New Machine… Again

If you read this post, you know things weren’t looking good for my Viking machine.  After I finished a free-motion quilting session, I sat down to try and squeeze out one more project on the machine before taking it to the shop.  No go – it wouldn’t even run anymore!  The hand-wheel wouldn’t turn all of the way, and I couldn’t find the source of the problem.  So I took the machine to the shop and the mechanic opened the case, took a peak at some of the moving parts, and said “OOOOOohhhh no” and then gave a big, defeated sigh.

It was dead.  Boo!  The black dust was from two of the moving parts scraping against each other and creating metal dust.  In my classic paranoid, self-defeating manner I asked if it was something that I had done.  He assured me it wasn’t, but was rather just old-age.  That was sort of a relief because I really pride myself on my dedication to maintaining my machines.  I got it serviced regularly and diligently did my at-home cleaning.

I guess that mechanism that was broken is no longer manufactured and the replacement parts are all used and only have a life expectancy of a couple of months.  So it was time to make a big decision!  What machine to buy?  After a lot of research, soul-searching, and number crunching I decided to go all out and get myself a floor-model Bernina B550 Quilter’s Edition.  It came with a walking foot and BSR free-motion stitch regulator, and is pretty damn sweet.

So although it is sad that the Viking broke, and definitely I was not expecting on making such a LARGE purchase this month, it is very nice having my new whiz-bang machine and I’m hoping to get a couple of decades and dozen quilts out of it : )