And Then There Were Two

A Bernina Q20 and a Handi Quilter Fusion. 

Making the max out of the min

I can't sew/piece much since I'm down to just my little HQ Stitch 210 for domestic machine accessibility, but my love is here with these big machines. I (we) have to figure something else out for the Janome Horizon and my new Elna EF1 (that also arrived yesterday) and the sewing table they usually reside in; which is currently out in the barn in pieces. 

Here's some quilting detail on the Jacqueline piece I'm working on...

Gotta love all that tiny detail work

When I finally got to working yesterday (after my installation guy left at nearly 2:00) I was only able to get about five hours into this. It should be finished up today. 

Once I was done quilting, I worked some more on the Bernina (hereinafter referred to as Bernie). While it looks pretty just sitting there, that's not what it was purchased for and I need to get myself into it quickly. This is what's on Bernie this morning...

One of mine!

Here's the plus side to this machine so far: 1) It's very quiet! 2) It's smaller and less space is required to move around it. 3) It stitches beautifully once you get the thing threaded and tensioned correctly. 4) The lighting is wonderful, even in that dark corner during night time hours. 4) It is very smooth of the frame and the stitches are perfectly spaced!

Here's the downsides I've discovered (but correctable): 1) The take-up leader was installed incorrectly so we have to turn that once this quilt is finished. 2) The dead bar is too close to the head and needs to be raised slightly. 3) I have to pin the backing onto the leaders. Purchasing an additional set of Red Snappers will solve that. 4) There is no way to accurately plumb the top of the quilt. They have channel locks available as an additional purchase so sometime in the future those will be coming. 5) It's set a little too high but I don't have mats in front of it yet to raise me up to where I need to be. I'll be looking for some of those. 6) It's not DW and I'll have to learn my way around this beautiful piece of machinery. Time and use will take care of that. 

I'll know more about the plusses and minuses once I actually get to quilt on it later tonight. So far I've just basted in and played in one tiny corner to check tension, but I'm remaining optimistic since I love to learn and this is my passion.