Journal: Back in Working Order Again!

Last Tuesday, I spent a good eight hours struggling over a small baby quilt that should’ve only taken four hours or less, all because my machine was being troublesome.  Larry had tried timing it the night before, and while it was obviously close, it just wasn’t quite right.  By suppertime, my back hurt from leaning over the frame to pick out stitches after the machine skipped stitches, and broke and shredded thread. The problems worsened when I pushed the machine in a northwesterly direction – a sure sign of timing or bobbin race problems.

But I did get a note that evening from the lady who purchased my HQ16:  “Just to let u know I have finished my second QOV (Quilt of Valor, for veterans) quilt one with pantograph and my first freehand with stars waves and hearts plus writing patriotic phrases. Machine performing excellent. Will take great care of her and know she is owned by a dedicated quilter with an engineering brain so I do all the maintenance. I am one happy woman.”

Isn’t that nice?  I’m so happy and relieved the machine made it all that way (1,100 miles!) without anything happening to it, and it’s working so perfectly for her.

However, I did say to Larry, “Let’s go get it back!  I’m jealous of her!”

He laughed... but I knew he felt badly that the Christmas surprise he was so pleased to give me was causing all these troubles.  He works long hours, comes home tired... tries to watch a youtube video on timing a longarm (most are for other brands, but some are similar enough to be helpful) ---- but falls asleep in the middle.  Finally Monday night when that happened, I shut off the video and said, “Go to bed!  You shouldn’t have to fix this machine, they should!” – speaking of the ones who sold it to us.  After all, I’d only quilted three rows when the trouble began, and I didn’t hit anything with it, or do anything unusual, other than put in a new bobbin, and the bobbin wasn’t any different than the two or three bobbins I’d already put in it.

No amount of rethreading, putting in new needles, changing tension, etc., helped.  Well, putting in the size 20 railroad spike recommended by the woman who, with her husband, co-owns the store got me through the Baskets of Lilies quilt, but I very much dislike the large holes the size 20 leaves.  They do go away, sorta, kinda... probably won’t show anymore after the quilt is washed... but ...  ugh, bleah, pbth.  Size 20s are not for #50 thread!  They are for heavier thread.

The woman didn’t call me back last week as she promised... and she obviously didn’t tell her husband, the tech, that I’d asked for him to call me, because he returns his calls promptly.

Finally, in Wednesday’s early morning hours, I finished my customer’s ‘Campout’ baby quilt.

The parents love to camp; thus the camping theme.

My machine made a few knots on the back of the quilt, and I didn’t know about them until I removed it from the frame.  Aarrgghh.  I tried to fix them... don’t know if I did a very good job.  So... I gave my customer a discount:  2 ½ cents per square inch for light custom work, instead of 3 ½ cents, and that didn’t seem good enough to me, so I knocked off another $10.

I would not load another customer quilt on that frame until that machine was fixed. 

Still, just look at those circles.  Credit to the frame and tracks!  It moves soooo smoothly.  The stitch regulator is exact and precise, too.

Wednesday, I took the quilt to the post office, and also mailed a fallen-apart doll to a lady who will fix it.  It’s an 18” Max Zapf that Lura Kay gave Victoria quite a few years ago, a very pretty doll.  The legs came off before she’d had it much longer than a month.  Yeah, I should’ve fixed it, way back then.  But I’m not such a good doll fixer, heh.  I prefer to carefully put it away (didn’t know the doll-fixing lady yet), get the child another, similar doll... — and then sew clothes for it, as an apology.  ha  Victoria was sooo disappointed when those legs came off after she’d only had that doll a little while.  She’ll be really happy to get it back.  Baby Carolyn will love it one of these days. 

That afternoon, Larry talked to the tech and gave him all the symptoms my machine was displaying, including the fact that the needle plate shows that the needle has hit it at least twice (not by me).  Kevin told him to file it down smooth (Larry has lots of file sets), give it a try, and then, if that didn’t help, we could take the machine to the store Thursday afternoon.  He would meet us, and work on the machine immediately.

Does anybody else hate it as badly as I do, to scribble around on a ‘practice’ piece, and waste it? 

A quilting friend told me I should complain to the manufacturer about these dealers. 

But... they aren’t both bad, the man and his wife!  If I complained, it would cause harm to the tech, and possibly the other employees.  Furthermore, it would be like cutting off my nose to spite my own face, should their dealership get pulled.  I need them there, after all!  Several others besides just me would be up a crick without a paddle, should their license to sell for Handi-Quilter be revoked – and with enough complaints, that can happen.

The tech has always tried his best to help us – even with the HQ16, which I hadn’t even purchased from them.

The HandiQuilter company, based in Salt Lake City, has a good customer service department, and a reputation for being very helpful on the phone.  In fact, I’ve called them before, and gotten good advice, and whatever product I needed was sent to me promptly.

So... if I have a complaint to make, in this particular case at least, I will make it directly to the person with whom I have the grievance.  And I’ll keep in mind that her husband might very well love her, and might very well not want me to snatch her bald.  Eh?

A friend replied to my remark, “They do say that opposites attract.  But we never know what a person has been through that may be causing their bad behavior.  It’s not only children that act out when they are unhappy or hurting.”

They might attract, but they don’t necessarily get along!  heh

Sometimes people like that haven’t been through anything.  They’ve just been pampered, mollycoddled, and spoiled rotten all their miserable lives.

I know people – some of them, close relatives – who have been through tragedy after tragedy... or who have severe health problems... and they get sweeter, kinder, and more compassionate as the years go by.

That’s the way it should be.  But I know it isn’t, a good deal of the time.

“But you’re right,” I answered my friend, “we never know what someone has been through, or is going through.  I try to remember that, and be understanding.”  ((...pause...))

“Unless she tries to force me to use size 20 needles just because her mother-in-law rearranged her kitchen, or some such transgression.  🙄😠”

After church Wednesday night, Larry smoothed the needle plate with his file, as recommended, and then I tried the machine out.  I slapped a couple of pieces of fabric around a piece of batting, and made a long feathered plume.  Unless it was a plumed feather.  Of course it was fantastic quilting, this test pattern on that quilt sandwich whose back did not match its top.  Why didn’t I make them match, in case it turned into something spectacular?!

But it didn’t.  I switched to a size 18 needle... started up the outside, outlining the first plume – and the thread skipped and then broke.  I rethreaded, tried again, and had the same results.

I turned the machine off.  That was enough struggling with it.

Back to the yo-yos!  It turns out, the 2 ⅜” maker was the right size.  I made 9 of them and sewed them onto the quilt.  Since I need a total of 36, that means I have 25% of them done.

Thursday, Larry came home at noon, got the Avanté off the frame and put it into the Jeep, and I helped him strap it down, along with the carriage.  We grabbed coffee mugs, camera, coffee thermos, coats, gloves, and scarves, and away we went to Fremont, Avanté in tow.  Well, in the back of the Jeep, anyway.

As he was loading the machine, Larry spotted something in one of the little cubbyholes along the side, under the rear window.  He pulled it out.  Lo and behold, it was the little plastic tool case that goes with Hannah’s sewing machine, and it was all full of presser feet, bobbins, and various tools!  She and Joanna had turned their sewing room upside down, looking for it.  Fortunately, she hadn’t had any big sewing projects to do lately (and there is a presser foot on the machine).  That case has been in the Jeep since I took her machine to the Bernina Store in Omaha for a tune-up, way back last August!

The fields were full of Canada geese.  It was an overcast day, but still fairly bright, because everything was covered with new snow.  I like the old brick streets of Fremont, and the big old fancy houses in areas once considered the more affluent areas of town.

As I’d thought, the timing on my Avanté was only just slightly off.  Kevin showed Larry exactly how to do it, so if it ever gets out of whack again, he’ll know what to do.  Kevin goes out of his way to be helpful, and we really appreciate it.

The tech also recommended a different needle, so I bought a couple of packets.  The ones I had, though the right size, were actually for a different machine – the Infinity, that’s larger and quilts faster, which causes a different flex to the needle.  I had ordered my needles directly from the factory.  When I got home, I checked my needle packets, and discovered that while three of them were the right type, two were not.  They worked okay with the HQ16, but the Avanté is apparently a little more picky about these things.

The correct needles for the Avanté are labeled ‘R’ for ‘Sharp Point’.  The packets that are supposed to be for the Infinity are labeled ‘MR’ for ‘Multi-Range’ (also labeled ‘SAN’ for ‘Special Application Needle’.  Evidently when I ordered them, someone at the HQ warehouse scooped up a handful of needle packets to fill my order, and didn’t notice that a couple of odd packets had gotten mixed in with the others. 

Fortunately, I sent the lady who bought the HQ16 size 16 needles – labeled ‘R’.

But the ‘wrong’ needle isn’t what threw the timing off; that was caused by a loose set screw.  Someone forgot to tighten it up last time they worked on it!  I had not yet changed needles when the timing went askew.

When the machine is in perfect timing, even the wrong needle will work.  The only difference is that there is a little more curve to the ‘scarf’ on the MR needles.

When we got home, Larry put the Avanté back on the frame for me, and I loaded a customer quilt and gave the machine a try.  It worked perfectly – except for when I filled a bobbin too full.  ‘Too full’ is no less than a millimeter from really full.  That’s aggravating.  But at least I knew what the trouble was.  The first time that happened, with the HQ16, years ago, I hadn’t the faintest clue what the matter was.  When the aluminum bobbin is filled too full, it gets stretched, and it’s no good ever again.  Why are there no warnings anywhere about this potential problem??!  For that matter, why are there no good explanations about all the various needles for these machines, and which ones suit best for which machines, and go with which threads?  The Superior thread company has articles about needles versus thread, but there are few to none explaining the difference between ‘R’ and ‘MR’ needles.

I quilted a couple of rows and quit for the night.  I sat down in my recliner, laptop in lap, and then, would you believe, a mosquito went sailing through?  Where on earth do they come from, in this freezing cold, snowy, windy, winter weather??

I posted pictures of the quilting online, and, as usual, was immediately hit with a barrage of queries into name of the pantograph, and places where it can be purchased.  But the panto is on an old taped-together paper roll in bad shape – poor printing, etc. – that I think must’ve come from the lady who had my older machine before I did.  There is no designer’s name printed anywhere on it (it probably got trimmed off when she taped it together).  I hunted around for it online, but couldn’t find it.  It’s a bit hard to follow, so some of my stitching is guesswork.  Good guesswork, but guesswork, nonetheless.  I call it ‘Butterflies and Flowers’... but I really don’t know.

Friday was spent quilting away in my studio, with a short break to pick up the grandchildren from school.  The grandchildren were sweet and funny, my machine was working perfectly, tubby ol’ Tiger purred around my ankles and then headed for his Thermabed... 

So I called Country Traditions at about 5:45 p.m. to thank Kevin for squeezing us into his busy schedule, and to tell him how well the machine was working.  

The man who picked up the phone said, “Night security.”

“Is this Country Traditions?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“They must’ve already closed?” I inquired.

“Yes,” he said again.

“Okay, thank you,” I said, preparing to hang up.

“What did you need?” he asked. “Anything I can help you with?”

— and suddenly I recognized his voice – and his attitude.

“Is this Kevin?” I queried.

“Yes, it is,” he answered.

So I proceeded to tell him, “The machine you retimed for us yesterday now works so nice, and runs so quietly, I keep checking to see if the thread has broken!”

He laughed, “But it hasn’t?”

“Nope!” I said. “I’m halfway through with one customer’s quilt, and the way everything is working, the tension, and the stitches are beautiful; so I wanted to thank you and tell you how much we appreciate you helping us.”

There.  That made him happy he’d answered the phone, even though it was after hours.

At 12:30 a.m. when I rolled the quilt forward, the final border showed up.  That (and an application of Soothanol drops to my back) gave me enough oomph to finish it that night.  More photos here:  Red, White, and Black Quilt

One of the things that speeds things up is the way I can roll the quilt forward so very easily.  It’s a much better frame.

Here’s Teensy, asleep in the chair in front of my serger desk.

Saturday, I got a lovely note from the lady for whom I quilted the baby quilt:  “Once again, you have done an AMAZING job with your beautiful quilting!  Thank you for taking my simply pieced top, and creating a keepsake that this new baby will have forever!”

I was happy to hear from her, happy to know she is satisfied with her quilt.  It’s no fun struggling with the machine all the way through a quilt – particularly a customer’s quilt!

I’m sorta like the spectators who watched a steamboat fire up for the first time.  First, they all stood there shaking their heads and intoning, “It’ll never start.” 

Then when it did start, the terrific noise scared them out of their wits, and they ran for their lives, screaming, “It’ll never stop!”

I feel that way about my machine.  It took off in great fashion, and I thought, There’s no stopping me now!  Then it went out of timing, and I thought, It’s a lemon; it’ll never work right again.

Reckon I’ll ever learn to quit being such an extremist?!!  🙄

That day, I loaded my customer’s king-sized quilt on the frame and got a couple of rows done.  It was a 1999 New Year’s Eve mystery that she had tested for a quilt designer.

My machine continues to work perfectly.  I really, really like it!

The pantograph is called Nemesh Feather Grande, by Bethanne Nemesh.

So many people asked about the pantograph I used for Todd and Dorcas’s Baskets of Lilies quilt, I’ll betcha the designer noticed a big uptick in sales.  I otter getta commission.  heh  (It was the ‘Rapture’ panto by Anne Bright.)

During the night, a layer of ice coated everything, and was then followed by a layer of snow.  It’s really slippery out there.

Oh!  How ’bout that! – I just discovered from the Handi-Quilter website that my Avanté goes faster than I thought! – 2,200 stitches per minute, as opposed to only 1,800.  No wonder I have to really be a-travelin’ in order to finally hear that little bell sound, telling me I’m overrunning the stitches.  Hardly ever happens.   I like to get right up to the speed that makes the bell sound – because then I know I’m quilting as fast as possible.  hee hee

And now, at no extra charge, here’s my (TOZD) Tip O’ Ze Day:

It’s really, really hard to get out of your vehicle if you don’t release the seat belt first.

You’re welcome.

,,,>^..^<,,,          Sarah Lynn          ,,,>^..^<,,,