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Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Free-motion Quilting - Part 2 of 2 - The BSR!

See Part 1 of this series here: Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Free-motion Quilting - Part 1 of 2:  Free-motion quilting basics without the BSR.

So yeah, I know… it’s taken me forEVER to finally post about the one part of the Bernina 440 QE that is probably the biggest selling point for this machine; the feature that makes people go nuts, shell out the big bucks; the feature that is apparently life-changing, amazing, and worth your first-born child, if not your entire precious quarter collection.  I personally have neither a first-born child nor a quarter collection, but given my limited experience so far with this glowing-red accessory, I might just be tempted.  Yes, I’m talking (finally!) about the Bernina Stitch Regulator, or BSR for short.

Of course, you can surely do free-motion quilting without this fancy little device… For basics on free-motion quilting and to see how it’s done without the BSR, see  part one of this two-part series. For those of you interested in learning specifically about the BSR,  I’ve documented my exploration of this clever little piece of machinery. I’m no pro yet, but hopefully my experience can help you if you’re considering this machine, the BSR, or just learning more about free-motion quilting!  Let’s get started to see how to make it all work.

What is it?

The BSR is an attachment to your Bernina sewing machine that will automatically regulate the distance between stitches while free-motion quilting.  It attaches just like any other presser foot, but plugs into the back of the machine for power. It senses the motion of the fabric underneath to know when to trigger the needle to go.  Not sure what free-motion quilting is?  To get some basics on the technique, see part 1 of this series.

The BSR comes standard on the Aurora 440 QE and the Artista 730.  You can use it on the Aurora 430, and Artista models 630, 640, 200 as well, but you have to pay extra for it.  All Artista models support zig-zag with the BSR, but the Auroras don’t.

Woah… it costs HOW much?

Yes, well, let’s just get this out of the way now.  This guy is expensive!  The going price for the BSR appears to be about 900 bucks/quid/greenbacks/big ones/buckeroos (yes, that much!) when not purchased with a machine.  Yikes!  That’s 3600 quarters, for those of you thinking about parting with your stash.  If you’re already starting to rationalize this purchase in your head, come talk to me.  I’ve got a lot of great reasons I can give you to convince yourself/your significant other about why you will deduct such funds from your bank account/your 401-K/your first-born’s second-born’s college fund, I’m a pro at such things.  Maybe seeing it in action here will be enough to convince you it’s worth it.

How do you use it?

Step one: Remove from adorable foam housing.

Behold the BSR in its natural habitat:

The BSR comes with three soles.  On the left is the open-toed sole.  Looks just like the darning foot, but offers an unobstructed view of the needle.  On the right is the transparent plastic sole that is good for smooth sailing over thicker quilts (the disc actually compresses the batting surrounding the needle and allows for smoother stitching in tough, bulkier projects).  The sole that is currently on the BSR is the closed-toe metal sole . It looks just like the darning foot’s sole, but instead is attached to an insanely expensive white box + wire combo. We’ll see the magic of it in a moment!

Step two: Lower the feed dogs.

Lower the feed dogs by pressing the feed dog button on the side of the machine, like so:

You need to do this to ensure free movement of the fabric while quilting.  It will feel hugely weird if this is your first time free-motioning, but once you get past the slippery slidey feeling, it’ll become old hat.   If you forget to put the feed dogs down, the BSR will beep at you and you won’t be able to sew, so don’t forget!

Step three: Attach BSR to machine

It’s just like a normal Bernina foot, but with a bit of extra stuff in the way.  It’s a bit on the wonky side to get it on the first time (though not as difficult to put on as the walking foot!), but once you get it on there, it looks like this:

But what to do with that dangly cord?  Ah, no worries!  There’s a spot for everything!  Here is the underside of the machine, where the socket lives.  For some perspective, at the bottom-left is the BSR’s body.

Once you plug this bad boy in, you’ll see your display change.  It will start blinking BSR in the middle, just below the needle up/down indicator:

Step 4:  Press the BSR button.

Then you need to actually press the BSR button, with the little scales beneath it to get the BSR 1 to appear:

The scales have nothing to do with the BSR. If you press this button when the BSR is not plugged in, it is supposed to provide stitch balancing - a feature even the woman that sold me this machine was not able to explain clearly or convince me that it did anything useful.  That button, however, is your ticket into the world of BSR when this guy is plugged in.  Once you press it, the BSR1 text comes up on the machine.  This means you’ve entered into the exciting land of Mode 1.  Now you can start BSRing!

Wait a Sec -What’s This About Modes? How Complex Is This Thing?

Mode 1: This mode lets you use the foot pedal to stitch. Also, if you leave the fabric in place but keep pressing the foot pedal, it will continue stitching. If you want to be able to stitch in place, you should use this mode.

Mode 2: This mode lets you sew feet-free!  That is, without the feet attached to your legs, not the feet attached to the BSR.  Stitching is triggered by the movement of the fabric. It’s pretty swanky!   First, let’s finish exploring Mode 1, which I’ll call “traditional” mode, since most of us are used to sewing with both hands AND feet involved.

Start Quilting

OK, now you’re ready to start quilting!  Take your fabric sandwich, place it under the foot, and press down on the foot pedal.  You should see the red glowing light turn on while stitching, like so:

Troubleshooting tip: If the red light isn’t on, the BSR is not active!  Double-check to see that the BSR 1 is displaying on the machine, that the feed dogs are down, and that the device is properly plugged in to the back underside of the machine.  If not, go back to step 1.

Now, if you’re playing along at home, you can see that if you press the foot pedal a certain amount and leave the fabric in place, the BSR will just slowly stitch in place.  The fun starts, though, when you start moving the fabric around.  Leaving the foot pedal speed the same, try moving the fabric around at different speeds.  The needle speed will change based on the speed that the fabric underneath moves.  I imagine the red glowing light has something to do with this.  Either way, it’s a lot of fun!

Let’s move on to setting up mode 2 before we dive into results!  If you are feeling impatient, you can jump down to the results section to see the difference between BSR and regular FMQ.

Setting up Mode Two

For those of you interested in using the fewest appendages possible while BSRing, this is the mode for you!  Mode 2 is also quite useful if you have a large project (like a quilt) and you think you will be starting and stopping often.  BSR mode 2 will not stitch in place when the fabric stops.  Instead, it will just stop sewing.  To get feet-free BSRing to work, here’s what you do:

Step 1: Unplug foot pedal

As I was trying for the first couple of times to get into Mode 2, I could never get it to work!  Finally, I realized that I was forgetting to unplug the foot pedal.  Apparently the 440 needs to make sure you’re committed to foot-free FMQ.  Otherwise you’re not allowed to play!

Step 2:  Press the BSR button, and then the “2″ button to enter into BSR Mode 2

Once you press the BSR button, then the 2 button, the BSR 2 indicator will appear on the screen.

Step 3: Press the stop/start button

Pressing the stop/start button will tell the machine that you are ready to go!  The minute you start moving the fabric, the BSR will take off.

Step 4: Behold the Running Guy

Running guy?  YES!  Aside from the amazing stitch quality, the running guy is my favorite part.  Behold!

When the feet-free BSR mode is in progress (i.e., your stitching has begun!) the little running man appears on the screen.  Someday we will all look at this little pixelated graphic and declare it “vintage” and “retro” and “full of awesomeness.”   It already feels that way, but I have no doubt it will look even more old skool in several years.

Results!

So now what you’ve all been wondering.  Does the BSR really make a difference?  Here’s a picture of free-motion quilting without the BSR.  Below that is a picture with the BSR so you can compare for yourself:

Wow!  For my very first attempt, it looks pretty good, all thanks to the BSR! Notice how the stitches are equidistantly spaced and look clean.  I love the puffy little pillows it makes between each area of stitching.  Compared to my plain old darning foot stitches, I think it’s a big improvement.  It feels as if there is much more control when using the BSR, but I can’t decide if that’s my rationalization superpowers talking.  Here is a picture of my random squiggles in all different modes so you can compare No BSR, BSR mode 1 and BSR mode 2:

And a closeup so you can see the stitches:

I think this difference is hugely noticeable. Free-motion quilting with the BSR makes a much neater, more professional-looking finished product.

What’s the verdict?  Should I get one?

Ahh, well, that’s for you to decide, isn’t it?  My first foray into using it was fun and really produced noticeable results.  I am happy I got it with my machine and I have no doubt that it will help me get the right finished look for quilts going forward.   My crafty roots do not lie in quilting at all, never mind the free-motion variety, but I can tell you that if you’re not much of a free-motion quilter yet, being the proud owner of this shiny little number will make you want to be!  The BSR was a major reason I decided on the 440 instead of the 430, and I plan to use this thing a ton!

So there you have it!  Hope you enjoyed this post if you made it this far.

Please feel free to post any links to finished products you’ve made using the BSR!  I’d love to see what else this baby can do!

Posted by robyn on August 15th, 2008 under bernina 440 qe, crafts, sewing, sewing machines | 12 Comments »

Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Free-motion Quilting - Part 1 of 2

Update:  For part two of this series, go here: Bernina Aurora 440 QE:  Free-motion Quilting - Part 2 of 2 - The BSR!

I’ve been sewing for a bunch of years, but have always admired from afar the meandering amoeba-like quilting stitch that some people use on top of their quilts.  It sounds and looks quaint enough, but did I need special feet?  Special thread?  Special talent?  Was this all done in some secret pattern that I didn’t know about?  Was it done by hand and would I be too lazy to ever do this myself?  Thankfully, the answer to most of those questions (including, most importantly, the talent question!) is no.  As I’ve been learning, there’s actually nothing scary about this technique, and it turns out it’s extremely fun.

I invite you to come on my little trip through free-motion quilting as I learn about this technique in two parts:  Part one will explore the free-motion quilting technique that can be done on any sewing machine; part two will focus on the use of the Bernina Stitch Regulator (BSR) attachment to regulate the stitch length while free-motion quilting on a Bernina sewing machine.  Welcome to part one!  Let’s get started.

Getting the Important Details Out of the Way

First let’s answer the most burning question that I just know has been bugging you as much as it has been bugging me:  Hyphenated or not?  “Free motion quilting?” or “Free-motion quilting?”  I’m glad you asked because I can hardly stand it anymore.  Based on Google search results, you can find many instances of both versions, though I’d say that the unhyphenated version seems to dominate.  Unfortunately, the grammar geek in me wants to disagree.  Since neither “free” nor “motion” modify the noun “quilting” alone and act instead as a single concept describing the quilting, the two words must be hyphenated. Grammarbook.com agrees, so let’s go with that for now.  Phew!  Glad that ever-important grammar diversion is out of the way.  Ahem.

Free-motion Quilting Defined

So what is free-motion quilting in all its hyphenated glory?  Free-motion quilting is machine quilting (yay) that is done with the feed dogs lowered and uses a darning foot.  You make patterns on a quilt (or other fabric sandwich) by moving, but not turning, your quilt.  Technically, to do free-motion quilting properly, you are making one continuous line of stitches that never crosses itself.  You can decide how strictly to follow these rules;  many people turn their pieces or cross their stitching to great effect!  Typically, people use free-motion quilting to draw designs or patterns on a quilt, or to fill in areas of a quilt to make the feel of the quilt flat and firm.  We’ll see about those things in a minute.  For now, let’s walk through this definition step-by-step:

First, it looks like we’ll need a machine.  Check!  Got that one covered.

Next, we lower the feed dogs.  On my Bernina 440 machine, this involved depressing the button on the side of the machine to bring the feed dogs down:

So far so good!  Next, we should reach for the darning foot.  In Berninaland, this is the #9 foot.  Darning feet have a spring in them, and typically a round or rectangular opening.  Sometimes they have an open toe attachment as well.  As a random side note for you IP law junkies out there, the darning foot was patented in1951.  The diagram and patent describing all of the intricacies that make this foot uniquely a darning foot can be found right here:  Darning foot patent.   For you visual types (admittedly, most of you out there probably aren’t IP law freaks like me…), a picture of my darning foot is below:

One last thing before we get started actually stitching.  I have my machine set to a stitch length of 2, presser foot pressure to very low (almost 0) and stitch width to 0 (straight stitch).   Technically, the speed at which you move the fabric around determines the stitch length, but my machine defaults to 2, so…  I also leave my machine in the needle-down position so that when I take my foot off the pedal, the needle remains in the fabric in case I need a break.

OK, so now it’s time to place your fabric sandwich underneath the presser foot and lower the lever.  If this is your first time doing this, it may feel quite odd.  The feed dogs not being there mean that you can move your fabric sandwich around as much as you’d like and there’s nothing to hold it in place.  Even though this feels weird, this is, in fact, the key point behind free-motion quilting, enabling you to move your fabric around while the machine stitches for you.

Now, your next task is to press the foot pedal in and off you go!  A medium or fast speed is ideal for this technique, but no matter what the speed, it takes some getting used to.  You - not the feed dogs - are in charge of moving the fabric around. You can go up and down, side to side, whatever you want!  Though per the rules of the game, don’t turn your fabric sandwich and don’t cross your stitching.  Often times, people use echoing (or the repeated outlining) of a particular line or pattern to build their meandering free-motion quilting stitch.  Here’s a sample of what I did with my fabric sandwich, just meandering around, not echoing anything:

See those puffy little areas of goodness? This is my favorite part of the free-motion style.  After washing, this often leads to a great wrinkly dense effect. You can also see that the closer together you stitch your lines, the denser and flatter the quilt will lie.

Stipple Quilting vs. Free-motion Quilting?

At first, I thought stippling and free-motion quilting were both the same thing, as they seemed to be used interchangeably.  It turns out this is not the case.  Stippling is similar to the meandering free-motion quilting stitching you see above, but where your rows of stitching are not more than 1/4″ apart.  See a really useful example video of the technique, complete with technical terms like “Mickey Mouse ears” and “mittens” to describe the stitching.  Definitely worth a watch.

There are all sorts of things you can do with free-motion quilting.  If you’re artistic, you can stitch any number of cool pictures, echo-stitch appliques, or just freeform meander around your quilt until it’s as densely quilted as you’d like.  I, as a free-motion beginner, am sticking with the flexibility of the meandering amoeba stitch for a while until I get good at it. Maybe later I’ll get into some fancier stuff soon.

Practice makes perfect

Everywhere I look, I see that the advice to getting good at this technique is to practice.  Seems reasonable enough!  My approach is to start with small projects before doing an entire king-size quilt.  A table runner, maybe, or some quilted coasters?  Trivets?  You get the idea.

Eye candy

Here are some examples of free-motion quilting to get you excited to try it:

Oh Fransson’s Octopus Baby Quilt and beautiful green quilt; House on Hill Road’s Giraffe and Tea;

Jillions of examples on Flickr, including this adorable toy quilt.

I’d love to hear your tips or see your own free-motion quilting work.  Please post some of your tips or links to examples of your own free-motion quilting!

Next up:  A peek into the Bernina Stitch Regulator for free-motion quilting!  Part 2 of 2.

Posted by robyn on August 3rd, 2008 under bernina 440 qe, crafts, sewing, sewing machines | 8 Comments »

Summertime Pictures of Banjo, Me, and a Bag

I took these pictures to submit to the u-handbag AB contest this month!  And because it was a beautiful day and I have been meaning to put more Banjo on this blog.  She put up with it quite patiently!

Posted by robyn on August 1st, 2008 under banjo, crafts, random, sewing | 3 Comments »

Lucky Strike - A Shoulder Bag Adventure

I’m not sure why I chose this title.  I feel like maybe the new bag and the typewriter went on an adventure together (to a bowling alley!) and are posing for a photo after it was all said and done.  But really, the typewriter is too much of a lug to go anywhere, and I haven’t let the bag out of my sight since it’s been finished.  So, here it is - the bag with the buttons!

I’ve been dreaming about making a shoulder bag with rounded edges, kind of like a bowling bag.  This one turned out not to be so bowling-bag shaped (well, maybe it would hold 3 or 4 candlepin bowling balls, but certainly not the big-ball bowling balls with the holes.  (Can you tell I’m a bowling expert?)) but I feel like it would do the trick in a pinch!

It’s got a little AB fabric love going on, with some piping, handles… you know, the typical bag stuff.  But! It has feet!  My first footed bag:

Aren’t they cute?  It’s also got a big inside pocket for lots of stuff and a festive lining that matches the piping:

For a little scale, here’s the bag “on:”

I’m off to the allies!

Posted by robyn on July 25th, 2008 under crafts, sewing | 15 Comments »

Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Walking Foot

OK, so for you non-sewers out there reading this blog, it may sound absolutely insane that I wanted to initially start out this post with: “Dear walking foot, where have you been all my life?”  Yes, probably for those who don’t think sewing is cool (which, really, you should reconsider), this sounds pretty lame.  But seriously?  Walking foot?  I think you’re my new BFF.  It’s TLA & TLF over here between me and you.  You have a bad reputation, but I want everyone to know the real you.  Let’s explore your beauty, shall we?  I offer you this love letter of our history together:

You were born in this quaint little box by the river:

This is what I was greeted with when I first laid eyes on you.  So cute snuggled in your Styrofoam home!  How could a girl not fall for you?

You came with two attachment feet, a screwdriver, two seam guides (left and right) and another u-shaped piece with a screw that I’m not sure what to do with.  Gee.  I wish you came with a user manual.  Oh wait!  You do!  But it doesn’t tell me what to do with that little piece. You are such a complex person ummm… foot.

Here are your two soles.  They are so similar - it’s like we’re playing “one of these things is not like the other.” But the subtle but useful differences in your clever toes are just another facet of your pragmatic personality.

And the feet… Those cute little black feet that are responsible for all of the walking that you do.

Remember when we first shook hands?  Was it as thrilling for you as it was for me?  This little arm of yours is where all the magic comes from.

And how you let me change out your soles…

OK, so Igot a little too close for comfort and you put up your defenses.  We all need personal space and I respect that.

At first, I had no idea how to best make use of your many talents.  I was going about it all wrong, not putting your magical arm to good use:

But then, little walking foot, you showed me what you’re truly made of:

The arm hangs on to the needle housing so that the feet move up and down with the needle to hold the fabric down and move it along at a steady pace.

Those little black feet of yours walk between the openings in the soles, bringing the fabric along with the rest of the batch. I swear, that walk might even be runway ready!

Walking foot, you have changed my life.  You are quiet, graceful, and delightful to have.  Fabrics don’t slide, long strips of cotton with interfacing in between stay straight and fabric doesn’t stretch out leaving all that extra fabric at the end of long seams.  I know… I’m late to the lovefest.  But will you still have me?

Posted by robyn on July 23rd, 2008 under bernina 440 qe, crafts, sewing, sewing machines | 9 Comments »

Buttons!

Here are the buttons I bought yesterday at Windsor Button for my bag that’s almost finished.  They are not the wooden buttons of my dreams, but they are a reasonable substitute, I hope!

 

I like that they are different on either side.  One side is lighter, one side a little darker with different grain lines:

 

 

Now to see if these guys look any good on the bag.  Cross your fingers!!

 

Posted by robyn on July 19th, 2008 under crafts | Comment now »

Sneak Peek & Twitter

Here’s a small sneak peek of what I’m making these days with my new Amy Butler fabric.  Can’t wait until it’s done.  It almost is, but I’m on the lookout for 4 perfect buttons to finish it off.  One search tonight yielded nothing;  the store I visited had several buttons of the perfect variety,  but I need 4 and they would only have 3 or 2 of them in stock.  Frustrating!  Just to pique your interest even more, Ryan says “I just don’t *get* this bag.”  Hmm.  Hopefully you will!

Anyone use Twitter?  I just started.  My username is dognamedbanjo.  I’ve had a username for ages, but never actually tweeted until yesterday, thanks to Matt (Hi Matt!).  If you feel like following my every move (because what could be more exciting?) feel free to follow me.  It’ll be fun!  And I’ll follow you! And then we’ll be Twitter pals in a way that people on the Internet can be!

Posted by robyn on July 16th, 2008 under crafts, sewing | 7 Comments »

New Frenchy Handbag

Last week I made the first real item made on my new Bernina machine.  It’s a Frenchy handbag, the smaller version of the other one I made not long ago.  I was skeptical, but I think this turned out pretty cute, even though it’s waaay preppy for my taste.  I used Amy Butler Belle fabric on the bottom and Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy on the top.  The body’s a great size - just right to fit the essentials - but I wish I had made the handles longer. This bag lives somewhere in between handbag and shoulder bag.  (I prefer the shoulder variety, if you hadn’t noticed.)

I had fun experimenting with some thread made for topstitching (I think…) Mettler’s polyester Cordonnet, which is really heavy thick thread.  It it tough to get the tension right, but once you do, the outcome is really nice, and I think it makes the handles look adorable from far away, though it’s hard to see by way of photos.  Here’s a close-up.

I think in order to actually get use out of this, I may have to buy a new wardrobe at J. Crew, or  convince a yacht owner to take me out to the seas for a weekend.  Any takers?

Posted by robyn on July 8th, 2008 under crafts, sewing | 8 Comments »

Bernina Aurora 440 QE: Playing with stitches

So I’ve been playing around with the different stitches on the machine.  Can you tell?

One of the very first things I decided to do was sew a sample of each of the 180 stitches it is capable of.  Boy, that got old fast.  But I got most of the way through until I ran out of room on my sample fabric and decided to give up. They’re all done using Mettler silk finish 100% cotton thread.  Rumor has it polyester thread might make these things look prettier, but I’ll tell you now that this sampler won’t be getting done all over again!

A closeup of the button holes.  One of them got quite wonky (the plain rectangular one, if that’s even a button hole…).  Oops!  I especially like the one that looks like a caterpillar on the right.  Turns out buttonholes are quite easy to make on this machine, and you can program it to make them all uniform.  Very slick.

Here’s a closeup of some of the decorative stitches.  The honeycomb in the top left, and some of the flower ones are my faves, though.

Not sure when and where I’ll be using all of these decorative stitches, but I’m sure you’ll see them pop up in future projects.  (Hmm… how to incorporate these into my latest work-in-progress Frenchy handbag?)

I’m glad now to at least have a reference that shows me what the actual stitches look like, besides what’s on the little card that came with the machine.

Posted by robyn on July 4th, 2008 under bernina 440 qe, crafts, sewing, sewing machines | 11 Comments »

On their way…

 

Thank you all for your helpful rationalizations!  They worked.  I am now excitedly awaiting my new purchases!

 

Posted by robyn on July 4th, 2008 under crafts | Comment now »

This is Banjo & I:

I'm Robyn. Thanks for stopping by! This is my craft blog.

Contact me at robyn [at] dognamedbanjo [dot] com.