Birdie Bernina takes her first drive….
We moved to Maine in 2004. This top pre-dates that move by at least a year–I made it as a local quilt group mystery quilt (design by Debbie Caffrey but don’t remember the name). I only made four blocks, made it into a small top, and it has sat in a basket mocking me lo these many years.
Fast forward: I SPLURGED. I ***seriously*** splurged. I bought a Bernina Q20 sit down. Yes, it costs as much as a nice used car. And Oh. My. Yes. it is worth it…what a DREAM! I figured you only live once, quilting is my favorite thing, so I’m gonna just go for it. And yes, I am beyond grateful that I have been able to earn enough by writing, teaching and selling my art quilts to be able to afford this indulgence! To each and every person who has ever read an article or my book, watched my DVD, or taken a class or bought an artwork, THANK YOU!
But that means need to learn to use it and not be a tad intimidated. Light Bulb Moment!!! Take those two UFO mystery quilts (yep, there’s another larger one) and use them to test-drive the new Bernina, named Birdie because of the beautiful bird’s eye maple cabinet (yes, I splurged a little more and upgraded to the cabinet…pics below). So I got the somewhat soiled, tired, not particularly well pieced tops out, ironed them, and decided to go for it.
I have to say the included-with-the-machine video was great, although I have no clue WHY Bernina doesn’t make it able to play on a DVD player–only a PC or a Mac. Have they not noticed that computers don’t come with disc drives any more????? Luckily, separate disc drives are cheap (about $30 or less) and I had planned on buying one for other reasons (moving CD music to the laptop). But still. The disc ought to be able to be played on a DVD player! Anyway, it is well done, as is the manual.
The Q20 comes with a bobbin tension gauge and the manual says (yes, I read manuals! you should, too) you should test every bobbin. So for now at least, I am. That helped me get my combination of thread–40 wt. trilobal poly in the needle and 60-wt very fine Bottom Line poly in the bobbin–adjusted with a minimum of fuss. The stitch balance is simply fan-flipping’-tastic. I DO match needle and bobbin thread always, though, just in case!
I need to thank three people: Barb Black and Karen Miller are friends who have the Q20 (Barb’s is a sit-down like mine, Karen’s on rails) and Jeanie Cook-Delpit of Bernina for their advice, rave reviews and, from Jeannie, help. When I saw Barb at Quilt Festival I got a great big laugh out of her when I greeted here with “Thank you for leading me into temptation!” It’s totally true. And Jeanie — you helped make this possible. THANK YOU! You are the creme de la creme of Bernina Ambassadors. I’ll post more pics when done. Let’s hope the power doesn’t go out tomorrow during the incoming storm, which is supposed to be heavy, wet snow. I wanna quilt!
December 28th, 2016 at 11:53 pm
It’s a beauty!
I was curious about what you had upgraded to after selling your previous machine…Thank you!
December 29th, 2016 at 12:05 pm
Thanks for writing, Linda. She really is amazing!