All great things to consider. I'll let you know what and when I decide. Thanks for your help! I am now kind of leaning toward a long arm. I just wonder if I can afford BOTH the 830 AND a longarm within the next couple of years. Would be really cool...dream dream dream.

Yes, the speed of the BSR is SIGNIFICANTLY slower than a longarm's stitch regulator. I had an HQ16 before I bought my Millennium. It was much faster than the 830, and I still outran it. My Millennium can keep up, finally!

Created by CJ

I posted a question about this a while back and no one responded I am glad though that there is more feedback on this post

I did Purchase the Bernina Quilt Frame and I use my 830 with it. Just like anything else, there is a learning curve. I haven't used it much (due to my work schedule) and I am still learning. I do eventually want to get an APQS machine but don't have upwards of $20k right now, nor the space to put it. I thought the 830 frame would be a much cheaper alternative and something I could learn on plus I got a really good deal on it.

A note about the Midatlantic Quilt Show. PLEASE do your research before purchasing at the show. I live only a few miles from the MAQF and the qulit show prices on Bernina Machines are not stellar deals. I purchased my 830 at my LQS for much less than the quilt show prices!

Maria

Sewdreamy wrote:
Sounds like a nice problem to have. Enjoy solving it! Karen

Sewdreamy....... Go to Gammill website and request an info package. Also on TQS main page on the left click on Gammill's ad and watch the Gammill video's. They are very good!

Have fun planning and researching all the different option's There is something for everyone these day's.

Barbara

Obviously I have a lot to think about and do research on. Sounds like I could get a long-arm that would fit in the space I have figured out for a new sewing area in my home at a price I can almost afford. Maybe with all this to consider it's a good thing to start a year out before you actually plan on buying, and maybe I can get a chance to test drive some of these machines at some really neat shows (yeah, another reason to go to quilt shows.. ...as if I need one).

I just traded in my Gammill Classic Plus. I now have a Gammill Vision 18-8. I got the camera that shows the back of the quilt for free as a promotional gift. I *LOVE* this new machine! It is a touch screen and smaller frame for home users. I got the 10 foot table and love the space saving design. I was so happy to see that big hunk of steel table I had for the Classic Plus leave my sewing room I almost cried!

Barbara

Handi-Quilter also makes a sit-down model, and David Taylor is one of their biggest fans!

Also, my Handi-Quilter frame is only 10 feet long, so it fits where a lot of the big long-arms won't!

As much as I love my Berninas, and the BSR can be a great tool, for me the BSR has some limitations and I don't use it often. With my 430 stationary, I sometimes machine quilt faster than the BSR can keep up. I test drove 820/830s on Bernina frames at 4 or 5 shows in the last year and the speed difficulty was more pronounced. I don't know whether the 830 BSR is faster than my 430, but the Bernina frame was so smooth, the BSR couldn't keep up.

Also, I use some long-arm tools when I domestic quilt, and I have some trouble with my darning foot 'cuz it's not a circle - it has that 'bump' on the back. The BSR foot is even less of a circle - much more of a bump. You can use two sides or maybe three, but not all the way around a shape.

Does anybody else use long-arm tools when they domestically quilt that maybe could help me with this?

BTW Deb, I'd love a George. I'm saving for an 820 first though...

Hmmm Sounds like I will have to dig deeper in my pocket and come up with both the 830 and a longarm, if I can only figure out where to put them. I live in a modest townhome, so not a lot of extra space. My daughter-in-law's Gammill is huge. I'm not planning on quilting for anyone else, but I do want to quilt at contest-level. I thought the 830's BSR was much faster than the other Berninas. Is it still a lot slower than a longarm?

I have to agree with CJ. I love my Bernina, but when it comes to quilting I wouldn't trade my George for the world. George, manufactured by APQS, is a longarm with a 20" throat space. It work just like a domestic sewing machine, where you are pushing the quilt, so there is a very small learning curve. If you have the time and opportunity, you should check it out. -- Deb

BJ, I don't think that you will be able to use the long-arm rulers with the 830. The hopping foot of the long-arms are much thicker so that they don't slide under the rulers like a regular presser foot or the BSR foot would do.

I love, love love my 830, but the small throat space and the extremely limited speed of the BSR will in no way compare to a longarm. As much as I adore my 830, if I had to choose between it and a longarm, I'm afraid the longarm would win out!

But I guess that depends on how often you quilt, versus other sewing tasks.

Created by CJ

Hi all, I am not about to rush out and buy the 830 yet, but I'm thinking about doing it in the next year or so. When I was at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival I saw the 830 on the Bernina frame. I believe I can make a deal with whoever I buy it from (perhaps at the MAQF next year or in 2012), to get a package of the 830, the frame, and the upgraded design software and save a bit of money that way. I now have a 200E with the BSR upgrade and use v4 design software. I want to upgrade within the next two years so I'll have it before I retire in 2013. (I'll keep my old 1230, because it has a different hook system that makes it better for certain heavy duty fashion sewing applications and sell my 200e at that time).

Has anyone gotten the frame with the 830 and if so, how do you find it? Can you use the BSR with it? Is it easy to control for precision quilting...can you quilt tiny stipples and smooth curves? Can you use longarm quilting rulers and tools to help with the quilting? In other words, is the frame worth it? If I had this, would I keep wishing for a longarm too? What do you think?

(I'm planning ahead for my full-time fiber arts retirement "career".)