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Saturday, January 5, 2019

What, Another Machine?! My new Bernina 700

Here is a photo of my little Bernina harem before my machine tragedy this holiday season.


I had a sewing tragedy while I was making my Christmas presents this year, a tragedy that lead to the purchase of another machine.  I never though I'd be that lady with many sewing machines but so it goes.  About 4 years ago purchased a used Bernina 830 I found on Craig's list.  I fell in love with it because it has a larger neck so it was the perfect quilting machine.  It also has an embroidery module and hoops.  I had never been interested in machine embroidery so the embroidery module languished in storage for about 4 years. 

This year,  I decided to pull it out and learn to use it.  Purchasing patterns satisfied my need for instant gratification, and they were reasonably priced. I purchased all of my patterns on Etsy and they were instantly downloaded to my computer and then transferred to a memory stick, which was plugged into my machine.  Easy-peasy.




I found that it was really fun and I embroidered dish towels for friends and family and this wall hanging for my special friend.  The machine hummed away for awhile and most of my towels were finished and ready to be put in Christmas bags  along with my handmade jellies and liqueurs.  Unfortunately, the darn machine stopped humming near the end of one of the patterns and I found the thread was jammed in the bobbin case and my needle wouldn't move up or down.  I put on my surgical gloves and began extracting wads and wads thread from all parts of the bobbin case.  This thread had been packed so tightly between the case and it's holder that the case came out of the holder.  In a Bernina 830, that's a problem.  Only the technician could fix the machine with a special tool.  I would have to send my machine to Juneau, AK on Alaska Airlines for this relatively minor repair.

To make a long story short, after several long conversations with Jody and Amy at Raintree Quilting in Juneau, I decided to buy a Bernina 700.  Did I mention  I am a sucker for a good sales pitch. This machine looks just like a regular machine and it is as easy to use as a regular machine but it only does embroidery.  I was able to finish my Christmas gift bags in time.



I fell in love this Christmas.  I am now a passionate embroiderer.  I can get a project started on my 700 and sew a project on my 430 or quilt a project on my Q20.  I am the woman with many machines and am loving it!!


5 comments:

  1. Isn't embroidery so fun?? I love it and don't get the chance to play very often. I still have the embroidered raccoon I need to get made into a tote bag. Embroidery is addictive! Congrats on your new machine! While I love the pic of your new addition, I was captivated by the view outside your window. Those mountains, and your machine, are stunning!

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    1. I am excited to play with my machine. It is fun and there are so many more options for quilting and projects.

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  2. Oh so jealous! I am seeing an embroidery machine in my future, not too soon, but someday!

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    2. It sure is fun. There are so many patterns and projects in my future.

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