never seem to find a place to stop! I got the Customizer software for the machine when I bought it, but soon afterwards got Embird. I like Embird very much and have added many of the options and add-ons. It takes some time getting used to it but once you do, it is very easy to work with. I recommend you get Carolyn Keber's tutorials as they make the learning curve much shorter.
One of the things you will have to get used to if you get into machine embroidery, is finding and filing all of those darn embroidery files! I think I am addicted to free designs on the web! I know my husband thinks so too!
I would recommend the Janome 350e to anyone starting out with machine embroidery.
Janome Jem Platinum 720
I got this little machine to take on the raod and to sewing classes as it is much easier to carry around for me. Lugging my bigger machines was too hard and I was afraid of damaging them. This Jem is a lot easier to take around town and on the road.
I would recommend getting a little road warrier like this if you take classes or go on the road with your machine. It does a lot for such a little guy!