Objective: Produce one resale-ready lap quilt by combining straight-line and free-motion quilting on the Janome MC8200, then price it for sale.
An intermediate resale project means taking skills you already have and sequencing them for efficiency and consistency. On the MC8200, a lap quilt (roughly 50 x 60 inches) is the sweet spot: large enough to command a solid price, small enough to manage under the 8-inch throat space without extensive rolling. Set up in two stages. Stage one is anchoring: attach the AcuFeed Flex dual-feed walking foot (foot HP2 or the AD foot), leave the feed dogs UP, set a straight stitch length of 3.0-3.5mm, and stitch-in-the-ditch along the main seams to stabilize the sandwich so layers don't shift. Stage two is decorative free-motion: swap to the free-motion/darning foot (QC foot), DROP the feed dogs using the lever on the back of the free arm, and reduce top tension slightly (try 3.0-4.0) because free-motion thread behaves differently. The MC8200 is mechanical-feed, not a computerized stitch regulator, so in free-motion YOU control stitch length by how fast you move the fabric relative to needle speed. Use the speed-control slider to cap maximum speed so your stitches stay even, and set the needle to stop in the down position so pivots stay clean. For production, batch your steps: baste all sandwiches, anchor-quilt all tops, then free-motion all tops. Pricing for resale uses a simple formula: materials + (labor hours x your rate) + overhead markup. Track real minutes per quilt so your estimates sharpen over time.
Example: You make a 50 x 60 lap quilt. Materials: top fabric $22, backing $14, batting $12, thread $4 = $52. Setup: AcuFeed foot, feed dogs up, 3.2mm straight stitch; you stitch-in-the-ditch the nine main block seams in 35 minutes. Then you switch to the QC free-motion foot, drop the feed dogs, set top tension to 3.5, cap the speed slider at about 60%, needle-down. You free-motion a loose meander across the whole top in 70 minutes. Total labor 1.75 hours at $25/hour = $43.75. Add 20% overhead on the $95.75 subtotal = $19.15. Resale price ≈ $115, which you round to $119.
Try it: Pick one lap-quilt sandwich you have basted. Write a one-page production sheet: (1) list your anchor-stitch settings (foot, feed dog position, stitch length) and the seams you'll ditch-stitch; (2) list your free-motion settings (foot, feed dogs down, top tension, speed-slider cap, needle-down); (3) sew the quilt in those two stages while timing each stage with your phone; (4) log your material costs and compute a resale price using materials + (hours x rate) + 20% overhead.