Well I am glad my timing was good for once. I also required a slow,
steady start. Be sure to put the pedal on a hard, flat surface.
Initially, I had mine on a plush carpet but that did not work with this
particular pedal because it does not have a flat bottom. So the bar on
the bottom of the pedal would start sinking into the rug before it
triggered the startup mechanism and then i would get a jerky start. A
thick piece of cardboard solved that.

Another thing I forgot to mention about this machine is its precision.
After using a Bernina for so many years, it was not easy finding a
machine with as much precision, though sewing machines have improved
greatly over the last 20 or so years. The Janome is very precise and
you can increase/decrease stitch lengths and widths in very small
increments. Have fun with your new machine; I know you will enjoy it.

In article ,
Patti wrote:

I was so pleased to see this post today, as tomorrow I hope to be
getting one, too! I tried one at Malvern last week and it did the very
slow start (if required) that is vital for me. People ask why? Well,
when you make miniatures, quite often the seams are only half an inch
long! Without a slow start you've whizzed off the end of the seam
without being aware of it!! However, I really wanted it for the larger
space under the arm. Otherwise I don't think I would have changed
machines. But doing my last largish quilt nearly drove me to
distraction.
I will be trading in my current Viking, and will also be selling my
Featherweight! So I am reducing my numbers instead of increasing. I
found I didn't want/need to use more than one after all. I'm sure there
will be many features I won't use - I'm such an old stick in the mud!
I will be interested to use the knee lift (which, thanks to Sandy Foster
I know lifts the presser foot!! - for ages I'd see this mentioned on the
NG and didn't have the 'nerve' to ask what it was lifting, as everyone
else seemed to know. Then one day Sandy mentioned the details in a
post. Light dawned g)
.
In article
,
Phaedrine writes

Thanks to a number of recommendations I found here, I recently tried out
and later purchased the Janome 6500 "quilter" machine. This is in
addition to a Bernina 931, a Bernina serger, a Babylock serger and a
White that I never use any more.

The machine operates wonderfully and smoothly and I cannot say enough
good things about it. It is very sturdy (heavy!)--- heavier than my
Bernina 931 in fact. The longer arm and roomier bed is indeed nice for
quilting though I have not tried it yet for other things. It has a wide
range of adjustable decorative stitches which I lacked on my Bernina.
Initially, I had thought of getting a new Bernina but I could not find
enough differences between the new and the old one to justify the cost.
snipped

.