What is your most favorite feature on your sewing?

[Lois B.]

Terri, I am from the east coast, central Pennsylvania, a little town called Selinsgrove. Welcome to the Forum. Its so much fun to talk with quilters from all over the world.

[Rita C.]

Congratulations on your new machines ladies. And many happy hours sewing on them. :cheer:

[Rita C.]

Lois wow your a long ways from here but from what I here Pennsylvania is a beautiful State to live in. The Dutch settled there many, many moons ago right? What are you building for a quilt at the present time? I am working on a quilt of the month, and I gave a few patterns that I want to get started on.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I really am enjoying my new machine, but how long does it take before you are really comfortable with a new one? I seem to be a little tense right now...lol



Terri

[Lois B.]

Terri, I am working on a quilt for my grandson, as a gift for his first holy communion. I have photographed and duplicated his own art work and appliqued it on the quilt. I have been posting progress on it, as well as tangents off that main project to keep me from being bored over on the Resolutions for 2015 Thread. If you are interested follow along there. Members are posting things they've been working on. Join in. We'd love to have you follow along. I have the quilt sandwiched. Next week after house guests leave I will quilt it. It must be done by 4/18. They've predicted another 3-5" of snow here tomorrow. I am so, so eager for spring. March has come in like a lion and it's leaving as a lion too. Next I will be complaining about all the yard work and gardening that's keeping me out of the sewing room. The weather is just not going to be able to win with me. Guess I am hard to please. Really, usually I don't complain about winter. Honest.

[Lois B.]

Lois wow your a long ways from here but from what I here Pennsylvania is a beautiful State to live in. The Dutch settled there many, many moons ago right? Terri

Having lived in Pennsylvania when I was a kid, I learned that the Germans who settled there in the colonial days were mistakenly called Dutch because the German word for Germany is Deutschland. Others thought this meant they were Dutch as Deutsch sounds similar. Hence the term Pennsylvania Dutch".

Kathy

[Lois B.]

Lois you are very busy indeed. Hey don't worry about complaining about winter as I understand the eastern Seaboard of North America got hit by several severe storms leaving piles of snow behind. our Canadian Maritime provinces are still buried in snow and hopefully it doesn't lead to flooding when it does all melt. My area that usually gets a hard winter, well we had an easy one. I already have daffodils and hyacinths growing. I love gardening also Lois. I will try and come over to the other site but right now I am trying to hurry and get some things done...and not spend so much time on my IPad...lol

Kathy thanks for your info sharing. I really had no idea that it was the Germans that settled in Pennsylvania, so I appreciate the sharing. You learn something new from all friends it seems, which I love.
Night and thanks! As ever Terri

[Lois B.]

Kathy, You are right about the PA Deutch. I am one of those decendents with names like Weader, Aumiller & Fetterolf on my family tree. I am afraid we are off on a tangent again. Must say I can't wait to see what amazing projects emerge from these new machines and what features are best loved by their new owners.

[Dawn S.]

Oh my, Lois! I am one of those "Dutch German" descendants, too! The John Markleys from Somerset county. There is even a very small town there called Markleton. John Markley (originally Merkle) moved there with his wife Eva from Germany, in the 1700s. The original homestead still stands, thanks to preservation by an historical society. But, we could actually be Dutch. The family jury is still out. All I know is that I have a very old letter from my grandmother's sister, saying "....and father still makes all of our wooden shoes!"

Dawn

[Dawn S.]

Aren't family trees exciting? I have worked on mine all winter and I find it so fascinating. I am glad that I asked about the history of Pennyslvannia it has stirred up a lot of chat about our ancestors etc.

I sure hope everyone is having a great day today...the sun is shinning very bright here today and it is really warm out but there are promises of heavy rain possibly turning to snow later on this evening...yuck! They can keep the snow. I am so done with winter now since some flowers are growing already.

Have a great one!!
Terri

[Dawn S.]

Terri - hope you enjoy your new machine!
Barb

[Dawn S.]

There are a lot of great machines out there like everyone has said. I am a recent convert. I had purchased a Bernina 830LE after trading in my 440qe. I thought, yep, I'm a Bernina girl, nothing could beat the quality of a Bernina. But guess what, I've eaten those words. While the Bernina is a great machine, I had such a bad lemon with the 830 that I purchased a 750 within that year. Now the 750 was a great machine. It pieced wonderfully and was not fussy about what type of thread I put through her. She took everything from 30 wt garbage thread to the monopoly's and never missed a beat. In fact with the exception of the monopoly I never had to mess with my tension. I did have issues with the dual feed option. I did not think it to be the best of her qualities. Bernina's feel are superior to the feet of other brands. That much I can say, however they are priced as such also.

So, I traded in the 830 lemon and got a Janome 15000. My dealer has been awesome in my trade in trade up frenzy the last 2 years. I thought this one would be the answer to everything. I had recently purchased a Janome 8900 on closeout to be used as a travel machine for classes and such. But I wanted a machine that I could embroidery and sew on and the 15000 just wasn't cutting it. It sounded for one thing like a rattle trap and the embroidery arm that I thought was so wonderful being in the back just got annoying. So, off I went again to trade it in. I didn't want to even entertain another Bernina. With all the wonderful screen sizes out there I would have thought Bernina would have got on the bandwagon and put a larger screen on their TOL machines. Let's face it, most of us that can afford these machines are not in our 20's with great eyes anymore. And I had such a sour taste from the 830 in my mouth I didn't even consider it. However, the Destiny called me in so many directions that I went with it. I have never been happier. Had I not had a killer trade in with my 15000 and a wonderful dealer I could not have done that. But I love this machine and all it offers. I have not found one thing that this machine does not do and do top notch! So, given my situation I traded my last machine (750) in and came home with the second machine in my room which is the Bablylock Ellisimo Gold 2. This machine is my go to for piecing, in hoop embroidery, and all around everything. And I have to say, after having two wonderful Bernina's (440 & 750) this Ellisimo does a much better straight stitch. Both in the feed and the stitch. There are a couple things that other machines offer that BL does not though. Others change feet easier when going from/to embroidery, and others have a double blanket. But other than that, BL can't be beat. IMHO of course. I never have regretted trading in my Bernina.

I have had Brothers, Viking, Pfaffs, Berninas, Babylock, Janome, and Kenmore's. While I don't like a couple of these at all, most have been ok machines. The Babylock line seems to offer the most and up-to-date state of the art options at any given time over the other machines. I would say, before purchasing a machine take a month (or whatever time you feel comfortable) and keep track of all the different things you do with your machine. Also keep track of what you would like to do that you can't with your existing machine. Then go in to your dealer and look at everything that falls into those categories. Buy the most machine that you can afford, that way you won't outgrow it by the time you get home with it. Of course this comes from someone who works 8-5 at a day job and then goes home, feeds hubby, and then sews til bedtime every single night!!!!! Am I obsessed you think?? LOL

[Dawn S.]

Sharons440, I have been on that train ride, too. Thanks for telling it like it is! Had such a sour taste from my 830 experience, I sold all but one of my Berninas. Sad to see a few of them go but without a satisfactory relationship with the store, I couldn't continue to do business there and keep my dignity. So glad you are happy with your new machine. I'm counting the months until I can buy the Destiny.

[Dawn S.]

Hi everyone. I have been reading so much about everyone having a mystery quilt event or sewing mystery quilts, can someone please explain what a mystery quilt is? Thanks

Terri

[Nancy R.]

Hi everyone. I have been reading so much about everyone having a mystery quilt event or sewing mystery quilts, can someone please explain what a mystery quilt is? Thanks

Terri

Hi Terri -

A mystery quilt is one where you don't know what the final quilt is when you start making it. What you do is you get a new set of instructions every week, month or whatever. You follow those instructions and then wait for the next set. You don't know what the final quilt looks like until the last set of instructions. They are a lot of fun to do, but are risky if you are picky about quilt patterns.

[Nancy R.]

Since a few have posted about their Bernina 830 experience. I thought I would too. I did not get a lemon and I absolutely love my 830. It is a solid workhorse for me. It takes any thread I throw at it even metallic. And I love the huge hoops. I also have a Janome MC15000 and I like it too. However it doesn't free motion as well. It straight stitches better. However the janome has a tendency to have nesting thread on the beginning of a stitching line. The bernina does not.

Here is my experience Bernina 830 vs Janome MC15000

straight stitching: janome wins with a beautiful straighter stitch but with caveat to use a bit of scrap material to start other wise i get a rats nest on the bobbin thread at the beginning of a stitching line. Holding the top and bobbin works too, BUT who wants to do that if they have an automatic thread cutter.

Thread cutter: both machines will cut thread. I think it's faster on the Bernina than on the Janome (this is an impression, not measured with a stop watch). Bernina sews without nesting after using it's cutter. Janome will form nests if you sew after the cutter. On the Janome you will need to use a bit of scrap or pull out and hold the thread tails when you start sewing again.

freemotion: bernina wins hands down, no contest

needle threader: janome's is better and more consistently threads the needle. Both machine's needle threaders work better than my lower end machines.

heavy or lots of layers : depends. heavy tight weave several layers like quilting on a denim from denim backed with batting.. Bernina. Thick tough fabrics like cordura 400 or 600, I use the Bernina. The bernina doesn't skip stitches like the Janome can in situations like this. "This" is comparing same thread, same needle, same fabric, same number of layers, and sewing at half speed machine is capable of etc.

embroidery: Both work great. Both do a great job. But due to thread change on these single color machines, I prefer the Janome because of it's more consistently working needle threader. (though I Think the thread path on the Bernina is easier to do).

MC15000 pros: I like the fact this machine is wi-fi capable.. that I have an app on my iPad that I can 'see' where in the process the embroidery is, if thread broke, if the machine stopped, and if i need to change colors. I can run around my home and do chores while doing embroidery without having to check to see the status of my machine. I actually get more embroidery done because of this.

knee lift:
pro for the bernina is that the knee life is mechanical. This makes doing appliqués way more fun on the bernina instead of the Janome. I can barely raise or take the pressure off the fabric when turning curves or corners and still have some pressure from the foot helping me keep things lined up and it acts like an extra hands. On the Janome, the knee lift seems to actually be a electronic switch, when I use the knee lift, there is no infinite range of lifting the pressure foot, it is either up or down. I don't like this. So I typically do appliqué on my 830. (I also prefer the double blanket stitch the Bernina has over the similar stitch on the Janome).

pro for the MC15000 is the knee lift can be set to control other things besides lifting the presser foot, you can use it to control stitch width. Yes, really! So for an art quilter, I can use it for neat effects. I also use it when couching lumpy irregular yarns and other items to art quilt while embellishing. It's very fun once you learn how to control it.

My conclusion, each of these machines has pros and cons. I COULD live with either one. But I am lucky that I can afford both. So I generally piece quilts on my Janome, MC1500, while I appliqué and free motion on my Bernina 830. I will use either machine during embellishing art quilts depending on what stitches or effects I want. I embroider much more on my Janome because of the ease of monitoring and changing thread (nice threader).