Hey there Delilah

I mentioned that I would have a bit more to say about my new machine, so thought I'd write up a quick little review of my new machine (ha!! Who are we kidding!? This is me we're talking about....I'll try to make it quick but no promises! rofl).

Meet Delilah. :)

Do not ask me where I came up with the name cuz I really don't know. It just kinda popped into my head and then the song "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's got stuck in my head and wouldn't leave so...Delilah it was!

The Janome Horizon 7700 isn't a new model, it's been out a few years already. Actually, this particular version is being discontinued....they've come out with a 'new' 7700. The new 7700 is basically the same machine with just a few changes as far as I can tell: they added the 'New Home' portion under the Janome name, they also took away the beautiful red front, it's now a very pale grey, or white, I forget which. It's actually able to be sold online now as well (before the change, per Janome's rules, it was only able to be purchased locally). All things considered, I'm glad I was able to get one of the remaining 'old' Horizons.

I LOVE the red....love love love it. It's beautiful and one of the first things I fell in love with about the machine. It just calls to you from across the room and it's lust at first sight. Kind of it's own version of the little black dress!! Hey....I like a good lookin' machine, what can I say?! ;)

The lighting on this machine is great. 5 LED lights, one set of which shines on the bed area. So, all in all, you can actually see what you're doing when sewing on this machine! (Novel idea huh?! lol) I still use my ottlites of course, but they're almost not absolutely necessary like they are with other machines I've used.

The stitches are plentiful. A little bit of everything and they're all grouped well and pictured for easy selection right on the lid of the storage/threading area of the machine. (No more knocking off the stitch card or having to look em up in the manual like The Babylock.) Do I need 250 stitches? Of course not, but they're fun and will give me things to play around with when I'm looking for a decorative stitch. There's also a couple of cute ones that I actually see myself using for various things. :)

Some very cute decorative stitches!

The touchscreen works very well and leaves everything within easy reach. There's also a jog dial with a selection button which some people like and some don't. Personally, I don't mind it....I like being able to scroll thru things quickly to find what I like rather than repeatedly tapping the touchscreen umpteen times to get to what I need. A number pad to just punch in the stitch number you want would have been nice honestly, but the dial is fine. I'll get used to it and it won't bother me at all. I think it will also be nice for those days where my fingers don't want to work so well. Big storms wreak havoc on my hands and something big and tactile vs. a touchscreen is often helpful on those days. There is a little stylus to use on the touchscreen as well, that has it's own little place in the top storage. I rarely use it, my fingernail is usually quicker.

The APC -Automatic Plate Converter- feature is one of the main features that drew my attention. At the push of a button a plate magically slinks into position converting it into a single hole needle plate. Now, I know you can buy a single hole needle plate for any machine out there, but A) those usually require you to use a screwdriver to change it out...each time and B) I know myself...I'd bust more needles than it'd be worth to use. LOL With the APC, the machine monitors everything....if the APC is engaged it will not allow you to select a stitch that requires the wide stitch plate. Jackpot!! No broken needles for this girl! Well, at least none related to forgetting to switch a stinkin needle plate. :D

The arrow is pointing to the APC plate. That little plate slides back and forth at the touch of a button to turn it into a single hole needlplate.

The Accufeed (AF)... Janome's version of dual feed. Some have said that it's big and bulky, that the feet were too wide and in the way or not as effective as they could be. Well....I look at it this way. Without this feature, I'd be using a walking foot...talk about something being in the way! Yep, I'll take the Accufeed tyvm. :)

The feet and storage are another thing that's welcomed. There's not only the typical storage in the compartment by the freearm, but there's storage behind the freearm as well as on the top of the machine. There's a place for each foot as well as bulk storage for odd things...like the extra AF feet! They are oddly sized so having an area that they fit so perfectly is fantastic! I love having a place for everything! Janome includes the normal AF foot with the machine, but my dealer also thru in the open toe version as well as the 1/4" AF foot. The only AF foot I'm missing, and will likely pick up at some point, is the edgestitching/ditchstitching foot. I did use that alot on my other machine. I like it for edgestitching when I make bags and such. The non AF feet are nice as well and they include a good selection of helpful feet with the machine....the 1/4" piecing foot, edgestitcher, cording, open toe, etc. And last but not least, I L.O.V.E. the quilting foot Janome designed. It's adjustable and doesn't hop!! I don't like hopping feet and typically break off the little bar that makes any feet hop anyway, but this one is adjustable so that it just skims the surface of the quilt you're working on. It's awesome....and has multiple feet to choose: a standard quilting foot, open view foot, and echo foot. All neat and tidy.

Yes, that is where Mr. Owl sits most of the time! ;)

I also love the way she FMQs!! No eyelashing, no thread mess on the back, no tension issues or stitch ugliness. I can definitely improve my FMQing now. And, speaking of quilting....let's not forget to mention the 11" of harp space she has!!! *gasp* That's pure crazy!! heh I will surely be able to quilt any quilt my little heart desires now! I could house a small village of Mr. Owls in there I swear! :)

I'm usually one that likes my machine to be dropped into a table. Since Delilah is so much bigger than The Babylock, it doesn't fit into the table I had, so I need another and Curt's going to build me one......once it's warm enough that is. Damn winter messing with my plans!!! So, for now, my machine is sitting on top of a plastic folding table...much to the poor table's displeasure. lol I've had to take a piece of wood to brace the table under the machine as it was starting to bend and bow due to all Delilah's weight! LOL She's a hefty gal. ;) Anyway, since she's relegated to the table top, I've been thrilled to use the acrylic extension table Janome includes with the machine. I never used the one on The Babylock, even when I had to sew on a tabletop. This one tho is so much nicer. It's clear for starters....that means I can see the things I place underneath it and nothing gets lost. *snicker* I also like that the feet are removable and straight. They make the table more sturdy and stable than the other one's I've used. Being removable will also help when Mr. Man builds me my table as I can remove the legs and use it as in insert instead of having to pay for a separate one. All in all, it's workin' for me.

Of course she has all the normal features you'd expect of a modern machine...needle up/down, thread cutter, start/stop button, needle threader, pressure foot adjustment, lockstitch, knee lift (adjustable which is nice). And some very nice things that you don't see....metal frame, metal parts instead of plastic, a dial to adjust the feed dogs or align stitches that are 'off' as well as another dial that allows me to adjust the AF...speed up or slow down the top feeding to match the bottom. Oh! AND the switch to drop the feed dogs is in a convenient location for a change...right by the power button, NOT under the free arm where you either need to remove the storage drawer or dig under a table/lift the machine out of the table to access it!! That's one of those things you don't realize how nice it is until you have it. Odd things to have for sure, but all very helpful!!

There are of course things I wish were different about the machine....well, not so much different I suppose as things I do actually miss from The Babylock or wish worked just a bit differently. The things I miss that The Babylock had...a Fantastic automatic needle threading system. Delilah has the typical assisted needle threading....pull down the little thingy (yes...that is the technical term!!! Ha!) catch the thread in the little hook and let the thingy go and finish pulling the loop of thread thru. With The Babylock it was just a matter of threading the machine correctly (there was an extra little holder doojobby at the end) and then pushing a lever...presto...done and fully threaded! I miss the fast bobbin winding feature...rather than sticking the thread thru the little hole, then winding a few go-rounds, stopping and trimming before finishing the winding, you simply wound the thread around the bobbin 5 times or so, caught the thread in another little holder doojobby and then wound it. Other things I need to adjust....while I love the thread cutter, it cuts the threads a bit short for me. I like my tails a bit longer so I can bury them if needed....Delilah cuts em to just shy of 1/2". Kinda rough to bury them that way. I also don't like the thread nesting at the beginning of stitching. I was hoping to leave the threadbunny's in the past, but no...still gotta use them. So, nothing that's really terrible or that I can't live with, but there always has to be a few things you wish were different. ;)

Now, what is the thing that surprised me the most about Delilah? The sheer size!!! OMG. You cannot get an accurate idea of the size of this lady from any online photos. I had looked at a million photos of this machine before walking into my dealer's shop and when I saw her, my jaw nearly dropped. I'm not joking. I wanted to come up with a way to accurately give you all a true indication of her size. So, I came up with this....photos of her next to our Brother machine for comparison. The Brother is a pretty typical mid sized machine, so I think it shows her true size in an understandable way. She is massive...and I love her. :) With the full metal frame she's very heavy....which translates into sturdy and steady and I like that very much. I don't care for wimpy little machines that bounce all over the place when stitching at full speed! She's got a lot of space to spare which I like as well. After all, gotta get that 11" of harp space from somewhere! lol

So far I'm very very happy with my machine. And I don't see that changing any time soon!! It's amazing the relief you feel when you no longer dread the thought of a big project. Which is even more wonderful since my Newbee Quilters bee quilt measures about 106" by 100"!!! Seriously don't know how it got so large!! But I look forward to quilting that one now. :)

Sew Happy

Sew....sew happy!!

I was lucky enough to get a new sewing machine a week or so ago and have been beyond giddy since! :) (side note: Thanks babe....again!! ;)

If you had told me, even just a few years ago, that I would have a two thousand dollar sewing machine, I'd have laughed you out of the room and told you you were crazy! I don't need a machine that expensive to sew! *pfft*

I wasn't always into sewing. Matter of fact, I started out with knitting and crocheting...but once I started working with fabric instead of yarn, I never looked back.

The machine I learned on was an inexpensive Brother from Walmart. It was a gift and while it was very thoughtful, it didn't take me long to grow frustrated with that machine. It was riddled with tension problems & feed dog issues, among other things. But my love for sewing was already set, so I began to look for a better machine.

I found a Kenmore, an 'electronic' machine. It was sturdy and well built, still had a lot of metal as opposed to plastic parts, it got great reviews, and had some features that I was blown away by. Feed dogs I could lower! *woot* Speed control slider!? Drop in bobbin! *gasp* A needle up/down button!?! *Are you freakin kidding me?! * Back then those were 'newish' features just being introduced to the majority of machines, previously only available on the TOL machines and obviously as a newish quilter I was not familiar with them, but they sounded fantastic!

That machine sat on my "wishlist" for a long time simply because it was a $300 machine and at the time, that was a lot of money to spend on a 'hobby'...still is a lot of money of course, but in a much different way. I am also prone to getting a severe case of 'the guilts' when making purchases for myself (ask my daughter what I was like last week after purchasing my new machine!!! oye...she'll give you an earful!! ;) Back then I also had to convince and talk my ex (then husband) into the purchase. Not an easy task in and of itself. Eventually tho, the machine went on sale and I was given the go ahead to buy it.

I loved that Kenmore!! It opened up my sewing world...so to speak. I improved drastically when I was able to concentrate on what I was creating and how I was doing things rather than trying to sort tension issues or just sew a straight seam!! It served me well for a good many years.

Fast forward a bit....to three short years ago.  My marriage ended and my kids and I had moved on. I met Mr. Man (again) and we were happily building a new life together. Quilting and sewing was important to me, my creative outlet. I still had the Kenmore and tho I had outgrown it, it was a great machine. I longed to do some things that it wasn't well suited for...namely FMQ. I could never get the tension right on that machine for FMQ...no matter what I did, the backs of my quilts looked horrible with thread nests and eyelashing galore. But a year passed and I did what I could on her.

Here's the thing about Mr. Man, he wants me to be happy. Tries very hard to make sure that I am. When he understood that my machine was limiting me, he wanted me to find a new machine that would work better for what I wanted to do. The other thing about him, his philosophy is buy the best you possibly can, don't settle for 'good enough'. A philosophy I'm certainly not used to...even still. So, when I started looking for a newer machine, and somehow ended up in the $1000 range, he wasn't the least bit shocked (well, ok, maybe a hair at first) but he was a trooper and wanted me to get the machine I wanted. It was actually me that kept looking trying to find a machine that was lower cost that would do the same things. In our area tho, it was.... limited. So we went out to visit dealers and when he saw my reaction to the Babylock Melody....he pretty much decided that was going to be my machine. I was excited and hopeful. Brought that machine home and immediately put it to use.

Wasn't long before I had my first issue with that machine, and then another. This is another long story...."The Babylock" (as I always refer to it...in a not so pleasant tone) and it's issues. So to give you the quick, short~ish version....

The machine is a lemon. It throws a fit and seizes up if it's used too much, too often or for too long a stretch. It really is a big baby!! If you baby the thing, only use it for short bursts and don't push it too hard or too often, it behaves. My babylock 'dealer' is an ass. The only thing that 'dealer' was good at was handing out insults. Oh, and assuring everyone that there is never a problem with a Babylock! I won't step foot in either of his stores again. (I've also since learned that he has quite the bad reputation...throughout the state! My new dealer, who's 1.5 hours away knew who I was talking about when I said I had problems with my previous dealer....and I didn't even mention names!!) So, in short, I was stuck and had to learn to deal with my machine's lemonyness.

I consider myself a quilter. I'm not a seamstress or sewist, I'm a quilter, period. Which is why, if you consider that, the fact that I haven't actually done a quilt in over two years is so very very pathetic!! I've started many, but they're all sitting unfinished in piles...pieces cut, some blocks done, but none even have the tops completed. I always knew if I completed the top, I'd get depressed that I wouldn't be able to finish it. I had to give up quilting and instead only work on smallish things....bags, home decor stuff for the house, etc. Projects that wouldn't set my machine off. All to please a machine that I really had grown to hate...learned to live with, but hated.

This always made Mr. Man upset. Mind you, he was right there for all of my frustrations, hearing the machine seize up and throw its little fits. He knew what I had been thru with that machine....and with the 'dealer'. We were both upset that this was supposed to be my dream machine...the thing that made my wonderful hobby a pleasure again and allowed me to learn more and grow as a quilter. Instead it did exactly the opposite, and drove me away from my favorite passtime.

Then he got into quilting himself. And he understood even more. That's when he really decided that I needed a new machine....again. Sweet man....all he asked was what it was gonna cost him. lol ;)

Now, over the course of those years dealing with The Babylock, I had come to learn a few things. Finding a good dealer is as important as the machine itself. Not close, not second to the machine but just as important. Your dealer can truly make or break your whole experience. I really don't fault Babylock for my machine issues, I've heard great things about them as a brand and know most people love theirs, but because of the experience I had with this dealer, I will never buy one again; even if I were to move. I've been completely soured to them because of his actions. And I will definitely tell anyone I can to never buy from him...and he's the only authorized dealer in our area. Sorry Babylock!! (They weren't much more help, when I contacted the company directly, they referred me to my dealer *sigh*) A more thoughtful dealer may have actually looked into my machine's issues and found out I wasn't the only one that had this problem. Had the machine been fixed or replaced I would have likely been a customer for life because Babylocks do have some really kickass features. I L.O.V.E. the automatic needle threader, it's truly automatic...run your thread, push a lever and it's done! And the bobbin threading is awesome. Among other things, those always stood out and I knew they'd be features I missed. But that's not the way things worked out. So, instead, I looked elsewhere.

Over the years, when angry with The Babylock, I would go and drool over other machines...mainly 3: the Janome Horizon, the Viking Sapphire and a Juki. Yet when Mr. Man said it was time to get a new machine, I kind of balked.

I knew what I 'wanted'...but 2 of the 3 were around $2000 and the Juki...while more affordable and a fantastic machine, it's only a straight stitch machine. Great at what it does, but I did want some other features and wasn't sure if it would suit me long term. So, once again I began looking to other machines....cheaper machines. After all, while the machine's I'd been oogling over are beautiful and fancy and definitely worth it, I don't need an expensive machine to sew!!

I kept looking and searching, but honestly after everything I had been through with The Babylock I was very leary....of all machines. heh. I started researching dealers instead of machines. And, slowly, I began to let the idea of actually getting one of those expensive machines that I really didn't need creep into my mind. I kind of knew that if I ended up with a machine that was missing any of the features or wasn't what I really wanted, I would always be disappointed. I had put the Janome on the top of my dream list so I began to 'just look'. I knew there were a couple different dealers within a reasonable distance (for me reasonable was truly anything within the state) so I just wanted to see what I could find about any of them, good or bad. With the importance of a good dealer being at the top of my 'must have' list, I had no problem with a dealer a bit further from me than my own town. I would trade the cost of the extra distance for someone who I could trust and rely on.

A couple months back Lee of Freshly Pieced posted an update about her own 7700. She lives in my state and had some issues when her own original dealer closed shop shortly after she purchased her machine. So, when she wrote that post and mentioned the incredible service she received from a Janome dealer in Sheboygan Falls, I knew where to start my search.

I read reviews, poured over his website...more than once, exchanged some emails. And Darryl, from The Sewing Machine Shop won my vote! Mr. Man and I quickly planned a road trip down to check out his store and planned to stop at a couple other shops along the way, ya know, just 'to look'.

Darryl was great. He was incredibly helpful and pleasant. Great customer service is most important to him, and it shows. We spent three hours in his store that day. He had others in the store when we arrived...was giving someone a mini course or something similar on using a serger, they were both creating something when we walked in. And another bunch doing something else in another room. He managed, with the help of his wonderful family that helps out in the store, to work with both the woman on the serger and us at the same time. And to handle other customers who happened thru while we were there. We got to meet and see how his family helps in the store (they're mentioned in his website), and they were all so polite and helpful. :)

He dug the machine out of the back room (with the new models out, he had only one left in the store and it was still boxed up) and set it up so we could test it and play around. He went over everything about the machine, gave us threads and fabrics and sandwiches to play with and then talked with us at great length about the good, the bad, and even the ugly. He was refreshingly honest. I was of course in love with the machine before we even arrived, but Mr. Man was convinced by the time we were done that I needed that machine. Ha!

At the end, we were faced with a decision. Two of the dealers we stopped at had the machine I was looking for, or could get it. Both were asking the same amount for the machine (tho one did throw in some goodies!! ;). One dealer was in my own town and only 15 minutes away, the other was an hour and a half's drive away. SO, which did I choose?? The dealer that was an hour and a half away. Why?? Because I felt much more comfortable and confident with him than I did with the dealer from my hometown. THIS is how important the dealer was to me. After everything I read and in talking with him myself, I know that he is the one that I will be able to trust and rely on, anytime. He got my business. And after those three hours in his shop, we drove home with this:

Mr. Owl is already dutifully watching over Delilah. What a special lil guy he is. :)

Yep, I definitely would have been surprised a couple of years ago to know I'd someday be sewing on an expensive machine like this, but with all the events of the past few years, I am thrilled to do so. I have more than proven I am capable of sewing on the most finicky, tempermental machine out there (albeit begrudgingly!). My original statement at the beginning of this very long post needs a slight addition: I certainly do not need an expensive machine to sew, but damn, it sure is fantastic to be lucky enough to do just that!! ;)

Well, this post went in a completely different direction than I intended. So, I'll be back with a 'part 2' with the actual info about my fabulous new machine (I've named her Delilah!) and what I think about her. An initial review so to speak.

One of these times I will also show you all that I don't always have to write a novel length post! I can write a short post....maybe! lol :)