Spring is officially here! Yippee! This is the best time of the year to live in central Florida or to visit. The weather is warm and humidity is down, the sun is shining, and the flowers are blooming. And there are butterflies!

And it’s time for my Babylock Unity to get her annual Spring Cleaning and Spa Treatment. Off she went to the local quilt shop for a few weeks. So what was I to do without her? I had a bunch of bags and totes that I had promised peeps. Some were cut out. Others waiting to be designed. I am very fortunate to have a heavy duty machine that I bought waaaay back in August of 2021—Brother PQ1500SL. I wrote about it when it arrived (you can read that post here) I’ve been using the Brother occasionally but for the past month it’s been my main machine and I’ve been really working it hard.

Making all of those totes and bags has been putting the Brother to the test. And it has passed! It goes through many layers like a champ. And it’s FAST! Zippedy do dah fast. I don’t use that speedy feature a lot because I usually have my walking foot on there. (A walking foot is made to walk–not run!) But when I do, it goes ZOOM! It’s almost startling when it hits high speed!

Before the purchase I had read a lot of reviews. All were very good but most of them said that there were a few quirks.

And there are. Nothing that is a show stopper. Mostly just awkward.

First, the bobbin is in a weird place. It’s on the end on the left side. It’s also the opposite from the other two sewing machines I use. What does opposite mean? I’ll try to explain—when I learned to put the bobbin in the bobbin holder on the BabyLock, I put the thread in a “P” shape, it’s the opposite with the Brother—perhaps a lower case “d”—and the hinge on the bobbin case is on the opposite side from the BabyLock. I’ve gotten used to it but it did take awhile. Regarding the bobbin, my main complaint now is that it isn’t easy to see if the bobbin is running out. I don’t realize I have an empty bobbin until I’ve sewn an entire seam without bobbin thread. (Gnashing of teeth and cursing ensues). My fault though, I’ve been spoiled because the BabyLock warns me that the bobbin is getting empty. I should check it more often on the Brother.

The reviews also said that the needle threader was difficult and almost impossible to use. I have no problem with it as long as I use regular thread–like a 50 weight or thinner. If I’m using upholstery thread–which is what I use for totes and bags–the thread is too thick to go through the needle eye with the threader! Again not the machine’s fault. No bad points here from me!

Speaking of the needle, inserting it is totally backwards from any machine I have ever used. Just like the bobbin. I had real issues with that at first but we are friends now.

I had some trouble figuring out how the Feed Dog Adjustment Knob works. Plus had to mess with the tension a bit. But we are getting along okay.

The manual is not very thorough. I’ve had questions but didn’t get many answers from that thin pamphlet. I have read that Brother has excellent tech support but I have not called them yet. Mostly I have learned through lots of experimenting.

This Brother is mechanical so I need to clean it out and oil it at least twice a month. I oil more often if I am using it daily. Cleaning is easy peasy compared to my BabyLock–so many screws to remove and nooks and crannies to dust on that one. I even lost a screw in the BabyLock once and it had to go to the Spa for removal.

The Brother comes with the walking foot which is quite often extra. And a bunch of other feet. I’ve used most of them. I can’t think of any feet that I would need to buy. There’s also a knee lifter to lift the presser foot. That’s pretty cool. I have one with my BabyLock Unity but never used it. I did try it but it is a totally different machine and just wasn’t necessary because I do everything from the computer panel.

Before I bought the Brother PQ1500SL, I also considered the BabyLock Accomplish and the Juki TL2010Q. After research I realized that the BabyLock and the Brother were basically the same machine. I would have liked to have tried out the Juki TL2010Q because that is what a lot of the bag makers that I follow on Instagram use. But—there are no Juki dealers in my area. This machine was over $300 cheaper than the other two.

Over all, it’s a great machine that does what I want it to do. Only straight stitches but that’s all I need. When I need fancy-schmancy I go to the BabyLock Unity. If you are in the market for a powerful domestic machine, this one is great! More about sewing with the Brother in upcoming posts!