New Acquisition

 First, I want to start with an aphorism I heard from "Aunt Em" of Aunt Ems Quilts:  

Worry is a waste of imagination

You gotta love that.  

I am currently experiencing a backlog in quilt tops that I need to quilt. Though my quilt suspension system helps a great deal in distributing the weight of the quilt, I still have to foist it though 7.5" of throat space on my Bernina B 530.  And while it has a BSR, it still is just 7.5" of work room which is not much. The quilt suspension system helped, but.....

I've daydreamed a bit about getting a sit down long arm. But the truth of the matter, becoming a FMQ diva is not in my game plan. My goal is simply to have a more comfortable experience on a domestic v purchasing a machine dedicated only to quilting.  Plus, I'm just don't want to make that level of investment for the latter.

So I was cruising through models, thinking about benefits and trade offs.  I saw that Juki had a sit down quilting machine--and it was affordable but still an investment at $6,000.  I found the Juki Kirei (HZL-NX7).  It is a top of the line Juki offering (though I think that it is been eclipsed by the Kokochi in the QVP line).  Kirei is currently selling for $$3,000, down from the $4600 retail. I negotiated 1500 for my purchase.

What was attractive to me was getting this at 1/2 off the current offering (though used) from a dealer that took it as a trade in.  Yes, there is some risk with that, but there is a 30 day return..  It has 12" of space to the right of the needle which I am confident will give me more comfort in my quilt sewing.

My UPS text states that it will be here today.

It has many, many features in addition to the 12".  It has built in even feed, mega stitches, thread cutter.  Also, the advanced foot control with the pivot function (with automatic foot raise) has some real advantages. Now this whole purchase is a bust if it does not FMQ very well.  So even though it has SO Many features, I'm still just buying bed space.  And I SURELY don't mind just straight stitching my quilting (grid) and having the space to do it.

So when my machine arrives, I'll be putting it through the paces, and I'll return it if need be.