Rachelcb80

Well I guess the issue really is with the BSR because it went on to start skipping again this morning. In tears I brought out my old Brother machine and started FMQ'ing on it. Worked like a charm. My husband asked me if I had tried just plain FMQ'ing on the Bernina, just to see if it still did it without the BSR attached. I admitted I hadn't but figured I probably should. I went on to quilt for over an hour on my Bernina without the BSR and the machine never skipped once.

So I don't know if I have a faulty BSR (even though the updates were done to it yesterday) or if it's just so darn sensitive, you can't use it over anything but a plain piece of fabric (no seams). I feel like such a pain in the rear but I guess I'll take my BSR back in to the store next week and see what they say.

sewgray

For what those machines cost you are not a pain anywhere. Keep taking it back until they get it working properly. I was wondering if you spray basted? Also I was told by my quilting teacher to always use a sharp point needle. ie. denim, sharp, topstitching, quilting, etc. etc.

nursie76

Rachel, You are NOT a pain in the butt! Your hubby paid good money for that machine and all the options like the BSR and you have a right to EXPECT it to function correctly! I feel so bad for you and your distress...you should be delighted with the machine, not in tears. If I may, I would like to suggest that you be politely firm with the dealer, explaining to them that you feel the problem must be the BSR because it FMQ's like a dream without it. It would be a simple matter to get a different BSR, plug it into your machine and see what happens. I know it is difficult, but I would take everything with you including he quilt you are working on and duplicate what you have been doing. If that BSR works fine then I would think that the problem is in the connection where you plug it into the machine, or with the component in your machine that deals with the BSR. In that case, I would politely request a new machine...sort of start from scratch.

If the BSR was so sensitive that it wouldn't sew over anything with seams then there would be no purpose to have it as quilts are pieced, therefore have seams and FMQ is a way to finish a quilt. I did extensive FMQ'ing on my hubbys quilt for Christmas, it had lots of seams and the only problem I had was my inexperience.

Once again, insist that the dealer make this right, don't feel bad about bothering them...you are the consumer, and if you didn't buy, they couldn't make a living. If they can't or won't make it right, then contact Bernina. I know a lady who got a new 830 (approx $11,000)before Christmas and had nothing but trouble with it...the dealer tried and couldn't resolve the issue. She finally contacted Bernina...and in a very short period of time had a new machine and never had another problem.

Good Luck! Sorry so long, but I feel so bad for you and don't want you to feel it is you that is the problem, because it isn't.

Rachelcb80

I really hate regreting a purchase (especially one this costly) but I am starting to regret wanting this machine. My husband took my BSR up to the store today (I stay at home with my three kids ages 4, 3 and 15 months. I'm not at liberty to jump in the car and run up town whenever I please.) to tell them it was still skipping stitches. One of the ladies that works there was tending the store and told my husband that the owners had to leave and go out of state for a family emergency. They won't be back until Thursday. He explained the whole story with the BSR but she told him she wasn't able to make any decisions regarding giving us a new one or anything. My husband said she first started in about whether I had adjusted the tension, was pulling the quilt through the machine, etc. He told her, "Look ma'am. My wife sat up here for 2 hours Saturday and showed the people what the machine was doing. They did some update thing on it but when she brought it home, it continued to mess up. She can take it off the machine, put on the regular foot and go to meandering to her heart's content and the machine doesn't skip a beat. She bought the quilting gloves the lady here suggested and she's "nesting" the quilt up around the machine like the lady showed her as well. She's being as careful as she can but this thing isn't working right." The lady then told him to hold on a second. She went and pieced some fabric together real quick and put my BSR on a machine up there at the store. My husband said she ran it for about 45 seconds and it went to skipping. She took the "quilt" off the machine and said "Oh, I see what you're talking about". She put her stitch ripper tip under a place where it had skipped and my husband said it was about a quarter inch long stitch where there should have been 3 or 4.

The lady said she didn't know how the BSR could be the issue because as she understood it, the BSR only "told" the machine when to send the needle up and down. It didn't control the needle height or anything like that. That's kind of how I thought it worked too but I don't know what else to contribute the problem to. She told my husband that all she could do was tell him to come back Thursday when the owners would be in and talk to them about it. He told her not to worry, he would.

So I'm stuck worrying about this until Thursday and really hoping the owners will try and help fix this. :(

nursie76

Oh Rachel, I am soooo sorry you are having this trouble. I feel so upset for you that you'd think it was me. I know how I would feel if I had invested so much in a machine only to be in tears over it's inability to perform the way it is supposed to.

I am sooooo glad your hubby stood up for you! AND the one gain, was that the lady at the store got the same result in just a few seconds. As you had already worked out, the BSR is sending the needle up and down properly, therefore you would think that the problem would be the machine itself. But since she put your BSR on one of their machines and it did the same thing, then it has to be something with that BSR. I would think if the BSR caused their machine to malfunction, that if they gave you a different BSR to try on your machine and it worked fine, then that would prove that it is the BSR.

Either way, you are still left with a very expensive machine that you can't use all of it's functions. I can totally understand your frustration....in fact, I think you are handling it admirably, I probably would have blown a gasket and embarrassed myself.
Just remember, if the dealer doesn't give you a satisfactory solution on Thursday ( or you DH) then try contacting Bernina USA directly. They usually respond with 48 hours.

Good luck.

fabuchicki

I'm sorry you're having sadness over the BSR. I have the same machine and I never use the BSR. I just learned to free motion quilt without it. I never knew what people see in this feature. I think it's faulty too. I got uneven stitches the couple of times I took it out for practice so I just don't use it. They say it does better on light colored fabrics because the sensor eye can see the threads in the cloth better but I practiced on white muslin.

But, I LOVE the machine anyway. If it only had the wider stitch width of their more premium machines and a low bobbin warning it would be the best thing since sliced bread as far as I'm concerned. I hope you learn to love the other features, otherwise, it's not like you'd have trouble selling it for quite a bit.

knlsmith

YEAH HUBBY!! What a sweetie pie! My hubby does the same things for me. if I have trouble and know I could lose my temper he takes care of it for me.

I am soooooo sorry you having trouble. I am glad your hubby is cares enough about your quilting to do this for you.

fabuchicki

I spoke to the Bernina Tech today who was servicing my machine and he said the BSR does need a computer update and so does the machine. He said it will make the BSR smoother and the buttonholer work better. Who knew?! Well, I didn't before this thread so THANKS. Maybe I'll use it sometime after I get it fixed.

nursie76

I was wondering how you made out with your BSR. I was at my dealers today and they told me that they have encountered this a number of times before. Apparently, some of the BSR's need to have the spring that they were manufactured with is not strong enough and when quilting, the quilt starts to bounce which causes it to skip stitches. They replace the current spring with a stronger one and that stabilizes the material and allows the needle to function correctly eliminating the skipped stitches.

Hope your dealer has already resolved your issue and you are enjoying your FMQ once again.

nursie76

I was wondering how you made out with your BSR. I was at my dealers today and they told me that they have encountered this a number of times before. Apparently, in some of the BSR's the spring that they were manufactured with is not strong enough and when quilting, the quilt starts to bounce which causes the needle to skip stitches. They replace the current spring with a stronger one and that stabilizes the material and allows the needle to function correctly eliminating the skipped stitches.

Hope your dealer has already resolved your issue and you are enjoying your FMQ once again