Thoughts about Berninas
 

I found the LQS on Saturday as I needed 24" of white. I got sidetracked by the Bernina 16Q free motion sit down machine. 20% off in March! I'm seriously considering it! Any and all thoughts welcome!
Theeeeeen, while researching it online, I discovered that I also need the Bernette for all the cute automated stitches. Any thoughts also welcome. DH just said, "Well, you know that will be your anniversary gift."! I love him. 45 years in April!

You can get more bang for your buck on a Handi Quilter or Innova. I worked at a Bernina dealership for 16 years, and when the Bernina longarms came out, we didn't carry them.

The Bernette machines are made by Brother. You might as well get a Brother and save yourself a lot of money.

I own a Bernina 590, and I absolutely LOVE it! I didn't think I would use all the bells and whistles, but I do. The "hover" is my absolute favorite feature. The thread cutter doesn't really work. It always cuts the top thread, but I cut the bobbin thread right down to the feed dogs and it's just fine. I got the 34D foot to use for 1/4" seams. I bump the needle position over 3 bumps to the right and guide the fabric just inside the right feed dog. It can sew through tough fabrics without a problem. It has a jack hammer feature that gets through the super thick parts. I sewed 10 layers of denim and it didn't skip a stitch.

I'm a Bernina girl. I've had 5 Bernina sewing machines (I have 3 currently) and a Bernina serger. I love Berninas especially for making bags and clothing. Nothing like a Bernina for doing the hard stuff. I have used the sit down machine, but it's probably awesome. Most Berninas are.

I don't know anything about longarms but I do know about Bernina. It's such a great machine! I have 2 and won't sew on anything else (except my FW).
Good luck and keep us posted!

I bought the Q20 last August to compliment my older Bernina 1090QE. I was originally going to buy a sewing machine with a larger throat space than the 5.5” afforded by the 1090. But I like the 1090, it is still going string and has just enough of the “cute stitches” to provide versatility to my sewing and piecing options.

I really like my Q20. I have it on the Horn lift table, which I also love. Adding it to my sewing room required a lot if reorganization, so I took my time before I bought.
While 20% off sounds nice, don’t rush into a purchase. I sat next to an impulse buyer at a Know Your Machine class at the dealer and she was still intimidated after owning it for several months. There are other sales from time to time, with the best prices often found at the bigger quilt shows. Bigger quilt shows will also give you a chance to try several brands before you buy.

As between the Q16 and the Q20, the footprint of the table is the same, only the throat space is different. Because my biggest limiting factor when I bought was the footprint, I upgraded to the bigger throat space. Ruler quilting on my Q20 is a joy!

Feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Agree. The quilt shop that is a big-time Bernina dealer here doesn't sell Bernina longarms. They sell Handi Quilter.

Innova no longer makes a sit-down. Neither does APQS. Handi Quilter just released the Amara ST, a 20" sit-down using the Amara longarm head.

I watch Alex Anderson from The Quilt Show, and she often mentions if you contact her BEFORE you make a Bernina purchase, she can mail you a discount card I think it is $100, that is something you might like to check out further.

I am a Janome loyal but appreciate and respect the Bernina brand. I too looked at the sit down lBernina model. SInce I have a longarm (looking to upgrade), I have a fair amount of Glide thread and wanted to make sure the Bernina would accept that thread. I didn't bring the thread with me but was told my sales person to stick with the brand of thread they recommend and for the life of me, I can' t remember the brand. It was a good brand but can't remember the name. The Bernina also states in their manual to use their "red" bobbins. At that store, they were selling for $5 a piece. The sales person also highly recommended to use only Bernina bobbins. In my stock right now, I have at least 100 bobbins with Glide thread already loaded on them. So I felt maybe Bernina wasn't for me. Bernina is a great brand with years of great machines, service and reputation.

Sorry to hear you were given that advice regarding using pre-wound bobbins in a Q-series machine. The Bernina e-book for the Q-series specifically says on page 23 that pre-wound bobbins can be used: https://www.bernina.com/Bernina/medi...k-05192020.pdf. Of course, you want to make sure that it is on the correct Class M bobbin. Also, as the Q series has a separate motor for its bobbin winder — which allows you to wind the next bobbin while quilting — you may find you don’t need to purchase more pre-wound bobbins (after you have used what you already have).

I have a Bernina 1532 sewing machine as well as a Bernina serger and embroidery machine. The Bernina machines have been good, but when I decided to purchase my sitdown longarm machine, I went with a Juki J-350QVP Miyabi. The Juki Miyabi is made in Japan to industrial specifications with a direct drive system and servo motor. Because it has a sealed system, the only maintenance needed is to clean and oil the bobbin area. It's a very sturdy machine that came with a heavy duty table that expands to 50 inches with the optional side leafs. The machine itself has an 18" throat and 10" height clearance. The stitch regulator is build right into the needle plate along side of the needle (no hockey puck). There are four stitch options - Baste, Manual, Cruise, and Precise. I absolutely love my Juki and would purchase another in a heartbeat.

I have owned 6 Bernina machines. The first was a 440 with the bsr....I traded it in for the 630 which I used for a long, long, time. Then I got a Bernina 570 which had decent reviews, but I seriously think mine was a lemon, it kept giving me bird's nest in the bobbin area and they happened just out of now where. So I traded it in for a 590 and was a bit worried about it but after a fairly steep learning curve, I am loving the 590. I also picked up a Bernina 215 red machine which is a very simple Bernina but I was going to use that for classes as it weighs less just before covid, well, I got used to the easy of doing a quarter inch seam on the 215 which has a narrow feed dog and I was still fiddling with getting a nice 1/4 inch seam on the 590 so I bought a Bernina 475 with the 5.5 mm feed dogs (had more of the bells and whistle which I had grown accustomed too with the 630 and 590). Love that machine too. OH, I recently think I have finely mastered my 1/4 inch seam on the 590 by using my regular foot and moving the needle position over 4 clicks. Ha, so now I have 3 Bernina's that I love and all are fairly new. Was it the Covid lockdown????? Anyway, I should be set for now. Oh, and somehow I also got a Viking Topaz 40 that came during the frustration with the 570. I like that machine too! Hopefully all four will never be in the shop at the same time and I really haven't had any problems with them this past year. I really am loving the Bernina's but have to admit, they are Diva's and there is a learning curve to them, once mastered, they purr like kittens. The learning curve goes up with the fancier the machine. The little 215 was pretty simple. I don't think they are making the 2 series anymore, but they have 3 series that is also nice.

Oops. That should have said "I haven't used the sit down machine". I really need to proof read better.

Sorry to respond late, but I agree with the recommendation to look at HandiQuilter. They have both 16” and 20” sit downs at a better price than Bernina. I dearly, dearly love my Bernina sewing machines, but their newer products are too picky. for use in long arms. You want a machine with online support, not just a dealer, and you want to use strong, professional round needles not the domestic flat back needles. Tension on a pro-style long arm isn’t automatic, but once you figure out how to do it you open up an entire world of threads. I have used everything from 80 weight invisible to 50 wt poly to 40 wt embroidery to 30 wt specialty threads to Metallica. You just can’t do that with automatic tension.

I use a Bernina 1260 and love this machine. It cannot be repaired if the motherboard goes out but it's decades old and still sewing great. I don't baby it at all and never have. I won't buy a new Bernina, I have sewed on all the new ones and they aren't like they use to be after using the 1260. Bernette is made by Brother but at different standard then Brother and Babylock. Each brand has their own standards the manufacturer follows from the company. The Bernina dealer here has the Bernina long arms and sit down machine. I have tried out the sit down version and it was nice. Picky about thread is what a customer told me that had one and the sensors can be finicky over the smallest thing.

I have a q20 sit down and love it!! I tried all the sit down machines and the Bernina was the best !! I do have a bernette 79 and am having troubles with it. The automatic thread cutter keeps going off My foot has to be in an exact place when sewing. I took it back to be serviced and worked great for awhile, it is back to its old tricks. I would not buy another one again!!

I would always go Bernina if i could. But their long arm is up there$! After a class, i went with a HandiQuilter Amara and absolutely love it! I do have two Bernina sew machines!!! And yes you will always find better deals through a quilt show or class at a shop!

Ok. The Bernina 16Q is on sale for $6400. How much should discount be for shop's demo, which is still brand new? I haven't bought a new machine in 40 years!

I think the discount for the demo really varies among shop owners. Shop owners look at a number of factors like how long has the demo been a demo and how many stitches are on it? Is it a demo for a model that is being discontinued and replaced by a newer version? Some shop owners like to rotate the demo periodically, so the demo doesn't end up with a ton of stitches on it. The last Bernina demo I bought. still had some of the packaging on it as they had just put it out and I think I was the second person to look at it and give it a stitch out. They didn't give me anything off on it. If I hadn't taken it and waited for the "still in the box" one, I would have had to wait a bit longer as that one was in another shop 120 miles away. If I don't get a discount, I usually try for at least an accessory. I did get one with my new demo! Ha, the best "accessory" I got with a new machine was a serger! I went in to look at machines and bought me first top of the line one at the time. A Viking D1! I just got home and shop called and said "you forgot your serger". I said "what serger?" The shop owner said the one that was part of the promotion deal with the Viking D1" Oh my! The D1's screen or motherboard went out 2 years ago after many, many years of usage. It paid for itself several times over in my opinion. RIP! The serger is still here, serging was never my passion but I have used the machine and it is a basic serger with not many bells and whistles and probably will last for years yet. I did replace the knifes on it one time.

Based on the price, it looks like you are shopping for a Q16 on the Adjustable Table. By the way, I think it is a good price as the Black Friday deal last year was about $100 more.

One of the reasons that Bernina can offer such an attractive price is that an upgraded model, the Q16 Plus, was introduced about a year ago. It is the same size as the Q16, but can be mounted on the Bernina Studio frame, where it then has additional capabilities. So my first advice is to make sure that you will never want a frame, because you will have to replace both the sewhead and purchase the frame.

Next, make sure that the “adjustable” table adjusts to the right height for you. I think there are only 2 or 3 options.

Also, be aware that it doesn’t seem like most owners fold down their adjustable tables to the 9” width for storage very often. The machine and table are just too bulky to stow away quickly after every use.

If you haven’t owned a Bernina before, be aware that every accessory you may need or want is also expensive.

I’m sharing all this not to talk you out of it, but to make sure you go in with your eyes open. I spent several months looking into the machine before I bought. I am very happy with my Q20 on a lift table.

Finally, if you buy, try to take advantage of a dealer education class. Bernina is doing a series of StitchWise events right now with hands on use of the sit down machines. You can find some of the dates here: https://www.bernina.com/en-US/Learn-...lever-Quilting

Can I just say that as in every line, there are good models and...not so good models.

The older Berninas were well built, solid precision machines, dependable. I have an Artista 170 I bought second hand years ago and it is my piecing workhorse. I just had to add supplementary lighting.

Demo, demo, demo, and get onto Facebook user pages to ask questions!

Sorry that you have been frustrated with the ability to get repairs on older Berninas. I imagine the same applies to anything with a circuit board. I am certainly not using any computer or phone or automobile that is older than my Bernina 1090. The choice seems to be to stick with mechanical only with fewer “features” or embrace the computer with more “features” knowing that today’s computers will be made obsolete by ones available in the future.

In any event, the Q series Ashley is interested in was only introduced in 2015 and is likely to be fully supported by Bernina for many years. In shopping for a sit-down long arm, I’m not sure there is an option from any brand that is mechanical only (maybe an older industrial model?).

I also believe that Bernina probably supports its older models as well as any brand out there. For example, I can purchase a ruler foot for my Bernina 1090, which isn’t an option for my mechanical Elna Lotus.

Thanks, everyone, for the helpful advice. I tried out the other brands, comparing their features with the Bernina 16Q Plus. Ended up with the 16Q Plus for the sale price of the 16Q! Also, went with the Bernette 77 for added decorative stitches...Don't call me today-I'll be busy playing in my studio!

Congrats on the new toys and have fun playing!

Rob

Have a wonderful time!

Enjoy your machine! Hubby found me an older used Aurora 430, but when we got it home, we found out the computer board was bad. I hated to spend money on the fix, but $900 later, it sews like a dream! Then hubby bought me the Q16, and I really enjoy it! I do prefer the older mechanical machines, especially hand cranks and treadles. Those really old machines will be sewing 200 years from now with just a little oil.

How fun! I can hardly wait to see what you create with your new machines!

Phew! There is a learning curve to FMQ. This is my first masterpiece sampler. I'm saving it to look back upon when I get better. Thanks for all of the thoughts and ideas!

FMQ is a practice practice practice thing. I took Free Motion Mastery in a Month towards the end of the pandemic. She has you do one square every day. It really improved my FMQ. She has some exercises that are helpful, but I think it was mostly the daily repetition.

aashley333- your first masterpiece looks great. Keep at it!

Rob

aashley- yeah!!! You're doing great!

AAshley: Way to go! New skills always take some time. It’s easy to forget that others whose work we admire are not beginners. You have got this.

Congrats on the purchase and thanks for posting the follow-up pic of a sampler!
Q20 is our only Bernina. Agree the bang-for-buck favors other makes. We tried out several and it came down to "it's the Q20, the Q24, or nothing. And it is NOT going to be nothing." Months went by and our daughter spotted a used Q20 online; we drove 150 miles to try, buy, pack up table (the Koala For Bernina - man that thing's a beast) and bring it home. Our local shop has been delighted to sell us the service contract, doing excellent yearly service. 4 years, 30 projects later and now I'm lusting after a frame to put it on :D

Wow! My quilting world has just expanded! I now spend time searching for FMQ patterns that I used to ignore because they were difficult for my domestic machine. New folder to fill with examples on my computer! Share your easy FMQ patterns!!

I'm glad you were able to get a machine that you love.