let's talk about bobbins!!!
06-28-2010, 03:03 AM
#21
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 5,453
Originally Posted by bluestarmom
Some machines, you can see the bobbin from the top. Others, you can't see them until they are empty and you are still quilting your happy little heart out. Since I will never ever afford the Bernina 830 or other brands at that level, I am curious, do any of you have a machine that will signal you in some form that your bobbin is close to empty????? And if it could be gotten as an add on, even after the pruchase of your machine, would you want it?
I try to monitor my bobbins, but every now and then when your really doing well and things look fine you get this butterfly feeling in your stomach, at least I do when I glance at the fabric moving backwards and I am not seeing the stitching, but yet my thread is still in the needle.. I have sewn close to a half of binding before I realized that the bobbin was empty.. or right in the middle of a special little cutsy design, for example I am using the little turtle stitch in the center of one of my borders on a little boys quilt and trying to go back and re-begin ends up giving me at least one or more multilated turtle shells. Just curious..
I try to monitor my bobbins, but every now and then when your really doing well and things look fine you get this butterfly feeling in your stomach, at least I do when I glance at the fabric moving backwards and I am not seeing the stitching, but yet my thread is still in the needle.. I have sewn close to a half of binding before I realized that the bobbin was empty.. or right in the middle of a special little cutsy design, for example I am using the little turtle stitch in the center of one of my borders on a little boys quilt and trying to go back and re-begin ends up giving me at least one or more multilated turtle shells. Just curious..
06-28-2010, 04:00 AM
#23
Super Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Northwest Georgia
Posts: 3,272
I've got an older (not antique) Singer that doesn't have any bells or whistles, but I've spent so much time sewing on it that I can tell by the sound and the "feel" when the bobbin is running low. Sometimes I don't pay close enough attention though, or try to sew "just a little bit more". Oops! :mrgreen:
My inherited-from-my-Granny Pfaff 7570 and her slightly older Pfaff (can't remember the model # offhand) are still sitting off to the side, waiting for me to learn more about them as soon as I have time. She passed away a couple of months ago, and we're still going through her estate. But I remember her saying how much she liked the low bobbin indicator. :)
My inherited-from-my-Granny Pfaff 7570 and her slightly older Pfaff (can't remember the model # offhand) are still sitting off to the side, waiting for me to learn more about them as soon as I have time. She passed away a couple of months ago, and we're still going through her estate. But I remember her saying how much she liked the low bobbin indicator. :)
06-28-2010, 04:17 AM
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 547
I have a Singer XL1000 about 8 yrs old. It has the low bobbin indicator message and beep, and a drop in bobbin with plastic cover. You can set when you want it to alert you, and both sewing and embroidery modes have their own alert settings so you can set them differently. The setting is for how many stitches do you want remaining on the bobbin when you are notified that you're running low on thread.
It gives you an alert beep and message 3 times before your down to your last 5 (or 6?) stitches worth of thread. The last alert, at 5 stitches, gives you just enough thread to tie off and that's it. If you set it to alert you when you have thread for 5 stitches left, then you only get the one alert. Otherwise, it spaces them out. (Ex: You can choose 20 stitches remaining, then you get 3 alerts - 1st at 20, 2nd at 10, and the last one at 5 stitches. Hope this makes sense.)
I really like that I can set it for how far out I want to be signaled. It's a very nice feature. Warning though...the beep can startle you sometimes!
It gives you an alert beep and message 3 times before your down to your last 5 (or 6?) stitches worth of thread. The last alert, at 5 stitches, gives you just enough thread to tie off and that's it. If you set it to alert you when you have thread for 5 stitches left, then you only get the one alert. Otherwise, it spaces them out. (Ex: You can choose 20 stitches remaining, then you get 3 alerts - 1st at 20, 2nd at 10, and the last one at 5 stitches. Hope this makes sense.)
I really like that I can set it for how far out I want to be signaled. It's a very nice feature. Warning though...the beep can startle you sometimes!
06-28-2010, 04:35 AM
#26
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Winter PArk, Florida
Posts: 1,145
Originally Posted by bluestarmom
Some machines, you can see the bobbin from the top. Others, you can't see them until they are empty and you are still quilting your happy little heart out. Since I will never ever afford the Bernina 830 or other brands at that level, I am curious, do any of you have a machine that will signal you in some form that your bobbin is close to empty????? And if it could be gotten as an add on, even after the pruchase of your machine, would you want it?
I try to monitor my bobbins, but every now and then when your really doing well and things look fine you get this butterfly feeling in your stomach, at least I do when I glance at the fabric moving backwards and I am not seeing the stitching, but yet my thread is still in the needle.. I have sewn close to a half of binding before I realized that the bobbin was empty.. or right in the middle of a special little cutsy design, for example I am using the little turtle stitch in the center of one of my borders on a little boys quilt and trying to go back and re-begin ends up giving me at least one or more multilated turtle shells. Just curious..
I try to monitor my bobbins, but every now and then when your really doing well and things look fine you get this butterfly feeling in your stomach, at least I do when I glance at the fabric moving backwards and I am not seeing the stitching, but yet my thread is still in the needle.. I have sewn close to a half of binding before I realized that the bobbin was empty.. or right in the middle of a special little cutsy design, for example I am using the little turtle stitch in the center of one of my borders on a little boys quilt and trying to go back and re-begin ends up giving me at least one or more multilated turtle shells. Just curious..
06-28-2010, 04:55 AM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: North of Boston, MA, USA
Posts: 3,524
Originally Posted by MadQuilter
Originally Posted by bluestarmom
I am curious, do any of you have a machine that will signal you in some form that your bobbin is close to empty?????
The next Pfaff had a different kind of low bobbin indicator:
It showed me in big letters on the display "Low Bobbin" AND it stopped the foreward motion of the sewing process dead in its tracks. I could start sewing again, and sometimes, I could sew 5 more stitches, sometimes 3. Since there was at least 6 foot of thread on the bobbin, I had a lot of starts and stops. Ready to scream - LOUDLY!
My new machine has a drop-in bobbin and I hope I will pay attention.
My first machine a Singer 40 yrs ago had a drop in bobbin with a clear cover, have one in my Elna, I watch it, and STILL run out of thread. duh
06-28-2010, 05:38 AM
#28
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Candler, NC
Posts: 146
Hi,
Great question.My babylock lets you know, however my idea of empty the the machines is pretty far appart. So I either stop with a good bit of thread on the bobbin or listen to a beep every few seconds.
If the bobbins are prefilled it is no big deal but if I am filling them I hate to pull off the leftover thread.
Great question.My babylock lets you know, however my idea of empty the the machines is pretty far appart. So I either stop with a good bit of thread on the bobbin or listen to a beep every few seconds.
If the bobbins are prefilled it is no big deal but if I am filling them I hate to pull off the leftover thread.
06-28-2010, 05:56 AM
#30
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: PA
Posts: 2,879
My Pfaff 2170 has a bobbin low light indicator. But I have a little machine that I take on trips that doesn't. So when I'm using that and get to a section where I would be distressed if the bobins ran out, I check it,and if I'm not sure it will last, I fill a new one.
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