Month: December 2013

I have had many requests to offer this special during the 12 days so here it is…..by popular demand

Day 1 Juki Sewing Machine 

Now I know we pretty much all have a sewing machine…or two or three or even more…But I just have to talk about the sewing machine I use 99% of the time…It is my #1 Needful thing…Most of you probably have never heard of Juki…so let me just say they are not new to the market…Juki is well known in the garment industry and are mostly industrial machines.  I think I have had a Juki for about 9 years now…I also own 2 Berninas, 1060 and a 1530, and a couple of featherweights…one black and one white. I confess this to you so you also know what I am comparing to and you all know I teach all across the country and have stitched on many machines.

I bought the Juki with the intention to use it as a second machine to have set up for machine quilting my little quilts, and also so I didn’t have to change the walking foot from my regular foot on my Bernina…that would have been nice, right?…Juki has entered the quilt world with a semi-industrial machine for quilters.  Here are a few of the features that the Juki machines have…all metal…no plastic bobbins, no plastic feet,  comes with all sorts of feet including 2 free motion feet and a walking foot, a larger 9″ opening between the body and the arm, so machine quilting would be easier to handle.  It has a nice extension table, this is nice for retreats, I have it embedded in my table usually.  The machine ONLY stitches straight.  Now this might be an issue for some, but I was only going to use this for machine quilting…The fact that it only stitches straight is actually a plus…nice tension all the time, single hole throat plate .  It holds large cones as well as regular thread…It has an automatic thread cutter, automatic needle threader , knee lift and stitches 1500 stitches per minute or something like that, in other words it is FAST.

After stitching on this machine and using it.  I did not want to stitch on anything else.  It “pieces” beautifully…I didn’t have to hang on to my threads at the start, the feed dogs are nice and close together and  fed my little pieces in nicely.  Having the single hole meant my piecing wasn’t sucked down into that oblong hole… and again…I could stitch, cut my thread with my foot(or there is a button, but I like my hands free to hold on to my patches) knee lift my presser foot and be on to the next thing…I especially love piecing triangle paper on the Juki for all the reasons I just stated…Now I know being fast really should not be an issue, right? We want to be accurate!  But let me tell you, if I am stitching strips, borders or you name it…fast is handy…I tried going back to my “regular” machine to piece on…it was almost painful!!! Just shoot me…I loan this machine at The Gathering, but it comes with a warning…if you stitch with it you WILL be going home with it!  I think only one person didn’t buy one after she stitched on it for a weekend…lol…They also have updated the Juki recently…I have a TL98Q, now they make a TL2010 Q1, they have updated to an LED light…they have added a Turtle and a Hare button, if you want to control how fast it can go…and they changed the foot pedal, a bit…I love my 98 and the features they added do not make a difference to me…so I am keeping my 98.

Here is the only con to my Juki…it is heavy…but it is all metal!  You can’t have metal parts and it be light!…I think of it like today’s featherweight-but it is not light.  Anyone can work on a Juki…it is a basic machine, it has no computer…it just needs to be oiled and used and it is happy!

So if you are ever in the market for a machine, please check out the Juki’s and you can read all the technical words I should have used to explain it.  They now have a presence at the larger quilt shows and will soon come out with a long arm, that will be most reasonably priced.  I do sell the Juki 2010Q1 at my store…I could sell other machines but remember what I said, I only sell what I use…therefore I sell the Juki’s.  I am placing the Juki 2010Qi on sale now until the end of the year at a special of $899-(yes…not a typo) including shipping.  This is a great deal.  We will order more for this same price as long as you order before the end of the year.  JUKI    In 2014 they will go back to $999.00 still a great price when you think about what you all get with this machine!  Please allow a few weeks for delivery…we will not charge your card until we are shipping it.

If you purchased a Juki from last years 12 days…PLEASE write a comment about it!  I will also pick more winners from the comments on this post…so please comment you have a good chance at winning something!

With my new studio almost complete…2014 will be an exciting year….videos, stitch-a-longs and more great projects from Primitive Gatherings…

The winner from yesterday is: Susan JDecember 23, 2013 at 11:22 pm