Oh, the things you learn from this board!! A single whole plate will not eat my fabric!!! yeah!

You could use it if you got a 1/4" foot and center the needle in the center. For me, the 1/4" foot and the single needle plate are the most valuable items I have that go with my sewing machine. I hate to piece without the single needle plate and the 1/4" foot, and I would be really frustrated without either one of them! I use the single needle plate for FMQing and embroidery, too.

Darn it Gayle, that's a good point. I have the new 15000 and was thinking, why don't I use the single hole plate, well now I know why. I guess it's pretty useless then isn't it?

I think Gayle said in her post that using the 1/4" foot on the 9mm machine moves the needle to the right so it wouldn't be in the center, therefore she can't use the single needle plate. Are there two holes on the single plate? One that's maybe a little to the right of the center? Maybe that would work. I'll have to check it out.

When you are start out to piecing...at the very beginning, sometimes instead of the sewing machine gliding along, the very beginning (corners) of the sewn fabric will get pushed down into the hole below and bunch up. Making the piecing pretty much impossible, the straight switch plate is supposed to eliminate that problem, I still have problems with it, I hold onto the threads before I start sewing to make sure it doesn't get stuck and tangle up. I owned an Elna sewing machine for 40 years and never had this problem, I didn't even know the problem existed until I got my new Bernina, but I guess it is pretty common. I always had tension problems with the Elna, so none is perfect.

My plate has an elongated hole, I use a hopping foot, and always start off the edge of the quilt when I free motion quilt. I have never had a problem with it jamming the material in the hole. I have been doing it for about 4 years now. I use Machinger gloves, go slow, and relax.

It helps prevent the quilt or fabric from being sucked down into the needle plate opening. It is also wonderful for piecing on some of the newer fancy machines as many of them have a larger opening and tend to suck down the fabric when piecing.