Old vs. New (machines, that is)
 

Here is a New Year chuckle for the day...........I am trying to meet the deadline...LINUS meeting on Wed and I am trying to finish 5 quilts..............in the middle of all that, today (NEW YEAR) my wonderful, much loved Bernina 630, just up and almost dies on me...........starts stopping and starting all over the place..........
So.............
Here I sit, all day, with the Bernina turned OFF, and I am sewing away, fast as I can go, on an OLD LADY....my little brown 301A, that I got at the Salvation Army store, along with a nice cabinet, for $32.00........ my hubby comes in my sewing room, and laughs.......his statement....... "There sits a Bernina that cost (cant' remember....$4000.00 or so I think) and here I sit, sewing away happily, on my $32.00 machine".............
Ok, so he is right........have you ever had this happen to you? I have to laugh, or I may cry...............

I love my 301, it has a very good even stitch and it is ever faithful.....I was sewing away on my portable Viking and somehow it is out of time and not picking up the bobbin thread, so I finished my project on my 301 that is in a beautiful antique cabinet that someone gave me because it was in their way.....go figure.

I have 5 301's and a new Bernina 830. My Bernina has been in the shop more than home. Yup, I feel your pain. But, my 301's are always here for me.

Well, I look at it this way - for piecing a quilt you really don't need an expensive machine - all you need is a straight stitch and forward/reverse. The vintage Singers I have do fine for me. :)

Yep, my Janome was in the shop for 4 months, and I just puttered along on my vintage machines. I used them 99% of the time. I have more money in the Janome than in all my vintage machines. Never again.

I understand...have a Bernina 830 which has also given me many headaches (many trips to dealer too) and I tend to sew on my 1980 vintage Viking which I might add has been serviced once. I religiously clean out the lint but never oil it! Don't you love it!

I do all my piecing on vintage singers. Use my 401 everyday, it sews a beautiful seam and is a workhorse. My 99k has lots of attachments and does great gathering. Just keep them clean and oiled and they run forever. I only use my newer brother for fancy stitches which is not often. BTW my 401 does a better zig zag than the brother. If I had cams for the 401 I would probably never use the brother. I have a Viking mega quilter for quilting, dream of a long arm. I also have a singer, don't remember model right now, that is 96 years old and it still works great, the decals on it are sew beautiful, I use it mostly as display in my studio.

I love my 301. Isn't also funny that if something goes wrong with an older machine usually able to fix it and not have to take it to the DR!!!!!!!

I sew with a 1992(?) Pfaff 7130, but the 301A and Featherweight are fun too!! :)

I have a 1938 Singer model 15-91 and am using it to piece the Jinny Beyer DA VINCI kit for my grandson's graduation in June. I paid $75.00 (including a cabinet) for it from an antique dealer. It has a knee control which I am learning to love. I also like to sew strips with the 3 treadles we have. But I still like my Bernina 640 for attaching binding (their walking foot works best I've tried) and for regular sewing. I also have 301's and featherweights I take to class. We are shipping 1 featherweight to my daughter's in CA just so she and I can both have machines to sew with when we go to visit.

I have experienced this, too. I have a Pfaff 7570 that I love, but if I had to choose one machine (I have 6), I would have to take my 401A. It has never broken down on me. It is my "go to" machine when others fail me.
I think many of our old faithful mechanical machines will sew circles around the fancy computerized machines over a lifetime. I also have a 66-16 that does a much nicer straight stitch than my high-end Pfaff. Gotta love those old girls!

I have a vintage 306W that has never ever failed me! I love the features of the newer machines , but for reliability .. nothing beats vintage.

thanks for the sweet answers, it sure helps my feelings......I took the Bernina to the shop on Wed afternoon........now just going to have to wait for the shock of what it is going to cost to have it all fixed up again.....................

I love my newer Berninas for what they can do, but my tried and true "best friend" of sewing machines, the one I can always rely on, is my Bernina 930.