I have exciting news – I have a new Janome sewing machine. The Janome MC9450 arrived last month and I love it! I must admit that I hated to switch from the Janome MC9400 which I’ve been stitching on for the past year and a half, but am enjoying using the Janome MC9450 just as much.

I think of the Janome MC9450 as the big sister to the Janome MC9400 – it looks similar, but is different in some ways, just as siblings are. One isn’t better than the other, they are just different in certain aspects.

Since I’ve only had the Janome MC9450 a short time, I haven’t fully explored all of its features, but I wanted to share my first impressions of it and give you a quick overview.

The first thing I noticed was the excellent lighting on the Janome MC9450. There are LED lights in the throat space are 1,5 times brighter and with the pull-out Hi-Light, there won’t be any dark areas when you are sewing or quilting with this machine. I definitely need lots of light when I’m quilting and the Janome MC9450 certainly delivers in this area! You won’t need any additional lighting when you are sewing on the Janome MC9450.

In addition to good lighting, an automatic needle threader is a must for me. The Janome MC9450 has an excellent needle threader with an upgraded thread guide that feeds the thread right into the needle threader and it works every time.  This may be my most favourite feature on the Janome MC9450.

As a quilter, I look for certain accessories to be included with the sewing machine: an accurate ¼” foot, a walking foot and a ruler foot and the Janome MC9450 comes standard with all of these feet and many more.

Quilters have specific preferences when it comes to a 1/4″ foot and there are several choices for this foot from the O foot with a guide to the O foot without a guide, as well as the HP foot and needle plate. The Janome MC9450 comes with the AD AcuFeed Flex foot – what I call a walking foot – and an additional narrower AcuFeed Flex HP2 foot which combines the technology of the AcuFeed Flex system with the very popular HP foot. Many quilters are loving this foot for the wonderfully perfect ¼” seam it does. This will be the perfect combination when I’m sewing on borders or binding strips.

The Janome MC9450 comes with so many feet and accessories that I was worried about storage, but I shouldn’t have been as this machine comes with 3 storage areas. There is the storage container that fits around the machine bed and opens up with 2 storage areas. In addition, the Janome MC9450 comes with a separate box that holds all of the remaining accessories and has room for those additional ones that you might want to purchase.

One of the new features that I haven’t yet had a chance to try is the Tapering function. I know that this is going to be so handy for garment sewists and quilters too. I know that this function will be helpful in reducing the width of my stitches when I am coming to a point on an appliqué or when I am turning corners. I’m looking forward to exploring this function and will let you know all about it in next month’s Janomelife blogpost.

I’ve just touched the tip of the features and functions on the Janome MC9450. To see more of this amazing sewing machine, click here for a video overview of it.

If you’d like more information on the Janome MC9400 and MC9450, please visit my Chatterbox Quilts’ YouTube channel.

Happy stitching from Kim Jamieson-Hirst, Janome Canada Artisan in Calgary, Alberta.