And, if you are in the same love/dislike relationship with your machine as I was, read on and see if my solutions help you to love your machine again too!
Remember the day your “Dream Sewing Machine” arrived inside your sewing room?
In a mad hurry you opened that big box and carefully removed the machine and gingerly set it down on the table. You eyed this gift from the quilting gods with awe and respect while thinking, “This is the most magnificent sewing machine ever”… “I’ll never need another sewing machine again”.
And without hesitation, you begin to unbox the accessories and find yourself, one again, in a state of awe and deep gratitude. A box and a case to hold a myriad of presser feet, three different foot plates. This Janome 9450 was such a far cry from the machine I was using I could not help but repeat my earlier sentiment, “I’ll never need another sewing machine again”. That was 2019.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
It’s only been 7 years since that momentous purchase, but my Janome and I have been through a lot.
My serious quilting journey began with making each of my granddaughters a Sweet 16 quilt. From there, my Janome and I survived my Baby Quilt Era (20+ gift quilts), my Bag Lady Era (20+ tote bags and zippered pouches), my Homemaker Era (3 wall hangings and a countless number of potholders, coasters, placemats and organizers for personal use as well as gifts) several sewing/quilting challenges and at least one QAL each year.
You would think with this kind of history I would be doing nothing less than bowing and worshipping my idol every time I walked into my sewing room. And don’t get me wrong, for the most part, I DO love this machine. It is everything you would want, and more, in a sewing machine used primarily for quilting.
And while we’re on the subject, I should clarify; I’ve never totally fallen out of love with my machine. Simply put, the more I sewed the more “flaws” I began to notice both in the design and function of my Janome. I actually wrote about this awakening as I was contemplating and researching the Continental M7. As appealing as the M7 was to me at that time, I had a nagging feeling if I were to upgrade, the M7 would not be the answer.
The Grass is Always Greener…
Enter the Janome Continental M8.
My research is continuing to show me that the M8 has everything I am looking for, especially the ASR (Accurate Stitch Regulator) for Free Motion Quilting (FMQ).
For those of you unfamiliar with these machines a quick side by side comparison is shown below.
The other two must-have items on my wish list were:
1) The design of the needle housing. The lower profile (less bulkiness) of the M8 makes it easier to sew smaller items like pouches and bags.
2) The position of the touch screen. The touch screen on the M8 is placed OVER the bed whereas the touchscreen on the 9450 is to the right side. SO many times, as I pushed a quilt through to the back, especially a large, bulky quilt, it would get pressed against the touch screen and all of a sudden, my stitch settings were changed! Yikes! When I want to change settings on the touch screen I often have to touch with the stylus or my fingertip several times to change anything. But when quilt fabric touches it, bam! It’s able to access settings you never knew existed. ugh.
I’m still eying the Janome Continental M8 but have decided to focus my energy on the machine I have. What if, while basking the newness of my machine I neglected to give proper time and attention to other important details. Things like reading the instruction manual (!!!), locating tutorials or even asking other Janome users for advice.
When you take the time to read, study, research, ask questions, it is amazing what you discover!
Making the Most of My Janome 9450
Changing my perspective and attitude from “I want____; I need____” to “What capabilities does this machine have that I’m overlooking or ignoring?” has not only improved my motivation to continue with this machine for a while longer but has vastly increased my knowledge base of the 9450.
Presser Foot and Other Useful Discoveries:
- AcuFeed System. This deserves a chapter on its own but doing a deeper dive into the various presser feet and when to switch out a foot plate has made piecing much easier and more accurate.
- Presser Feet “D”, “M” and “QV”. I feel as if I’m really late to the party with these findings but my goodness – what game changers! (See image below)
- “D”: Creates a perfect rolled hem
- “M”: Over edge stitch – a very good alternative when you don’t have a serger.
- “QV”: Does a smooth Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) stitch.
- The “QV” presser foot combined with the Blue Dot Low Tension Bobbin Holder are wonderful tools to improve FMQ techniques.
4. “Tapering” function when doing applique. This little jewel removes quess work when making a turn when doing a machine applique project. If I had a dime for every time I reached a corner and wished for a stitch setting to do this!
5. Threading the bobbin properly. Reading the instruction manual a little more closely would have been a good idea here. Take a look at the video here.
6. Pulling thread back and hooking on the cutting bar before stitching. If you’re getting tired of using those little fabric “leaders” at the start of every seam this neat trick is quick, easy and very effective to prevent those loopy threads from showing up on the underside of the fabric.
7. Managing the finicky Touch Screen. Simply tape a piece of stiff cardboard over the entire opening. I could have thought of this much sooner but then, what would I have had to complain about!
A fact of life: The grass always appears greener on the other side and human nature will always be in pursuit of that greener grass no matter the shade of green already present in one’s own backyard. As much as I would like to upgrade my 9450, I’m very thankful for all it does. No doubt it still has many bells and a couple of whistles I’ve yet to discover so stay tuned. As I learn more about my machine (that I’ve had for almost a decade now!) I’ll be passing along that information here!
Have a great day!
Life is short. Buy the fabric!
