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Top Ten Reasons why I love the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q

by Elaine Theriault

It’s been lots of fun to sew on the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q. The more I sew on it, the more I discover various features that make the sewing process so much easier. It was very hard to choose my top ten reasons why I love the Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 960Q, but here they are in random order.

Number Ten – The Extension Table

Yes, once again I’m going to rave about this extension table. The design is gorgeous, but so functional. The curve on the front makes it so comfortable to sew that you’ll want to put the extension table on the Sapphire 960Q and leave it on. And, when you quilt with this extension table, your quilt will glide up over that edge.

This table works on other models of the Husqvarna Viking sewing machines. So, if you have more than one Husqvarna Viking sewing machine, you can use the table with some of the other models.

The beautifully designed extension table

The beautifully designed extension table

Number Nine – Stitch Width Safety

I love the fact that, when the single hole throat plate is installed, the Stitch Width Safety is automatically switched on. That means you can’t move the needle out of the center position. Do you know how many times I’ve broken a needle because I forgot the single hole throat plate was on my sewing machine? Even when I used a sticky note to remind myself!

Stitch Width Safety is automatically switched on when the single hole throat plate is installed

Stitch Width Safety is automatically switched on when the single hole throat plate is installed

Number Eight – The huge range of stitches

There are 777 different stitches available on the Sapphire 960Q, including letters and characters.

Let’s not forget that the length and width of each of those stitches can be modified. There’s also an option to mirror (side to side and end to end) the stitches.

If you use the stop function, you don’t have to guess where the stitch sequence ends – the Sapphire 960Q does that automatically and another feature will reset the sewing machine to the beginning of the stitch sequence. Both are extremely useful tools, particularly for the decorative stitches.

I love the Omnistitches; those stitches that can be as wide as 40 mm. How awesome is that?

I think it’s safe to say that you could play for a long long time before you exhaust all the possibilities.

OMNI stitches on the Sapphire 960Q

OMNI stitches on the Sapphire 960Q

Number Seven – Adjustable presser foot height

The ability to change the height of the presser foot is pretty cool. This means I can still get a nice tight stitch with free motion regardless of what kind of batting I use. The same when I happen to be doing some free motion applique or free motion embroidery.

Menu for changing the height of the presser foot

Menu for changing the height of the presser foot

Number Six – Exclusive Sensor Foot

The needle up/needle down feature is a must have for piecing, quilting and applique. But, used in conjunction with the exclusive sensor system, it’s like having a third hand to help you sew.

Check out the two videos so you can see what I mean. The Sapphire 960Q does all the hard work; I just get to sew.



Number Five – Free motion capabilities

The flexibility to use either a free motion spring action foot or the free motion floating foot allows me to use a wide variety of threads for quilting. Thread breakage and skipped stitches are a thing of the past. I’m definitely doing a happy dance with that one!

Menu option to use either free motion spring action or free motion floating mode

Menu option to use either free motion spring action or free motion floating mode

Number Four – Large sewing surface

The amount of space to the right of the needle is 10 inches. That gives the sewist plenty of room to quilt a large quilt on the Sapphire 960Q. The trick is knowing how to do it and you can see in this picture there is still lots of room to the right of the needle even with a queen-sized quilt. The amount of space is awesome. I get a big enough space to quilt while having a relatively compact sewing machine for transporting to a workshop.

Large work space to the right of the needle on the Sapphire 960Q

Large work space to the right of the needle on the Sapphire 960Q

Number Three – Functions

There are so many features I love that I’m going to cheat a bit and group a couple. All the options available in the Functions panel make sewing so easy. They are easy to use and are right in front of you as you’re sewing.

The speed control (with five different speeds), the scissors, needle up/down, the stop feature that, when engaged, will stop sewing at the end of a stitch sequence. This is very useful for decorative stitches.

I think you get the picture. These functions are awesome and you really have to sew with them to appreciate how useful they are and how easy they are to use.

Function panel on the Sapphire 960Q

Function panel on the Sapphire 960Q

Number Two – Let there be light!

I love the bright work space. There’s an LED light on either side of the needle area and a third one is in the middle of the sewing space to the right of the needle. There’s no need to use an add-on light. It’s so nice to see what you’re doing, especially when doing detailed work on dark fabrics.

Three LED lights ensure a brightly lit work space

Three LED lights ensure a brightly lit work space

Number One – The touch screen

I love the touch screen. The menus are well laid out and, if I want to change up the variables of a particular stitch, all the available changes for that stitch are found right on the screen when the stitch is selected. Based on the stitch selected, the Sapphire 960Q will tell me what needle and foot to use and whether or not I need stabilizer on my project.

Having all that information readily available is like having a sewing teacher by my side.

Touch Screen on the Sapphire 960Q

Touch Screen on the Sapphire 960Q

There you have it! My top ten reasons why I love the Husqvarna VIking Sapphire 960Q. This sewing machine packs a lot of punch. If you want a sewing machine with a lot of flexibility, the Sapphire 960Q is the sewing machine for you. I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Sapphire 960Q. I learned a lot and, hopefully, you did too. Don’t forget to send some pictures of your finished projects so we can post them. Ciao!

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3 comments

Adele Aiken May 15, 2018 - 5:59 pm

I just bought a 960 – had a Designer 1 before!! My designer 1 had the ability to move the needle from the center position to either the right-hand side for 1/34″ sewing or to the left-hand side. I haven’t started sewing with my new machine – it just arrived. But thumbing through the instructions I don’t see any place that tells you how to change the needle position. How do you do a 1/4″ seam??

Reply
Cathy November 12, 2016 - 7:59 pm

I can’t get out of the stitch width safety mode….I can’t use any other stitches…very frustrating!!

Reply
Elaine Theriault November 23, 2016 - 9:05 am

Cathy – You must make the change in the SET menu and if that doesn’t work, please give your dealer a call. Elaine

Reply

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