I'm excited to say that I just purchased the Bernina 440QE. I'm getting acquainted with it, and it seems pretty user friendly. I get free lessons for life at the store where I bought it. I'm hoping it doesn't take a lifetime of lessons to learn to use it!

Here are my questions: To those of you who own this machine, I'm wondering if you've made any discoveries of features that might not be obvious from reading the instruction book.

Have you figured out ways of doing something that the book doesn't explain well?

Have you figured out any particular feature that may have bamboozled you in the beginning?

I hope these questions make sense. As an example, I couldn't figure out how to make the start/stop button work so that I could sew without using the foot pedal. I couldn't find a place in the book that explained this. Then, I figured out that I have to unplug the foot pedal. Duh.

Any ideas are appreciated.

How lucky you are to have a new machine!! I have an older Bernina artista 180. I love it and have made quite a number of quilts on it. But I do wish I had the BSR and have played with it a little. My experience with the instruction book is that it is pretty clear on most things. I was very fortunate to have bought mine from a shop with great owners who explained all my questions and concerns away!! Even though I have moved away I still feel like I can call them, if I need to. But most of the shop owners I have met are that way. I think Bernina requires it of them!! Happy sewing, and no question is a dumb one. If you think of something, call them. They would rather have a happy customer for life, than a complainer to ruin their business. :)

I have a 1090S that my grandparents bought me in the 90's. It is a wonderful machine and it has not needed any repair except its yearly cleaning. You will love it!!!!!

Enjoy :!: :wink: :D

I have an Artista 630 and I wanted the needle to stay down when I stopped. If you push the button, the needle comes down but when you sew and stop it stays up. I discovered that if you push on the needle down button and hold it a few seconds, when you sew and stop the needle will stay down.

Also, I wanted to do decorative stitches, When doing for example a blanket stitch, when you get to a tip, you want to restart the stitch. The screen tells you which part of the stitch you are doing at any given time. I looked everywhere how to do that and accidentally discovered that if you touch the botton for the stitch again, it restart the stitch.

Good luck with your machine. You will see that by playing with it you will discover the coolest tricks.

Maria

Color me green with envy!! :mrgreen:

My Bernina is just about 10 years old but still runs like new. A Virtuosa 153QE. I'm not even sure if I could put the stitch regulator on it, probably not compatible with that old of a model. But I love it and don't regret getting it for a moment. Have fun with your new machine, I know you will love it.

Thanks, Maria, very helpful.

On my machine there is a button that you can push to tell the machine to stop at the end of a decorative stitch as well, so you don't stop in the middle of the stitch unless you want to.

Thanks too to all you well-wishers. This was a bit of defiance on my part since my husband likes to talk me out of anything that costs more than $20. Of course, if it's something he wants, the sky's the limit. We've been married 34 years. He's a great guy and I love him to pieces, but I find this part of our relationship extremely annoying.

I've had my 440QE for almost 4 years and I love it. If you've never had a knee lift before, my advice is to use it. Once you get used to lifting the presser foot with the knee lift, you'll love it. It's especially good when you're doing machine applique and have to reposition the fabric every few stitches. Also, during the lessons I took at my LQS, the instructor had us use our left foot for the foot pedal, so that it wouldn't interfere with using the knee lift with the right leg. It was awkward at first, but now I'm used to it.

I do a lot of my free motion quilting by setting the speed and using the on/off button. For some reason, this works better for me than the BSR.

You will probably get some lessons in maintenance, but my biggest hint is to remove the needle plate every time you change the bobbin and clean out the lint. I keep q-tips next to the machine just for doing that.

Sooooo happy for you!!!!

I have a Bernina and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. I think you'll find that learning your machine will be a breeze.

Enjoy! :)

Congrats! I too have a Bernina and love mine. I don't have your model, I have the 640.

Thanks, Elizabeth. All good ideas!

I am so happy for you getting a new machine!!!
Cannot wait to see what you will create with it!
I do not know Bernina machines so cannot help you on that end...
Just enjoy!
Kirsten

Congratulations on your new Bernina. I have 630e and I love it. Can't think of any other tips at the moment, you have been given the ones that I thought of.

Barbara - welcome to the club!! I just got a 440QEE about 2 months ago. I wish I had some tips, but I'm still learning the basics of this thing. I've been spending some time working on the embroidery, so that's steered me in other directions. Don't you love the way it sounds when you sew along??

ARRGGGHHH DONT YOU Q-TIPS-THEY LEAVE FIBERS BEHIND THAT CAN DAMAGE YOUR MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Instead, go get some of those sponge eye shadow applicators and use that instead. You can reuse them, rinse them, etc. and you won't spend more than a couple of bucks. My sewing machine shop said that's a huge NONO".

Aside from that, thanks for the tip about the left foot. Do you find the presser foot lifter easy to use from a regularly sized table? I sew on my dining room table and I feel like it's almost going to jut into me...

My lever is a little higher than I would like, meaning that I have to lift my foot off the floor to reach it with my knee. My chair won't go any higher. I think I can get used to this. Just as I'm writing this I'm thinking I might put something on the floor where I can rest my foot high enough that my knee is in the right place.

Congratulations! I recently got the 430 and I LOVE it!

I have had trouble using the knee lift because my sewing table has an apron on it and it interferes with the lever. At some point I may get a new table, but for now I just won't use the knee lift.

I don't really have any little tricks to share yet, except for this- I was having trouble with missed stitches lately so I changed the needle and that helped.

Can you tell me what is the difference between your 1090S and my 1090 (not 'S')? I've only had my 1090 for a few months, so am still getting acquainted with it, but I absolutely love it!! Thanks!

Congratulations on your new Bernina!! I have two, and older 730 Record that I've had for 15 years and a recently acquired 1090. I love them both for different reasons.

There are a few Bernina forums with many helpful and knowledgeable folks out there willing to answer your questions, too. I belong to this one:

www.berninathirtysomethings

here is another:

http://www.berninacentral.com/

And, of course, there's always Bernina's website:

http://www.berninausa.com/

There may be others, but these are the ones I'm familiar with. Have fun with your new machine!

I got the 440QE almost 3 years ago, and I love it - and the BSR. One of the handiest tips I've learned is especially helpful when I'm sewing with monofilament thread, usually for SID. Press option 2, set the stitch width to 0 and the stitch length to something very small. Now use option 2 when beginning or ending a line of stitching. Go back to option 1 for your regular stitching. It's a lot quicker and easier than changing the stitch length every time you start and stop, and the machine remembers the setting for you. Enjoy your new machine!

Thanks! Good info.

Congratulations on your new baby! I have a Bernina 440QE (without embroidery) and I just love it too death!!