Originally Posted by Sede_Mae
Hello everyone :-) Any Pfaff Quilter Expression Owners?? I have been for the most part a 'lurker' and have enjoyed reading everyday all you have to post...and now I could sure use your help and advice.. I am afraid of a decision I made and now am a little worried for the following reasons... I just recently put a down-payment on a new Pfaff Quilt Expression 4. I am a
quilter...definately not "Show" quality guilter, but hope to be someday. I was
looking at and comparing the Pfaff QE4 and the Bernina 440. I really liked the
Bernina 440 and I have an old (25+ yrs) Bernina 910. I have always valued the
quality of Bernina. I am however on a limited budget (poor nurse) :-) so I
decided not to purchase the MUCH more expensive Bernina. With all that said...I
am feeling kind of sick now, because I have been looking on the internet at "the
reviews" of the QE4 and so far, most all of them have been horrible!! Many of the
posts were about the tension and the 'breaking of thread' frequently while
quilting? The #1 complaint mentioned was "Thread Jam" indicator showing on the
machine when no 'jam' had occurred. I really am scarred at this moment...feeling
like I got caught up in the salesman's pitch and jumped into something before I
did my research. Most of the comments I read on the internet are from 2009...so
does anyone knows if the machine I am buying soon is any different from the 2009
or not? This is a big purchase for me and now I am having second thoughts and
thinking about going back tomarrow and asking for my check back. Of note, the
dealer has been in business for many, many years, is local and is family owned.
Thank you all for any advice or comments...hope I can sleep tonight! The little
bit I sewed on the machine before making the 'down-payment' I Loved it!! Thank you for any response...good or bad r/t this machine.
For the past 5 years I've owned, used and love my Pfaff 2034. Last fall it had to go in for it's annual cleaning and service - the 2034 has a glitch in it(which has been fixed in the 4.0) but I love it. Anyway, the day we took it in, the store owner told me about the new Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0 and I told him I wasn't interested that my 2034 was only 5 years old and I needed to use it for another 5 years however, the reality is that I'd been wanting a machine with the longer arm so badly. The day we went back to pick mine up, I asked how much. When he told me the price and about the features offered, that got me to thinking but still resisting. My husband told me I did have enough money in my account if I wanted to buy the new quilter so o o o... Brought my machine home and went to work on my quilt and thinking. Phoned in to request an appointment for a demo as it wasn't in the local shop but one of the other's he owns. It came home with me and I LOVE it BUT
Make sure you take time the day you pick it up to learn how to use it and feel comfortable with it as it's a highly electronic computerized sewing machine, the smartest I've ever owned.
Then take it home and use it but schedule your free class in 3 or 4 weeks. Put the machine through it's paces and make a list of questions you need to see demoed and make notes on how to do them. The lady who demonstrated my machine made it sit up and take notice and it sewed like a dream. The problems in the reviews are user error. You do need to put the time in to learn how to use the machine and then you'll be fine. I'm still learning but love it. It is a dream to sew on - I'm a hand quilter who is learning to machine quilt so I don't yet do free motion. I did try once and my machine ran into a problem but it was major user error on my part because there were settings I needed to make and didn't know as I've never had to do those settings before.
If your instincts felt good the day you tried, you should be fine but make sure you and someone there has the time for you to set it up in the store and before going in, make a list of things you need to know how to do. That's what I did but it was the free motion that got me in for my free lesson. DO NOT put that free lesson off for longer than a month. By the way, I was told that I can have as many free lessons on it as I need. I doubt that but suspect it was a safe comment to make as they know I'm an independent soul.
Good luck.
Patty