Are you kidding me? 1.8? That's less than the default setting. Surely that dealer hasn't ever had to take out a seam! I guess you had no problem with seams coming apart though. I usually use 2.8 or even 3.0. If I'm strip piecing I use the 2.8 as 3.0 tends to come apart when cutting through that. I want it to hold together but still easy to take apart if need be.