Death of a sewing machine

Quilters Attic in Pine Bush NY

Quilt I am trying to duplicate

Last summer, while visiting relatives in New York, I went to a quilt shop in the wonderful picturesque town of Pine Bush.  I purchased fabric, pattern and thread to create a rag quilt.  Once home I began to cut out the squares, (144 of them, each 81/2 inches square) but lost interest when school started back up again and  I had to go back to work.  Two weeks ago I dragged everything out again, finished cutting the squares and drew stars and seam lines in chalk.  I lugged out my 20+ year old Kenmore and set to work.  I noticed the machine was a little sluggish and I thought the smoke was chalk dust until I looked up and saw the motor had heated up and it was starting to smell pretty bad.

Thus began my search for a new machine.  The Kenmore was just a straight and zigzag stitcher, nothing fancy.  I went on-line to read sewing machine reviews.  My head was spinning with the sites of Singer, Viking, Bernina, Pfaff, and Janome, each one claiming to be better than the other.  There are electronic ones that do everything except cut the fabric, plain Janes and embroidery models.  AND THE PRICES!  Ohh boy.  They range from a few hundred dollars to eleven thousand.  Yes, eleven thousand dollars.

I settled on a Janome.  Now where to get it???  Why Ashe Sewing Center of course.  I couldn't believe my luck, an actual sewing center in my small little town.  I don't know if "sewing center" accurately describes it very well.  Maybe "small building behind someones house" is a better description. He had a nice selection of Janome's and spent time showing me how the 3160 works and why he thinks it is the best model for my needs. So far, I have been very happy with it.

The Janome 3160

My quilt so far.