This is the take up on my Husqvarna 500. The old Pfaff QE 4 take up was almost identical to it except that Big Bertha's has a protruding upper lip at the open end.
See the black thread guard on the left hand side... it is now impossible for the thread to jump off. My Pfaff dealer also replaced the first thread guide with the guide pictured below.
I made
Jason's vegetable quilt and
Shannon's quilt using my Pfaff QE 4 before she was fixed. On Shannon's quilt I changed thread colours every time the block colour changed. I was using a zig zag top stitch and a quilting blanket stitch to outline the blocks. I lost count how many times the top thread broke while using the blanket stitch. Thank goodness that the needle threader works perfectly. When I got to fmq the dark green border on Shannon's quilt, Big Bertha was skipping stitches and breaking the top thread so much, that I finished the fmq on my trusty Husqvarna (Heidi).
I quilted the Strawberry Shortcake Tutu Cute baby quilt using Big Bertha after I got the new take up. The difference was amazing. I used hot pink thread in the bobbin for all the free motion quilting. On top I used hot pink thread in the centre, then white on the white border and variegated green on the striped border. No skipped stitches at all, the top thread did not break even once with the feed dogs down using both sensor motion and spring motion feet. It was wonderful!
Finally it is really fun to quilt with this machine.
I am delighted to say that my love/hate relationship with Bertha is evolving into a love/love relationship!
I am glad you are finally having some joy with your machine: it is a shame Pfaff released it before figuring out it actually needed so many upgrades to make it work though... and for such an expensive machine too..
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment on my blog. You are bringing me back in time with this sowing machine. I remember those really well. I could never figure out how to pronounce the name. I prefer Bertha. You are a very talented seamstress. So was my mother but I dont have her patience. I'm a new follower! Take care. Anne-Marie
You must really love this machine to go to so much trouble, but the red is lovely. I used to have an old Elna with all the cams........
ReplyDeleteI no very little about machines or sewing. I enjoyed your post on them today. It was very interesting and informative.
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