I am now the ecstatic owner of a BabyLock Decorator's Choice: list quoted as $1299, I paid $699 plus got free servicing on my old machine which desperately needs attention (probably a $100 value right there). And a fab service plan for the new one at a very good price, too. Thanks, Discount Fabric Warehouse (Hilo store).
If I'd had a bit more in the budget, I would have come home with the Quilter's Choice model, but the only added feature I really felt I valued was the automatic thread tension (I can get a 1/4" foot separately), and that didn't seem worth the $300 it would have cost to upgrade. I'm accomplished at many things, surely mastering thread tension can become one of them.
Learning curve for this machine is a bit steep for me, as this is my first computerized machine, but am going through the manual step-by-step and so far so good. Biggest challenge is resisting the tempation to just "wing it" and see if I can figure it out, but I'm taking it slowly and "by the book" for once. So far have wound a bobbin (lovely, smooth, evenly done), threaded the machine, and played around with the stitching options on scrap fabric. Am tickled pink with the automatic needle threader, drop-in bobbin, and handy-dandy thread-cutting button. So easy! Mastering the control panel is going to take a while, but I'm ready to tackle basic sewing.
First up, buttonholes on two UFOs. Second up, get that new battery into my camera so I can take some pictures of stuff I promised I'd post last month.
I was going to post a list of the UFOs I want to get done by the end of the year, but am beginning to suspect (given that it's already 12/10 and I've done so little sewing lately) that I should aim low and avoid Jan. 1 confessions of failure on the UFO front. So, no public list, but I'll post things as they're done.
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