That's what I was thinking Charlee - IF she accepted the money for the class, then there should have been no mention of superior/inferior machines.

ah....we have a local quilt shop/bernina dealership. Not really even interesting in selling fabric to anyone who did not purchase a machine from her. Really cold shoulder...wonder how the woman ended up in retail.

I think there is an attitude in general about the type of machine you buy. Seems to me that if you don't have a top of the line Bernina (and not too many of us can afford that) then you are part of the lower echelon. Who cares? If I am correct, I think that Ricky Tims still sews his quilts on his Mom's (or could be his Grandma's) old treddle Singer sewing machine and I certainly think he does a pretty good job - don't you? I have a Janome myself that I bought at a Quilt Festival and I just love it - so much so that I bought a smaller version to take to classes with me. My one complaint is that I do not have a place less than about 100 miles where I can take my machines to have them serviced. Of course my local Bernina dealer won't (or maybe can't) do this for me even though they serviced all makes of machines before they became exclusively Bernina. I really hope you enjoy your Brother - I know you will and as someone else said you can get a bunch of information on line and from the great quilting books out there. Also - join your local quilt guild as I am sure they will have some really good classes and it won't matter what machine you have.

Ricky Tims appears in quite a bit of advertising for Bernina, so I imagine he does use their machines. He at least seems to be telling us too... Here he is talking about the 830 (a machine that, in my opinion, should drive you home from the store) http://www.berninausa.com/popup-fT-n...-p306-sUS.html.

He often mentions his mother's old electric Kenmore in interviews (and that he still has it), is that what you are thinking of?


I have to say, when I got a Bernina, I had no idea it was an "it" brand. It cost less than the Janome I was looking at, so I picked it as the affordable option. (Brother was my other choice. I recently found out there is a Viking dealer near here, but didn't know it at the time.)

I think Brother gets a bad rap. I loved my Walmart brother and had it for decades- I couldn't afford one when I was looking for a machine that go round, but wanted a CS6000i and recommend them to any beginner, the dealer machines are really good too. And the 1034d is the best entry level serger there is.

You can say she is not being a snob, but there are a multitude of ways to handle things without talking down to a person, and she sounds like a snob to me. If she's not a snob, she's doing a mighty good impression of one!

I had it explained to me this way -- when you buy a machine from other than a dealer (as an example, Wal-Mart), the machine is made to "Wal-Mart" specifications which may or may not be the same as the machine produced for a dealer. I have always bought my machines from my dealer -- I support him with my purchases and in his case, at least, he provides free embroidery clubs, serger clubs, quilting clubs. I may pay a little more for my machine but I appreciate the quick service I get when I have a probem, the clubs provided, and I figure that if we don't support our dealers, one of these days the dealers may be gone.

I don't understand people!! Who cares what kind of machine that you have as long as it works and does what you want it to do! It's like people judge you by what you have not who you are or what you can create!! Sadly there are snobs out there everywhere, just don't let them get to you and enjoy your machine!!! :)

baby catcher,
I had a similar experience when I took a class and brought along my Singer 15-90 when it was still an electric machine; it has since had a motorectomy and is treadle powered.
We were doing FMQ, the teacher was convinced that it couldn't be done on such an old machine. We showed her! :o)
Sharon W.

I wonder if 'mass produced' means knock-off. Of course they don't like that but if it sews to your liking, who cares. It is against the law, I think, to produce knock offs but not to buy it.

Having worked in a quilt shop, though, I did not like it when a customer came in to have ME figure out how much backing she needs so she can go to another shop to purchase. She never did buy much from us. If a customer wants the convenience, they do need to support the shop some. My way of thinking was this, if she wants to know how much backing she wants for her quilt, ask at the shop where she is buying.

I see the point of the machine place, but the $50 should have covered the class without a problem.... I bit my tongue when the lady wanted me to figure out her backing yardage but apparently someone told her I was offended and she could not understand why. Shop is not here anymore and people miss it.

It is tough these days. We have to do what we can to protect our own finances and businesses have to try to stay in business. I don't know what the answer is. Everybody has to do what they have to do and handle it best they can.

Enjoy your machine. I am sure it will do the job for you.

You are right they are total snobs. You may also find that local shops in addition will usually not honor any warranties for machines purchased out of their territory or online. BTW I purchased the earlier version of that machine the SE350 loved it so much I sold it and upgraded to a machine by Brother that also did 5x7. It is a great machine and easy to learn.