You are certainly a woman after my own heart. My signature, mpspeedy, describes me in more ways than one. Perhaps because my first and only career type job was as a Lab Tech. We used to get three deliveries a day of speciamens to be tested. The goal was to finish each shipment before the next one arrived. I learned in a hurry how to organize my working area and a routine to get the job done as soon as possible. After a month or two of working there I always got my work done and had time to help in other areas that I was not responsible for along with reading as many as 100 pages of whatever novel I was in the midst of at the time. I even found time to visit other labs and help them in a pinch.
My Bernina 1260 was finally worn out and I replaced it with a used Artista 185. The bobbins are not only three times the cost of the older machine but they last at least a third less of the time. I am always running out of bobbin thread in the middle of a project. It is really annoying to find you have completed a whole line of machine stitching without bobbin thread. I didn't get the embroidery module because I have two free standing Embroidery machines already. I can't imagine having to put up with that bobbin capacity while using the embroidery module. I guess it would last longer because the bobbin thread for embroidery is thinner. The other thing I don't like about the wider stitch capacity of the newer machine is that the straight stitch is not as consistant. I have to adjust the needle position in order to sew something narrow like straps because the feed dogs are to far apart.
Your remarks about the BOM are right on the money. One of my guilds as the stupid rule that if you win the blocks you are obligated to particapate in the BOM for another six months out of the next 9. I have found the hard way that when I did win the blocks I could never get all of them to match well enough to be included in the project. If I were running the BOM I would offer the directions and simply ask those participating to make something using that pattern. Their "prize" could be having the membership vote for the one they liked the best that month or whatever.
The woman who cleans for me asked me if I would sew patches on a team jacket for a woman she knew. I made the mistake of saying yes. The coat was heavy wool, completely lined and had fake leather sleeves. I had to sew the patches on by hand as there was no way to get it under my machine. The lady gladly paid me $20 but I told her to please not recommend me to any of her friends. Just because I know how to do things doesn't mean I want to do them for other people.