Originally Posted by
Candace
Here's something that is food for thought. When you move the needle over your bobbin thread is pulled at an angle. This can cause imperfect stitching and tension issues. Libby Lehman just did a video for The Quilt Show where she discusses this and teaches about this in her classes. I had never thought about this, but it makes sense if you think about it. I have a 57 foot with guide for my 830 and will now be using it all the time.
I was just reading the other day in a book Precision Piecing where they state the benefit of moving you needle over is that you will be using BOTH of your feed dogs. I have a Bernina and have both the 37 and 57 feet and wouldn't give them up but I think I am going to also try moving my needle over and using one of my regular feet, then decide. Although to be honest will probably go with all options depending on the mood I am in and what I am working on.
The biggest problem with the new higher end machines is that they normally have a 9 mm stitch width so the feed dogs are further apart (standard is 5 mm). I have found that if I am using a 1/4" foot on my machine I also want to use a Straight Stitch Throat plate.