Friday, September 12, 2008

Puckers and jumps

Yesterday my friend and student Mrs. Noro brought over her new sewing machine. Noro-san is a seamstress and she has her own shop in my city where she makes clothing and remakes kimonos into western wear as well as fixes items that need to be hemmed or refitted or something.

The other day she was telling me about a new sewing machine that she bought and yesterday she brought it to my house to see if I could figure out how to use it since the directions were in English. Well! It is a Bernina and though I don't know very much about sewing machines, I have heard many of you bloggers speak of your Bernina sewing machines so this was a treat for me to sit down to. Unfortunately the directions are not in English after all but rather in French and Swedish. (I think). So we diddled and experimented instead.

"Ah, look at all these different machine foot accessories. Wow. It sure looks like you can do a lot if you know what you want to do. " We didn't.

I recognized the quilting foot so I ignored everything else and while Mrs. Noro figured out how to thread the machine and turn the light on I went upstairs and got out some batting, some backing and an old block that I had lying around. Pinned it all together and sat down at the machine.

Hey, I'm quilting on a Bernina! Well, not doing a very good job but the machine sounds good, the touch is easy and the stitching is fairly even. Mrs. Noro gave it a try for 30 seconds but determined it too difficult. She left the machine with me for the week and told me I could play as I like.

Actually after Mrs. Noro left I decided I didn't like the stippling that I had started afterall so I ripped that all out and tried another effect. Not great but since this blocked has been stuffed in a drawer for years it was a good practice piece. I'd made this block when I was just discovering paper piecing and I think this was a mystery block from Paper Panache. I decided to quilt raindrops all over the block but I may have overdone it a bit. Too many raindrops and you can hardly see the umbrella and flowers under all the top stitching. Ah well.

For all that, I think I've determined that this machine isn't really designed for machine quilting. It doesn't have a large enough space to maneuver quilts (you know, on the right side so that you might roll up a quilt some in there) and there are extra contraptions for doing embroidery with the computer screen on the machine so that is probably its specialty. No matter how nice and expensive the machine, I still had puckers on the back and jumps in the stitching (my own lack of control). I think I can do the same skill level on my own cheapy machine which in a way is a wonderful discovery. It is not the machine that makes the quilter! Or maybe it isn't so wonderful. No matter how great the machine I'm stuck with the same results... puckers and jumps...

11 comments:

meggie said...

I visited a quilting shop recently, & the owner was using a Bernina to quilt her lovely quilt. She told me it has a laser beam, which shows where the next stitch needs to be, & no matter how erratic you are, it regulates it all. I was amazed, & would love to have a machine like that for my quilting....!

Clare said...

Can't you download the English or Japanese manual from the Bernina site? I'd give my eye teeth for a machine like that!

The Calico Cat said...

If you can't download a manual in either language, I'm sure that if you contact Bernina that there has to be a way to get a manual...

June said...

I had a Bernina for a couple of years and only used it maybe three times. I never figured out what is so great about Bernina, as it was too much machine for me! I sold it for a fraction of what I paid for it. I'm back to a Kenmore, and love it!!

Shasta said...

Your block looks great - you are just too hard on yourself. I'm sure that you would be able to find an English (or maybe even a Japanese) version of the manual. Look online or contact Bernina.

Aldana said...

Hello!!! Is beautifull your blog!!!
My name is Aldana. I am argentina but now I live in Spain
Do you want exchange a thimble with me?
Sorry but my english is so so
Hugs:


Aldi

Katie said...

I love my Bernina but it can't do everything for me. :-) Too bad! I read a quote from Harriet Hargrave, that said you have to machine quilt every single day for at least six months before you can start to get good at it. I believe it!!!

The Calico Quilter said...

Oh, my, that looks like waaaay too much sewing machine for me! I love my Juki and wouldn't trade it for anything. If a sewing machine has a display screen, I'm in deep trouble.

You ripped out all that stippling? You have more patience than me, that's all I can say.

Anonymous said...

The store where I bought my Bernina has classes (free) to teach you how to use it. There is a lot to learn. I thought it made sense but several weeks later I had to think hard about how to do some of the things.

There's a second class that I need to take to learn the rest.

Wish you had something like that available for you, too.

nonchi said...

タニヤさま

ベルニナ買ったの!!と驚きました。
お友達のベルニナね。
たくさんいいキルトができますように。

artfilstitch said...

This looks like a Bernina 230 which really isn't so complicated, but it does help to have the owner's manual. I had a 135 patchwork edition..gave it to my sister and she loves it. The 230 replaced the 135...Bernina likes to re-number their machine which I think is just a marketing tool. They have now come out with a top of the line and of all things named it the 830, with a firm price tag of $11,999.00. I love my old mechanical 830 and will keep it forever.