Baby Lock Ballad Sewing and Quilting Machine FLOOR MODEL with 60 Days FREE Online Classes

Eleven and a quarter inches, and 771 stitches

The Ballad is the machine for a quilter who knows space to the right of the needle is a luxurious thing. Eleven and a quarter inches to the right of the needle, 1,050 stitches a minute, a 7 inch color touchscreen and a digital dual feed system that takes 7mm of layers under the foot. That harp is the whole point: it is roughly three inches more than the Soprano, and it is the difference between rolling a queen-size quilt through a machine and wrestling it.

Angela Huffman, host of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting PBS show and founder/owner of Quilted Joy.

Two things to know before you buy. The Ballad does not embroider, and it has no stitch regulator, so free-motion stitch length is down to your hands. If you want the regulator, that is the Anthem. What the Ballad does have that we LOVE is the pivot feature where you can put the needle into the down position and the foot raises ever so slightly so you can get the next piece going or rotate applique for decorative stitching with ease. Call us at (502) 718-7148 or send us an email and we will help you decide between the Anthem and the Ballad.

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The harp is the feature (we're talking about the throat, y'all)

Everything else on a quilting machine is negotiable. The space between the needle and the body is not, because it decides how much rolled quilt has to fit through and therefore whether you can quilt the middle of a large top at all. The Ballad gives you 11.25 inches, the same as the Anthem above it. Add the hands-free knee lift and a machine that runs at 1,050 stitches a minute, and a full-size quilt stops being something you send out.

Digital dual feed, and 7mm of layers

The Compact Digital Dual-Feed System drives the top layer of fabric at the same rate the feed dogs drive the bottom one. On a quilt sandwich that is what stops the backing puckering and the top creeping ahead into a ripple you only notice once it is quilted. It takes 7mm of layers under the foot, and 36 of the machine's stitches can be sewn with it engaged, so it is not only for straight lines. Retractable feed dogs drop for free-motion work when you want to free motion quilt.

Thirteen feet, and everything else in the box

Thirteen presser feet come with the Ballad, along with the knee lift, the multi-function foot control, a soft cover and the bobbins and spool caps you would expect. The NeverMiss automatic needle threader handles the needle. The thread cutter is automatic. The bobbin is a Class 15 quick-set with an independent winder, so you can fill a bobbin while the machine is threaded and sewing. Ten inches of LED light runs around the needle area.

Seven hundred and seventy-one stitches on a seven inch screen

A hundred and fifty-two utility stitches, 442 decorative, 63 combined utility, 20 satin and 17 cross stitch, plus fourteen one-step buttonhole styles and five alphabets. Stitch width goes to 7mm and length to 5mm. The screen is 7 inches of color touchscreen, which is what makes a library that size usable rather than a number on a box: you scroll to a stitch, you see it, and the width, length and tension are on the same screen rather than under a button.

Specifications

The full manufacturer's warranty applies to this floor model exactly as it would to a boxed machine. Warranty service is handled here in Louisville by our own factory-certified technicians, so your machine does not have to travel to a stranger when it needs attention. If you live outside of Louisville, any Baby Lock dealer in the country will service your machine under warranty. Every machine we sell also comes with owner classes.