Welcome back to quilting!

I'm strictly old fashioned. (I'm a really little old lady.) I use a foot control thing that sits on the floor and any foot is fine. Since I have a cheap Singer I don't have anything fancy.

I really miss the knee lift if i sew on another machine. And I can't live without my guide.

My Bernina came with a knee lift but I never use it. Just never got used to it and don't miss it. It's taking up dust in my room. I use a quarter inch foot and that one works great.

I would like a knee lift or just a plain old lever or button on the front of the machine for lifting the presser foot!

Welcome back!

The knee lift on my Bernina is definitely in my "can't live without it" category now. I love it. My 1/4" foot does not have a guide on it.

Guides reduce visibility to me more accurate without imho

I have a friend who has always been challenged by maintaining a consistent seam width, she loves her guided foot and her foot up/down button, and cannot live without her clip thread option.

I use a vintage machine as my standard machine (and have been using it for about 25 years now) and am pretty accurate with my piecing - I have zero machine options really, but I do have a good strong straight stitch. When I use my cheap modern Brother at classes or whatnot, I'm always taking multiple tries to do things that I don't even think about on my regular machine. Mostly it's what you are used to doing.

A friend of mine has offered me a nice modern machine she has but I have to go visit her to get it... I'm looking forward to the visit (tentatively November) whether or not she actually gives me the machine, that's not the purpose of the visit. It does have automatic threading and with my vision issues that would be lovely to have. Forget what brand my friend likes, but she likes nice things...

I loved the 1/4" foot/guide with my Janome.
I had perfect seams.

The Bernina 1/4" I have a love-hate relationship with it as I find I cannot get the perfect seams.
A hair too wide, which then means blocks do not make to the right size ..... easily.

Knee lift ... the 1st machine I got it with, I avoided it.
Hated it when I tried it, but I could see the advantages.
Plus discovered, because I had first learned to sew with a knee pedal,
I reverted to thinking it was for that purpose. Talk about messy sewing!

Finally I "forced" myself to use it consistently while working on a project.
Yup, I soon fell in love with it.
To tackle the knee pedal issues, I now run the foot pedal with my left foot.
Knee lift with my right knee.

Can't live without it and will never buy a machine now, without it!!!



As for the 1/4" foot issue ......... I wish I could get that back to being a total love!

For the Pq1500s I use and like the quarter inch foot (no guide) that came with it. This machine is straight stitch only and the needle cannot be moved left or right, but the combination of really good needleplate markings and the quarter inch foot means I can easily get a very consistent scant quarter inch seam. I do Not like using the knee lifter on this machine because I’ve never gotten good at controlling my speed with my left foot so I use my right foot on the pedal which makes it awkward to use the knee lifter.

For the PC420PRW I use my regular zigzag presser foot (the j foot) and move the needle over to the right so that I can use the edge of my presser foot to get a consistent seam allowance. I adjust it however far it needs to be to get the correct seam allowance for my project. Early on I purchased both kinds of 1/4 inch feet for it, but found that using the j foot and moving the needle to the right gave me a much more consistent seam. This machine has a speed controller so I sometimes will use the knee lifter. It comes in handy for times when I don’t want to take my hands off the work, but I have to admit that I often forget it’s there and reach for the hand lever.

My other machines don’t have knee lifters or 1/4 inch feet.

Rob

I have no knee lift option, or I probably would use it. I use the 1/4' foot that doesn't have a guide because i can see where I am actually sewing better without a guide.

Welcome back!