Bernette Vs Singer Round 2

Well my Singer Quantum L500 is back from Sydney. Or rather, a new machine is back. They replaced it. Hurrah - there's hope, right?
The loan machine had the same issues as the original, so I was a tad doubtful. We also needed to eliminate user error. My basting and technique (quilt from centre out) was questioned.

I will doubt myself till the cows come home. But I hear mooing right outside the front door (MOOO!!!).  
So just before I let them in, I decided to do some last experiments.

Key user error - Is my basting substandard?
Yes, I can be lazy at times. Yes, I have recently fallen in love with basting spray. Yes, I have been known to take short cuts. (And YES, I still manage to produce projects worthy of magazine publication - well, one...)

Test 1: Baste fabric within an inch of its life, then compare Singer with Bernette
I'm talking taping every piece of fabric and batting to the tiles, ensuring it's neither wrinkled nor stretched and HAND TACKING it together. Sore knees, sore neck.

I stitched down the middle with the Singer, then starting FROM THE MIDDLE to make sure there was NO possibility of drag from one edge to the other, I sewed from the middle line out. Then across at right angles to the lines giving me a grid. I have to say, it did pretty well. DOH, I thought, my basting is the culprit.

Then I remembered back 10 years to when I learnt to quilt by machine. I was a poor student and took a class as a birthday present. They said "you need a walking foot". Couldn't afford one. So I was told that you could get almost the same effect if you pin within an inch of its life.Ok, so I thought I'd try the Bernette on the same piece of fabric, without the walking foot. SAME RESULT. Hard to tell which was which. So the Bernette with no walking foot is the same as the Singer IDF.

Test 2: Sloppy tacking. 
Let's face it, who has time to spend ages hand-basting?  So I literally ironed the bits together and shoved 4 pins in the corners.
I did exactly the same as before but with the Bernette walking foot. Bernette is the black thread.

 

Again, not much to pick between them. Bernette with walking foot, slightly better. Singer, not too bad. But this is a small piece of fabric. Let's test it on a real quilt.

Final Test: Real Quilt, same seam.

I was doing this close to midnight, in frustration, so please please excuse the sloppy not-quite-in-the-ditch quilting. Quilted DOWN vertically with Bernette walking foot cos I know and trust that. Then quilted ACROSS with Singer.

Can you see the wrinkle(s)? I took the pressure on the presser foot as low as it could go. Same result.  

Just to make sure everything was fair and scientific, I unpicked what the Singer had done and tackled the SAME SEAM exactly with the Bernette + Walking foot.

Can you see the wrinkles now? No? What? Are you blind? (Shhh Giles, we know you actually are). Well, that is because they are simply not there. Despite my basting, there is NO movement. The Bernette walking foot feeds it evenly, top and bottom. So the winner is....

The Bernette with walking foot by a mile. 
This Singer is NOT the machine for quilting. Nice for dress making. Nice if you're a casual hobbyist and not a fanatic sewer. But I am very very upset with it. The nice Gary at Perth Sewing Centre is going to talk to Singer for me about a refund when they reopen after the new year, and the nice Tracy at Bernina said they would look after me pricewise IF I decide to go the Bernina 820 in the new year, after the Xmas sale ends. However, I have come away with a high level of mistrust of the Integrated Dual Feed system that Pfaff and some Janome and Bernina models boast.

I am planning to take this quilt into a couple of shops and try the Janome Horizon and the Bernina 820 (Please don't google the price if you are my mother). I will get back to you and let you know if I can overcome my distrust of the IDF!

Now let's finish with a nice calming image. This little dove is nesting right outside my back door, tucked under the veranda roof above the patio. I hope the cows don't scare her...