Thread: Advice please on which Quilter to buy

Hallo,
I am ready and willing to buy a second sewing machine mainly for quilting but also usable as a normal machine. This for me means the machine must have a wider work surface and be able to buttonhole etc. I have whittled my choice down to Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 and Bernina 820. I need advice and comments as to which is the best. Or of course if you have an even better machine to suggest but please bear in mind I am resident on mainland Europe (France and Germany) so maybe some American machines are not available to me.

I like Pfaffs becasue thier accessories are more interchangeable with other machines than the berninas. The other feet are also generally cheaper than on berninas.

Another thing to consider is the Pfaff will almost certainly have a dual feed ( IDT) which is the pateneted built in walking foot which you can engage or not at will with most of the other regular feet. meaning you can piece with a 1/4 foot and have the benifits of the walking foot at the same time. I don't know if the bernina has this or not. Otherwise the walking foot is a lot of money for a bernina.

I love my Pfaff, and wouldn't have a bernina if you gave it to me. I may be being influenced by the over pushy saleman we have here at the shows, all those unecessary gadgets makes thinsg too overcomplicated and more things to go wrong. I have a non computersied machine as My main one, and a brother embroidery machine which I only use for embroidery or in an emergency as a sewing machine. I hate the way you turn them on and they reset to something other than just how I had it before I switched off the power. I like dials and switches not touch screens!

Also consider what machine you have already. If you stay with the same make your bobbins etc may be interchangeable and that is very handy. Look at how many bobbins you have for your main machine and think about how many you will want to buy for the new one. I have 30+ bobbins on the go at any one time, all different colours. I hate overwinding!

Best becks

Thank you cheezy the quiltmaker, very helpful. Yes I am a Pfaff person. Sadly though they have completely changed the bobbin system for the newer models which means buying another 50+ bobbins! Yes I too hate running out and keep them wound and ready to use.

[QUOTE=jcrow;5133308]

Originally Posted by cheezythequiltmaker

"Another thing to consider is the Pfaff will almost certainly have a dual feed ( IDT) which is the pateneted built in walking foot which you can engage or not at will with most of the other regular feet. meaning you can piece with a 1/4 foot and have the benifits of the walking foot at the same time. I don't know if the bernina has this or not."


I have a Bernina 830 and they came out with dual feed before Pfaff. I love my Bernina. I even have a Bernina long arm table that I purchased when I bought my Bernina 830. The Bernina 830 is made for quilting! I has a very deep throat. They sell the LATs with the Bernina 830s because they work so well together. The Pfaff is less expensive and is a very good machine also, but just wanted to set the record straight about the dual feed! I use that with all my feet. I buy the feet that use dual feed.

Actually Jeanne, Pfaff was the first manufacturer to come out with dual feed (IDT). I have one of the first Pfaff's with IDT, built in the 70's, model 1222. Which is a beauty of a machine! Pfaff held the patent on the IDT technology for many years and after the patent lapsed Bernina and other manufacturers now incorporate it into their new machines. Yes, the Bernina 830 and 820 have dual feed, but Pfaff paved the road for all of us.

I have the Quilt Expression 4 and love it. It sews like a dream and is very easy to quilt on. I am just learning to machine quilt and have been very pleased with its performance in that regard. Mine seems to be kind of picky about what threads it likes but that could be more a function of the fact that up till now I haven't done very much machine quilting. I do like using a bottom weight thread in the bobbin so that you don't have to change bobbins so often. It is a beautiful machine!

Thank you thank you thank you. I just needed to hear positive feedback.

Originally Posted by Judith

I have the Quilt Expression 4 and love it. It sews like a dream and is very easy to quilt on. I am just learning to machine quilt and have been very pleased with its performance in that regard. Mine seems to be kind of picky about what threads it likes but that could be more a function of the fact that up till now I haven't done very much machine quilting. I do like using a bottom weight thread in the bobbin so that you don't have to change bobbins so often. It is a beautiful machine!

Thanks Judith. To show my ignorance what on earth is a bottom weight thread? Sounds a good tip if I could understand it!!

I'm with Brabant; I have no idea what 'bottom weight' thread is? It sounds like something very important to know. LOL

Janome and Brother are both imported, and have the widest work surface.My sister prefers the Janome, which has a built in walking foot that caneasily be engaged by pulling it forward via a sewing foot lever like the lever you raise and lower the machine foot. I like the Brother...it has a real automatic threader, and rings you when your bobbin is almost out.