I am dancing the happy dance. My tech at G Street Fabrics must really have a magic wand. While I hung around the shop for a couple of hours, he took my machine apart, identified the problem (somehow it had gotten everything pulled completely out of timing, and a piece nearly off)...he found a hard clump of thread, which was the color thread I was using when it went berserk. He put it back together, oiled and cleaned and retimed it. It is stitching beautifully now and he says it is still in wonderful shape. He also said it is a pleasure to work on my machines because I keep them cleaned and oiled. So thank the Lord and sing His praise, and thank Lew and Mei Ling and G Street and all my friends who supported me while I was so upset about this....now I can really consider getting a sit down longarm sooner rather than later. I just have to make a place for it in my home. Have a great day everyone!

Oh me oh my, my wonderful Bernina 830 LE is sick and has to go to the machine vet. You can read all about it on my blog post here, but trust me when I say it is major.
I am cleaning and oiling my two backup machines...a reliable old Bernina 1230, and my little B350 that I use mostly for taking along with me to sewing events. But make no mistake, it is a crisis for me. It makes me admire people who do fantastic things without such machines, but I have come to rely on mine.
I am thinking of adding a sit down longarm to my store of machines to take some of the stitching burden off of my main machine. It might, in the long run, prove to be not only the best route for my quilting work, but also the cheapest route since it would make my main machine last longer. I quilt a lot. Anyway, I guess I don't have much of a question with this note, but since I have so many friends here I thought I'd let you know about this. I have about 9 million stitches on my 830 and have had it for four and a half years. I'm not sure whether it is dead yet or if it can reasonably be repaired. I don't know how much sewing Bernina plans on for their big machines. That's about what I would put on a machine in ten or more years if I were using it as I did before I retired, and if I were using it just to make clothing, it would probably be about what I would put on a machine in fifteen years or so. I sew a lot now.