Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a quilter and when my last machine was on its last leg I started looking for a new one. I consulted every source I could find and finally settled on a Juki because of one woman's opinion. The lady who owns the quilt shop in town recommended it to me... and she doesn't carry the Juki brand. I told her what I wanted in a machine: 1. The best straight stitch a machine can make 2. As few computerized parts as possible. I do NOT need 400 different stitches of which I will use a straight stitch 98% of the time, a zig-zag 1.9% of the time and the other 0.1% will be the once or twice I play with the other stitches. Why the lack of computerized parts? I want the machine to last a lifetime, be able to maintain it myself and when I can't fix it, be able to find someone that can without expensive replacement costs 3. It has to be able to handle a King sized quilt without an Olympic-grade wrestling match This machine is incredible. I love it, adore it and it does everything I need it to do. I read about a bobbin winding problem that some had where it didn't wind bobbins fully and sure enough that's what my machine did when I got it, however, with a screwdriver and less than five minutes of easy to follow instructions I adjusted the stopping mechanism myself and it winds fantastic smooth bobbins as full as you can get them without over-filling. In some of the reviews I read people complained about the cost. If you use this machine and within a minute can't see, feel, and hear the difference between it and a $500 machine... please stop quilting now, you don't appreciate the hobby and you probably don't understand why you would spend $15 and three days knitting a hat that you can buy at a discount store for $1.50. The quality of this machine makes me want to hug it daily. It stitches through five layers of fabric and batting like there's nothing there. I can quilt with my quilting pins in place and it doesn't upset the length or smoothness of my stitches. I have even had the presser foot lift over the edge of a safety pin so that it was lopsided and it STILL fed the fabric through smoothly and effortlessly. My old machine sounded worse than me trying to run up a hill whenever it encountered more than two or three layers of fabric this machine just says "Bring it on!" I should also note that it is portable, it isn't the lightest machine and if you're buying a machine because it says "Lightweight" put it back! This machine is heavy enough that it doesn't vibrate all over the place when you hit the pedal to the metal yet it can still be lifted and moved to the kitchen table, carried to a class, or moved out on the back deck in the summertime just because the weather is nice. It does weigh almost 40 pounds but the handle is well positioned to distribute the weight so it doesn't feel so heavy. I love the thread cutter. While you can use the presser foot to snip the thread it just makes me smile to push that little button with the scissors on it. I haven't learned to use the knee lever yet but hope to someday if I can find a properly adjusted table/chair combination. This is no fault of the machine, I am just to short for the table I have available to use for quilting on and the combination of reaching for the foot pedal and trying to be up high enough to not injure my back while quilting is difficult. I am also so used to not having one that lifting the presser foot by hand is not considered an inconvenience for me but more of an automatic motion when I hit the end of a seam. I love this machine. It has a beautiful straight-stitch no matter what the fabric. It feeds like a dream come true. It is quiet, effortless, easy to thread, easy to wind bobbins, easy to load bobbins and does everything I wanted it to do. It is worth EVERY penny. To make a short story long. BUY THIS MACHINE. If you quilt, you won't regret it. P.S. I bought my machine brand new on e-bay for about $100 cheaper (including shipping) but it did not come with the extra thread or bobbins.