Bernina 770 QE Tula Pink Issues
Hello, I am the husband of a quilter and we recently upgraded my wife's machine to the Bernina 770 QE Tula Pink Anniversary Edition. My wife had been sewing and quilting on a Pfaff for 34 years. That little Pfaff is still a great machine.
The main reason my wife wanted to upgrade was to be able to free motion quilt. The BSR function on the Bernina sold us. We picked it up at Christmas time and her experience since then has been somewhat disappointing. The machine has been back to the shop twice. Once for timing adjustments after a needle break. The second one for bobbin empty fault codes, jams and tension issues. The dealer has been gracious and easy to work with but the machine is out of commission for several days each time it goes in.
Her experience with the BSR has been frustrating. It seems she has to muscle the quilt (60" x 60" open) through the machine to get the BSR working. Then the machine starts beeping that she is moving the material too fast.
The quilt is being fed from a smooth plastic top table. The table is not level with the machine. The quilt has to come up to the Bernina from the table. So I think one of the problems is the "tugging" of the quilt to get it to feed is an issue. Will having the table level with the machine help alleviate the problem ?
Also we have seen that a silicone mat and special gloves are sometimes used for operating the BSR mode. Is this necessary?
My wife does beautiful work and it breaks my heart that this machine experience has been such a challenge. Any help and guidance is appreciated.