Oh Dawn,

It sounds as if you have fallen in love!! It's important that you feel comfortable with your machine. If you think about it, we spend a lot of time with our sewing machines. We need to have a good working relationship with them.

Enjoy!

Geneva

Yes, I know about the complaints. I also know that the first batch had a lot of lemons, but there were some who simply didn't take time to learn the machine and some who jumped on the band wagon for fun and games (and didn't even own the machine),. But overall, the Bernina quality is still there, and the 830 LE and the 880s appear to be wonderful. I've owned mine for three years now and have not had any of the problems, But I also know that there are a lot of other good machines out there. Have fun with your machine. Cheers.

BJ, I have always thought the Bernina to be the Cadillac of sewing machines. I did a lot of research on various machines, and was shocked at the number of complaints about the 830. The best examples are the reviews on Amazon. Just search Bernina 830, and click on Amazon reviews. Out of 19 reviews, 8 people gave it 5 stars and 8 gave it only one, and were very explicit about the problems that they had. The other three only gave it a 2 or 3 star. So when I found out that our local Bernina (only dealer in a 100 mile radius) didn't sell enough machines to qualify for the Bernina sales nor the financing, it did raise a red flag. I do hope that, for Bernina's sake, their quality has returned to the quality that they have always been known for. (Sure wish I could have seen the 880!)

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Dawn, congratulations on your new sewing/embroidery machine. I look forward to seeing your new creations with embroidery. Your wheels must be spinning with ideas!

Congratulations, Dawn! It sounds like you and your new machine will be perfect for each other. I can't wait to see the beauties you create with her!

So happy for you. I love my Bernina 830 LE, but I do know a lot of the earlier ones had problems. I think by the time they put out the LE, most of the problems had been fixed and I somehow doubt the fifty percent figure. Nevertheless, I am really glad you found such a nice machine. Looking forward to seeing what you make with it.

Oh dear, I may have to go check one of those out...

Congratulations Dawn. I wish you and your brother a long and happy life together.

Wow! Sounds brilliant Dawn. I can tell you are bouncing off the ceiling with your find. Can't wait to see what you get up to on it.

Again, thank you all! I expected to buy a Bernina, but the small Bernina store here does not even sell enough machines to offer financing, nor did they have the 880, that I wanted to try. Did you all know that 50% of the 830 owners out there have not been satisfied with it? It was a rush to market, to beat out a competitor, and had many bugs. The 880 is supposed to be the debugged model, but if I can't sit and sew at one, and there is no financing, it was not an option.

So, I headed to the Janome store with great expectations of sewing on a Horizon. When I walked in, there in front of me was an incredible, big, beautiful Brother machine. I spent two afternoons learning about and trying it. It does EVERYTHING you all mentioned above, and so much more. I wanted to be able to do the wonderful machine embroidery that Sarah Vedeler did on top of her Accuquilt cut appliqué designs on the TQS BOM a from few years ago. So, I was interested in a machine that did embroidery.

Anyway, I was offered a REALLY good deal, because they had just sold 2 of them and the third one in the same order, would be quite a cost break on each one. Also, with three being ordered, they got free shipping, which was another savings they passed on to me. And, I received 0% financing and lessons or help any time I want it, for life!

It is the Brother Dream Maschine Innov-is 8500D. And it is amazing! I can draw a quilting design, scan it right on the machine, and it will quilt it. Or I can draw it right onto the screen and quilt it. It has a built in camera, that can be used for perfect placement, a laser line for a perfect straight line or perfect 1/4" seam, and many other things. And........the feed dogs move sideways, as well as back and forth, allowing for a much wider decorative stitch without puckering or using a stabilizer. And, with this feature you can.......are you ready for this....stitch sideways. Like, you can stitch a square without turning the fabric, or using a long arm. Oh, the possibilities.

I have 4 young granddaughters, and this particular machine has a ton of Disney embroideries built right into it. Very large embroideries! It even says Disney right on the sewing machine. This is special to me because one of my daughters is a marketing manager in Los Angeles, and Disney is one of her clients.

I should get my sewing machine sometime next week, depending on the dock strike.

Over the moon!
Dawn

things i recommend to my friends who want to get more into sewing than borrowing my wally world singer (bought for loaning to get people to sew with me) are from most important at top of the list:

needle up/down (a must have in my book, it's like having a third hand)

threader (our eyes are harder to change focus as we age, and seriously the newer needle threaders are much better than even four or five years ago)

kneelift (nice if you want to do more than just sew in a straight line, awesome for applique, and loads of stuff like sewing tight curves, art quilting, couching, and loads more)

a quarter inch foot available (makes consistent quilt patchwork much easier to get the hang of, lowers learning curve)

wider throat area (bump this up the list if you want to free motion or do quilt as you go projects)

? can you thread it, ask for a demo and ask them to let you do it too. Some machines are harder than others.

Sew on several to compare. Does one machine that fits your needs feel better than the others? Sometimes your machine will pick you.

Here's my list for a quilting machine:
Needle down/up
knee lift
Dual Feed - the dual feed on the Bernina is the same as the Pfaff. The Janome Horizon has a separate foot which has to be screwed on which is a PITA, inbuilt is better.
Good Harp Space - but it's not absolutely essential if you have needle down.
Needle threader - I had mine replaced on the Janome after 2 years and it's working fine.
In-built thread cutter - this is very useful lots of the time, but not when quilting because it leaves little whiskers at the back of the quilt which are also a PITA to bury.

I think Lois was referring to the Janome 1600PQC. This does seem like a very good straight stitch quilting machine as is the Juki TL98P which is also a straight stitch machine. I have seen both of those machines used as long-arm quilting machines on DIY frames. They both have needle down, and a knee lift and both do at least 1000 stitches per minute which is good for quilting.

As for a sewing machine, that's a different kettle of fish. All the bells and whistles are not necessary for quilting but I don't think I could live without a good blanket stitch and zigzag. The newer, and more expensive machines like the Janome Horizon and Berninas have a start/stop button just above the sewing machine foot so that you don't have to use the foot pedal at all. The hover feature for the presser-foot on the Bernina wins hands down (forgive the pun) because you don't have to either lift the presser-foot or use the knee lift to pivot when doing appliqué or sewing a corner. For you Dawn, this might be well worth it to save you from worse sciatica. Being able to move the needle in small increments is good as is being able to adjust the length and width of stitches. On my Janome Horizon quite a few of the decorative stitches could not be adjusted in length only width which was annoying. I love that the Bernina stitches can be stretched a lot.

Good luck with your decision Dawn. I am sure you will let us know what you decide to do won't you?

I have a Pfaff 150 Anniversary Edition. It has built in "walking foot" (Pfaff's IDT - Integrated Dual Feed) which is great for piecing and quilting. That and absolutely the needle down feature are my favorites. Probably most new machines come with the needle down feature.

Needle threader stopped working after about six months. Other quilt friends say theirs (on many different brand machines) always get out of alignment and when fixed, again stop working after awhile. I keep strong reading glasses by the machine for threading - cheap fix if you get a pair at the Dollar Store.

Most of all, if you buy a new machine, get it from a local dealer who can service it. Long term customer support is valuable. Go to the store and see what machines they feature and test drive a few. My decision was narrowed by the price - about $1,000. While all the fancy stitches are fun to look at (mine has about 200), I don't know why they bother with having more than a dozen on a quilting machine. Guess they want the machine to appeal to a broad group of sewers.

Kathy

I love the ability to move my needle to the right and left incrementally.