Learning to love my Bernina ....not always easy to communicate. Lesson 3

I had been rolling right along quilting my Persimmon Jelly Roll quilt when my darling Bernina 750QE choked up and gave me this strange message.

 I've already got the feed dogs down so the message above makes no sense at all.  Nevertheless, I obediently go through the motions to raise and lower the feed dogs again.  I begin stitching again and it chokes again.... and here's the message I've seen many times before.  

I used to think it meant the gears were literally stuck (duh!) but I eventually found that it was just an indicator of a huge lint booger in the gear mechanism in the bobbin case area. 

So, after a quick swipe of my paintbrush in the depths of the bobbin area,  I got back to work.  I need to remember that what my Bernina communicates is always subject to interpretation.  The past year + of ups and downs with this persnickety Princess has given me valuable experience in learning to interpret what my machine really needs.  I have to give a tip of the hat to my Bernina dealer, Lola Pink of Lafayette, LA.  The owner, Jennifer, has helped me tremendously and I'm impressed that she knew enough to know when it was time to have my machine sent back to the factory for additional work.  But, an essential lesson to remember with my machine is that my darling Bernina is very particular about oiling.  Actually the word should be needy.....she needs a lot of Bernina oil on a regular basis to perform at her optimum.  She is capable of so much.....who can deny her an ample amount of oil?

I finished my Persimmon Jelly Roll Quilt with a coordinating binding by machine.  I used the Bernina 1D foot with the dual feed foot engaged to add the binding edge on the back side of the quilt. Then I ironed back binding over to the front side.  Once I pinned it all in place (a total pain, but worth it!) then it was time to stitch the binding in place with my Bernina 10D foot engaged with the dual feed foot.  I'm sure that is probably not the "proper" foot to use, but it worked for me by moving my needle over to the right a few spaces.  The foot's bottom flange along with my stiletto helped me guide everything in proper place!  I've never had a machine applied binding look so great.  I think it could even hold its own in a quilt show competition.  And it's so much quicker than binding by hand!   

Now here's a tip for a special trick to set that bobbin back just right after you've removed the honking big lint ball.  The Bernina engineers designed a magnet on the bobbin case to help the consumer.  There's a little click sound that let's you know when it's found its happy place.  But there are 2 totally different clicks to deal with in the delicate setting of this bobbin case.  As the bobbin case settles into place, there is a significant click sound and snug fit as you fiddle it into its special magnetized placement.  

If it is the correct placement, the outer casing(the silver half moon shape in the photo below) will close properly.  If it does not feel right as you close the outer casing ring, just start again.  I find that the magnet engages in a couple of different positions during the rotation, but the cover will not actually close unless it is set perfectly.