Lo and behold, the foot control on my trusty Bernina 910 went out two nights ago. My machine is now out of commission and as you can imagine, I am not happy.
The first quest was for another pedal that we could just change cords on with the help of our amazing electronics guy, Gilberto. Tom went to the local Singer dealer (the name of his shop is CASA CONTENTA) and bought a new pedal for 250 pesos (about $20). For 30 pesos, Gilberto changed the wires and Tom returned home with my new hope. Wrong! I plugged it in and nothing happened! (We hope Gilberto can replace the original wires and we can get our money back!)
Now my quest went to the internet. I first wrote to my friend Janice in Mount Vernon, WA, who manages the Humane Society Thrift Shop and she takes home every machine that comes in for her husband to refurbish, and along with that activity, she has shelves full of parts. Janice, can you help me?
Next I called the wonderful Bernina repair man, Kevin, at Huckleberry's Fabrics in Comox, B.C. His advice was to get some super glue and secure the broken part. He warned me that a new one would run about $300, and $5 in glue couldn't hurt. Unfortunately, I already knew that my foot pedal needed more than glue.
Then to google dealers etc., and with this I found out that I needed a specific model of foot pedal: 347 or 367. Onto e-bay and I found a dealer selling those for $249! Please Janice, I hope you have one.
Out of the blue, I googled "Bernina dealers in Mexico" and up came a site for the Ajijic (near Guadalajra) Quilt Guild. I wrote to the email address with questions etc. and was happily greeted this morning with a letter from Marianne telling me about 2 contacts in the country. Plus, I have become acquainted with a fellow quilter and now know that there also is a Guild in Mexico City! I also shared with Marianne that my friend Anne from Mazatlan just moved to Ajijic so of course I am planning to visit there AND connect with new quilting friends.
Sometimes problems have the most interesting outcomes!
Now a letter from Janice has arrived and she is in Minnesota, but she will check on her return. Be patient Maria!
In the meantime, I am doing all the other things I love to do that don't require a machine. I just bought a new 3 set DVD from Dharma titled "Learn How to Tie-Dye". I finished the video set last night and found Tom and Martine to be great teachers. I learned new tips for my own dyeing and now know how to make a beautiful mandala. This morning I prepped 4 pieces, soaked them in soda ash and now they are air drying to be dyed in a few days.
I'll dye up some linen napkins this afternoon, and move on to some hand sewing later, but my quest for my Bernina 910 foot pedal continues.
Anyone have a spare one hanging around?
The first quest was for another pedal that we could just change cords on with the help of our amazing electronics guy, Gilberto. Tom went to the local Singer dealer (the name of his shop is CASA CONTENTA) and bought a new pedal for 250 pesos (about $20). For 30 pesos, Gilberto changed the wires and Tom returned home with my new hope. Wrong! I plugged it in and nothing happened! (We hope Gilberto can replace the original wires and we can get our money back!)
Now my quest went to the internet. I first wrote to my friend Janice in Mount Vernon, WA, who manages the Humane Society Thrift Shop and she takes home every machine that comes in for her husband to refurbish, and along with that activity, she has shelves full of parts. Janice, can you help me?
Next I called the wonderful Bernina repair man, Kevin, at Huckleberry's Fabrics in Comox, B.C. His advice was to get some super glue and secure the broken part. He warned me that a new one would run about $300, and $5 in glue couldn't hurt. Unfortunately, I already knew that my foot pedal needed more than glue.
Then to google dealers etc., and with this I found out that I needed a specific model of foot pedal: 347 or 367. Onto e-bay and I found a dealer selling those for $249! Please Janice, I hope you have one.
Out of the blue, I googled "Bernina dealers in Mexico" and up came a site for the Ajijic (near Guadalajra) Quilt Guild. I wrote to the email address with questions etc. and was happily greeted this morning with a letter from Marianne telling me about 2 contacts in the country. Plus, I have become acquainted with a fellow quilter and now know that there also is a Guild in Mexico City! I also shared with Marianne that my friend Anne from Mazatlan just moved to Ajijic so of course I am planning to visit there AND connect with new quilting friends.
Sometimes problems have the most interesting outcomes!
Now a letter from Janice has arrived and she is in Minnesota, but she will check on her return. Be patient Maria!
In the meantime, I am doing all the other things I love to do that don't require a machine. I just bought a new 3 set DVD from Dharma titled "Learn How to Tie-Dye". I finished the video set last night and found Tom and Martine to be great teachers. I learned new tips for my own dyeing and now know how to make a beautiful mandala. This morning I prepped 4 pieces, soaked them in soda ash and now they are air drying to be dyed in a few days.
I'll dye up some linen napkins this afternoon, and move on to some hand sewing later, but my quest for my Bernina 910 foot pedal continues.
Anyone have a spare one hanging around?
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