Originally Posted by nursie76
I like Guttermann thread (so does Nina). I just got some Organ Brand Needles, the special titanium coated ones for Christmas. They are supposed to stay sharp longer. I have pieced, embroidered and quilted with them and really like them. My dealer sells Bernina brand, Schmetz and Organ Titanium needles and I like them all. I do feel that it is the BSR that is sensitive rather than the machine (to the thickness) as I have seen the 440 QE sew animal fur pelts together with noooo problem. I do know that when I was doing FMQ with the BSR if my quilt basting threads got hung up on the edge of the sewing table, the weight of the quilt pulled or the quilt got backed up against the wall behind my sewing table, the BSR would make 1 stitch in the space of 2 a loooong stitch. I fixed that by moving to my large cutting table which supported most of the quilt on the back and left side and a folding TV tray on my left to hold the rest of what was in my lap. It worked like a charm. I would continue to work with this, but if it still doesn't work right, I would take it back to the dealers. I am sure they want you to be satisfied and will continue to work with you. If you can't get it 100% perhaps they will trade machines with you. An idea would be to take your quilt to the dealers and ask to use another machine on the floor like yours. If it works better on that machine then you know that there is a problem, if it does the same then it most likely is related to the quilt. Good Luck!
I've pretty much ruled that the quilt itself is a big part of the issue since I can sew like mad with the BSR on any fabric sandwich and not have a single problem. I'm kind of worried that it will have issues with all quilts though. But this quilt top, being small pinwheels, has a lot of thicker seams so maybe other quilts won't be so much an issue. What I don't understand is if the issue is the BSR's sensitivity, why the needle is still going down trying to make a stitch, but for whatever reason not connecting with the bobbin thread. Seems like the BSR is doing it's job by sending the needle down at the correct intervals. Or maybe I just don't really understand how it all is supposed to work. :P
(I really need to try some FMQ'ing without the BSR and see how it does, I just don't want to subject this quilt to anymore madness than I already have. :))
:P :)