WAWAK.com has good prices on blades, no coupons needed.
Use caution about bearing down
hard on the blade - I think this just makes it more difficult to cut, will give you hand fatigue, and if you slip or something breaks you're more likely to get injured. I have been told to push forward, not down when cutting fabric and that tip has made my hands feel a lot better after doing a lot of cutting. Firm pressure should be all you need. I don't change my blades very often at all (every 3-4 quilts probably) and I often cut through 6-8 layers at a time, and I don't need to press that hard on the blade. Firm, yes. Hard, no. (I use a 60mm blade, which helps with all the layers, and they seem to stay sharper longer than the 45's too, but that could just be my imagination.)
I'm also not at all impressed with the ruler that's supposed to sharpen as you cut. I have one and I swear it DULLS my blades, so I've stopped using that edge. (Fortunately the sharpening stuff is just on one edge)
I've tried sharpening blades and I get a little more use out of them, but not much, and if there's a nick there's no saving the blade. So I just buy new blades. (I was using those blue manual sharpeners though, a powered one might do better.)
Welcome to your new addiction, and I do hope you post a pic! There are a LOT of bargello fans here, myself included.
