Sunday, April 26, 2015

Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt sewing machine

New preowned addition to my sewing machine family.
This one was manufactured in Sweden approximately 2007.  
It uses the same size bobbins as the Husqvarna 500 series as well as the Pfaff QE 4, Creative 2.0 and Pfaff Creative Sensation.
The white table with acrylic insert was purchased new from the Brandon Sewing Centre on April 25, 2015.  The Sapphire is fun to sew with.  The large harp size will make maneuvering a king size quilt a breeze. Photo below back side of decorative stitches.
Yesterday I made a nursing cape with it, but I gave it away without taking any photos.
Free motion quilting stitch with an Inspira titanium 75 quilting needle and Superior 100% cotton quilting thread.
This pink scrap is four layers of poly cotton.  The spring free motion quilting are the heart shaped leaves and one feather with a couple of spirals.
 This is the backside.  
The jesters' hats, butterflies, stippling and spirals were stitched with the embroidery/darning R foot, the manual calls it float free motion.
backside
Sewing machine reviews at Pattern Review were not good. Complaints included tension issues, thread nests, thread cutter that won't cut, won't free motion quilt and top needle thread breaking.  So far knock wood..... no problems with this Sapphire.  Hopefully, I have a good one.


There is a sewing machine review and information on this fabulous stand at quiltsocial.com.

I had tension, thread cutter and top thread breakage issues with Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 which is the same vintage as the Sapphire.  Most of my Pfaff QE 4 issues were resolved with a new take up lever replaced under warranty, an adjustment to the cutter and learning to keep the bobbin area free of lint, dust and thread build up.  I traded up to get a Pfaff Creative 2.0 embroidery machine, which I later (August 2013) traded up again to get a Pfaff Creative Performance (purple princess).

Dear Readers:  Don't ya just love sewing machines?  Be creative... happy stitching.

7 comments:

  1. I have the husqvarna 870 quilt and I hate it. No amount of tension tweaking stops it from dreadful nesting or looped stitches and it won't zig zag.

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    1. Sorry Joy, I've owned over a half a dozen Husqvarnas. Hands down they are the best satin stitchers in my fleet of machines. I no longer have this 870 I traded it in for the 930 which I absolutely love sewing with. My trouble shooting routine for a machine that won't stitch properly is always to start with the manual. Rethread the machine and the bobbin following the threading instructions in the manual. Make sure the bobbin area is clean - free of old thread bits, lint and dust. If it still won't stitch properly change the needle. Follow the manual to ensure the needle inserted correctly. I once took a sewing machine for service because I was positive I broke the tension disks only to be told that the thread was behind the tension disks not in between. If the bobbin thread is installed backwards or not threaded correctly in the tension spring in the bobbin casing it will not sew. If all else fails take it to an authorized Husqvarna dealer for service. Hope this helps.

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  2. I have the sapphire too; could you please tell me the cabinet details as I am looking for one. Thanks.

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    1. Hi Maryon, my Sapphire stand is very plain and small I bought at the Brandon Sewing Centre for $300 CAD. Exactly like the one on this bloghttps://quiltsocial.com/husqvarna-viking-sapphire-930-sewing-machine/ manufactured by Inspira they make good sewing machine needles as well.

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  3. I hope you are still active. I bought a Sapphire 870 and a free motion foot. The top looks perfect but the bottom is eyelashing. Any suggestions

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    1. Yes I am still active and still have a Husqvarna Sapphire 930. Love it, in my opinion Husqvarna's are the best free motion quilting machines I have owned. Before free motion quilting set your machine up for straight stitching to do some stitches on a scrap quilt sandwich with the same thread you are planning to quilt with. If it straight stitches fine on the quilt sandwich it is not a tension or machine failure. Now carefully install your free motion quilting foot, straight stitch needle plate, new needle if you can't remember the last time the needle was replaced. Go into the tools setting on your Sapphire to select either the spring motion foot or the embroidery darning foot R, and straight stitch mode. Set your stitch length to zero and drop your feed dogs. Then thread the machine, using your scrap quilt sandwich, set the needle position to down and then pull up the bobbin thread to the top side stitch in place and starting free motion quilting. If you are new to free motion quilting slow down your sewing machine speed from fast to medium. It is important that your hands moving the fabric are moving in sync with your machine speed. Hope this helps.

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