Hi Quilters!
I see some of you own the Viking Sapphire 835 and are really enjoying your machines. I have been quilting a long time on Pfaffs, but loved the buttonholes, extra long throat, dual lights and free floating quilting features on the Sapphire. This baby is a great machine for the price and seems to throw down a precise stitch like my Pfaffs.
What I found a little scary tho was that there is no manual take up lever on the Viking and I don't know if I could get used to not having it. So how can you ever precisely adjust your fabric position if you have to rely on the auto up and down button that seems to clamp the fabric down tight? Not sure I could eyeball it right and may frustrate myself moving the thing up and down repeatedly. I like the control of the manual take up lever since I can skootch (is that a word?) the fabric around so easily.
The other thing about the Sapphire I was not sure about was the small space in front of the needle. There is no "ramp" for the fabric to glide on before hitting the needle and so I am not sure that's a good design for us quilters.
Are these two points of concern to any of you who own the Sapphires? Any comments you have are most appreciated. This group always has such good advice.
Thank you,
Mary