Each November Jody, the owner of Raintree Quilting in Juneau Alaska, and her Bernina technician Amy come to Petersburg to service machines and teach classes. Petersburg has a large group of quilters and each has at least one machine that needs an annual checkup.They rent a space and welcome the all quilters to come in and work on projects. It is a fun time for fellowship and learning. They also bring the latest Bernina machines so locals have a chance to upgrade or at least drool over the lovely machines.
This year while Amy and Jody were in town, I made a spontaneous purchase. Don't even ask me what I was thinking but I always say, go with your gut. While sewing away and visiting with one of my fellow quilters I learned about the Q20 for the first time. What? A quilting machine that you don't need a rack for! It is a remarkable machine that you can thread from the front and it has a bobbin winder right on the machine. It can be a sit down machine or a long arm machine. I went home and talked to my always encouraging husband and he said get it. I bought a Q20.
I have been thinking about quilting machines for awhile. I looked at a Gammil long arm machine a local woman was selling, but decided it was too scary for me. The 12 foot rack and large machine take up a lot of room and I would have to rent a space for it. I also felt I would have to eventually quilt for other people to justify the cost of the machine and I really don't want to do that. In addition, we don't have a Gammil technician in our region and the expense of bringing someone to town would be prohibitive. I have been quilting on my Bernina 430 for years, and I feel comfortable with the sit-down quilting process. If I decide to purchase a long-arm frame from Bernina, I can do that at a later date. The price of this new machine is less than half of the used, older Gammil and it takes less space. I am sure I made the right decision in my purchase. Note to self...the machine doesn't make you a better quilter, practice does.
Hi Kathi! I hope you write a post more in depth about your new machine! I find this fascinating and I would love to get a machine similar. I looked long and hard at a Juki mid-arm/sit down machine but the distance for servicing was an issue. I can hardly wait to read more. Happy New Year to you. ~smile~ Roseanne
Hi Roseanne. I will post more when I return home in March. The Inbox Jaunt has a great post about the Q20 here: http://theinboxjaunt.com/2018/12/05/the-bernina-q20-review-one-year-later/. Happy New Year to you to.
Congrats on your new quilting machine! I love my domestic Bernina. The Bernina longarm must sew like a dream. Happy new year! BTW, thank you for commenting on my blog. You came up as a "no-reply blogger" so I could not respond directly.
if I was to ever get into more machine quilting and had space and money for another machine it would be for something like this - good luck with it.
ReplyDeleteI think you would love to machine quilt more and especially if you have one of these. :-)
DeleteHi Kathi! I hope you write a post more in depth about your new machine! I find this fascinating and I would love to get a machine similar. I looked long and hard at a Juki mid-arm/sit down machine but the distance for servicing was an issue. I can hardly wait to read more. Happy New Year to you. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteHi Roseanne. I will post more when I return home in March. The Inbox Jaunt has a great post about the Q20 here: http://theinboxjaunt.com/2018/12/05/the-bernina-q20-review-one-year-later/. Happy New Year to you to.
DeleteWhat a great present to yourself. I'll bet 2019 is going to be a fabulous year for you. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI know, thank you! Happy New Year to you too!
DeleteCongrats on your new quilting machine! I love my domestic Bernina. The Bernina longarm must sew like a dream. Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteBTW, thank you for commenting on my blog. You came up as a "no-reply blogger" so I could not respond directly.