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Quilting is an art that takes time and skill to master. However, human ingenuity and modern technology have made quilting that much easier through the invention of the Sewing Machines for Free Motion Quilting.
Quilting requires a lot of effort to gain mastery using only the limbs that were handed to us at birth. But of course, humans are quite sophisticated creatures and we’ve found ways to harness our technology to make things that much easier. This is where the invention of the Free Motion Quilting machine comes in.
And today, we’re going to talk about the best sewing machine for free motion quilting that meets your requirements.
BEST SEWING MACHINES FOR FREE MOTION QUILTING
Free Motion Quilting Machine VS Conventional Sewing Machine – What’s the Basic Difference?
Now, you are probably familiar with sewing machines or might have come across them somewhere, sometime in your life. How do they differ from free motion quilting machines?
Well, sewing machines have a few metal bars, with thin diagonal strips that crosscut the bars. This is called the feed dog and it vibrates up and down to perform the sewing.
In a conventional sewing machine, you can only stitch in the forward direction. However, a Free Motion Quilting is more advanced and as such, can let you stitch in all directions.
The design of Free Motion Quilting machines is going to make it much easier to make complex designs on a quilt and a host of computerized features on top of that, all of which allow for more sophisticated work than conventional sewing machines.
Aspects to look to get the best sewing machine for free-motion quilting
- Coverable or droppable machine feed dogs
- Easily accessible bobbin
- Easy snap on-off feet
- Large throat space
- Needle up-down position
- Open-toe foot for clearer visibility
So let’s look at a few quilting sewing machines to see which of them might be for you the best sewing machine for free motion quilting. Below is our list of the best free motion quilting machines that will help you on your way to creating your quilting works of art.
6 Best Sewing Machines for Free Motion Quilting Reviews
Key Features
- Has the choice of 100 stitches of a variety of types, suitable for different types of workloads.
- Six different types of buttonholes as well, depending on the type of attire you are making them for.
- Option to adjust the length and width of your stitch size.
- An LCD screen on the side that can let you view all settings and customizable options. Perks of being computerized, eh?!
- Control over the speed of the sewing with a control lever and set speeds depending on the level of intricacy needed for the work. Generic or straightforward work will let you ramp up the speed and do your work ASAP.
PROS
- Can adjust the stitch size with a very high degree of precision. Width adjustability up to 7mm allows for a high degree of precision over the size of individual stitches.
- Automated, high speed stitching with rates as high as 750 individual stitches per minute. Stitch through quilts in no time!
- Interiors of the machine are durable metal so it should last you quite a significant amount of time before breaking down on you, a quality the best free motion quilting sewing machine should have!
CONS
- The gap between the needle and stitch is actually a bit small so the machine might not be ideal for sewing up some of the more bulky fabrics.
- The handle of the needle thread is made of plastic and users have experienced this particular piece breaking as a result of very little pressure. And this after going all metal with the body! Can’t have one of the best home machine free motion quilting contraptions fail you on something like that, can we?
Key Features
- A choice of over 800 stitch options for incredible versatility over your workload.
- Put buttonholes into the fabric you are working on with the push of a button, with 13 different buttonhole design options.
- An LCD screen and button controls to adjust settings fast and seamlessly.
- A lettering feature is built-in, allowing the user to sew in words and phrases up to 5 letters.
- Stitching speed up to 850 stitches per minute to tackle those heavy workloads in little time.
PROS
- Includes an automatic needle threader so you don’t have to meticulously put the string through the needle yourself, saving you a lot of effort and time in the process.
- The cover of the bobbin and the thread is transparent so you can inspect the supply of the string left at all times, making it easy to monitor how much string is left.
- The needle is flanked on two sides with bright LED lights to allow for clear visibility in the area of the quilt or fabric being sewed on.
CONS
- The transparent bobbin used in the machine has to be plastic and in some instances, the bobbin broke and shattered into a million pieces. You probably shouldn’t put too much force on the bobbin during use!
- The adjustable tension system is also known to be unreliable at times. Messing up of the tension in the stitch can cause problems in the stitching process and you may have to readjust it manually.
Key Features
- Automatic but more analog system in place, as opposed to computerized designs in many of the other machines on the list.
- Comes with brother’s one of a kind pin feed system to hold multiple layers of quilts and other fabrics in place during the sewing.
- This particular machine has support for needle felting, allowing you to stitch together small pieces of fabric or wool to make some fancy art.
- Extension table that will extend up to than the original size of the table. A pretty handy feature to have when you’re dealing with a large fabric or just want to have some stuff on it.
- Automated needle threading so you don’t have to. A useful feature for people who find it difficult to put in strings through narrow needle eyes.
PROS
- Comes included with a knee lifter that can help you adjust the presser foot to hold the fabrics as tight as you need it to be.
- The really large extension on the table lets users handle larger pieces of fabrics on the machine.
CONS
- Another machine that knits very fast only in one direction. Free motion speed is much slower, by comparison.
- The bobbin mount can be a bit clunky in certain models and may need to be replaced by one that fits tighter. It’s an older model so these are typical problems really!
Key Features
- A beginner-friendly free motion quilter for people just getting into a bit more sophisticated sewing.
- Compact size making is suitable for carrying around and portability as a whole is quite solid on this machine. For a somewhat sophisticated machine, portability is quite hard to achieve!
- 30 different stitches to choose from for your appropriate use cases.
- A boatload of buttons to choose from so you can perform a lot of functions with only a click of a button.
- Includes automatic needle threader and reverse button to undo any accidental stitches.
PROS
- Ease of use with very few accessories and a lot of buttons to make it easier to use.
- Only machine on this list that is actually somewhat portable. It’s a sewing machine so it can only be so small but at least it’s possible to carry around.
- The free arm allows you to move the sewing area around so it’s easier to maneuver the fabric to your desire. It helps use portable sewing machines more comfortably.
CONS
- Lack of some fundamental accessories that are available in most other machines. Knee lifter is an example of this.
- The fact that after you want to move onto more advanced workloads, you’ll have to spend money to get a new one is going to be a drawback for anyone who is serious about quilting.
Key Features
- Very high tier machine that is going to let you do very high-grade work.
- Limited to stitching in one direction but compensates for the lack of directional mobility with speeds up to 1500 stitches per minute! Insane speed!
- Very bright LED shooting down from beside the feed dog to see the stitching area as clearly as it can be viewed.
- Brother’s unique pin feed feature always makes sure that multiple fabrics, stacked on top of each other are all equally moved to ensure level stitching on both layers.
- The machine has a built-in thread cutter so you don’t have to reach for the scissors when you are done stitching with a particular thread.
PROS
- Very high speeds will let you grind through generic, straightforward stitching in lightning-fast rates.
- Comes included with a warranty of 25 years, with the promise of technical support over phone calls to make sure your product provides good service over its lifetime.
- Comes included with an extension bed so that you can quilt bigger fabrics much easier than you otherwise would.
CONS
- Only stitches in one direction can reach very high speeds. This is definitely a problem as more free motion required workflows will be much slower.
- The automatic needle threader included with this machine isn’t good at handling narrow needle eyes and you may have to thread it by hand instead.
Key Features
- Despite coming in with no accessories, it has the option of expanding capabilities by separately purchasing different attachments, such as an extension table and twin-needle stitching.
- The feed dog of the machine does not press down on fabrics so you won’t have to worry about your quilts shrinking out of being squeezed.
- Has a few common stitching patterns made into key shortcuts onto the machine, allowing for complete automation for certain common patterns.
- The knee-lifted lever allows the presser foot to have its height adjusted to allow fabrics of any thickness to be flattened properly before being put through the needle.
- The robust design of the machine allows users to stitch together heavier material such as denim jeans with little trouble.
PROS
- Included foot controller lets you cut the thread on both the bobbin and needle with the step of your feet. Some exercise for your feet while you’re at it I suppose!
- The machine lets the user wind the thread on the bobbin by autorotation, meaning that changing threads is very little trouble. You will like this machine a lot if you use different threads a lot.
- The optional accessories let users decide how to use their incremental money on, as opposed to dishing out a lot of money for accessories that they don’t necessarily need.
CONS
- Paid expansion accessories might also be viewed as paying more to avail certain services when it would be better to have them right from the start.
- The bobbin case is plastic and in many products, started to become loose after a while of use. It’s quite annoying that a lot of manufacturers seem to have this problem!
Some Other Considerations On Free Motion Quilting Sewing Machines Before You Buy!
Before you go for a free motion quilting sewing machine you would better consider some more points so that you won’t have to regret!
- The best free motion quilting sewing machines are going to cost you more than standard sewing machines so you’ll want to take full advantage of the added features and get good value out of your money while you’re at it. Learn about the different types of stitches and buttonholes and what they’re used for and what type of fabric they go well with to make sure you put all the features to good use.
- Some features are staples and you really shouldn’t get a machine without them. Features such as speed controls, adjustable height of foot pressers and pin-feed systems that can shift multiple fabrics together at one are some very basic but very important features that you are almost guaranteed to need in some work or the other.
- You’ll want to consider future work prospects before you go for buying a quilting machine. They aren’t exactly cheap and if you think you’ll want to do a particular type of work later on, you’ll want to have the right accessories and right features set to support you in that work.
- Will you even need a free motion quilting machine? Are your work assignments such that you would be better off with straight stitching machines? It’s all-important to consider and rather than thinking of the cost of machine solely, consider the fact that future upgrades are likely to cost you even more money so you might as well get the one already suitable for your future use cases.
Free Motion Quilting Sewing Machine – Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
As both articles’ FAQs would be fairly similar, we’d like to request you to check out our very well researched article on Best Quilting Sewing Machine Reviews FAQ Section or click here or on the link above. We believe that hopefully, you’ll get most of your questions answered there. However, if you’ve any additional questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. We’d definitely get back to you asap.
Wrapping It Up!
So with that, you have some guidelines on how to go about purchasing the best free motion quilting machine. It’s a lot of information to process if you’re in uncharted territory, but take your time and go through features and what each of them does and you’ll get a decent understanding of it all.
The product reviews included here should also help you make a decision and directly compare the different products to make your selection a bit easier.
So take flight into the art of quilting and I am sure with the added benefit of free motion quilting, you’ll be able to come up with some intricate and beautiful designs with enough effort and creativity.
Final Words
Remember, quilting isn’t just something for Grandmas to do anymore. With the best sewing machine for free motion quilting at your side, you’ll be able to produce something stunning in no time at all. Use these reviews to find the perfect sewing machine that caters to your needs and you won’t be disappointed!
We have another great article that you might be interested in. Best Quilting Sewing Machine Reviews [List of All Available Types with Buying Guide & How to Care]. This is a very in-depth article that covers all types of best quilting sewing machines – regular, computerized, portable, and longarm. Let’s check it out and find which one is perfect and even more useful for you.
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