Frustrations

One of the frustrations of owning a longarm machine is that it is a very delicate piece of machinery, and something can easily go wrong.  Well, I've had my fair share of problems this week.... about 4 days worth.

To begin with, something caused a fuse to blow....it might have been a power surge, it might have just been time for the fuse to die. Either way, it was dead. So my DH got it working for me.  We were sailing right along, practicing using specialty threads and making a bobbin chart.  Then I decided to practice some curved crosshatching and ran over the plastic ruler I was using as a guide.  Well, not only did I break the needle but the machine jammed and guess what, the fuse blew again.  I was not happy, but the great folks at APQS told me to go to Radio Shack for a new fuse.  We do live in a very small town, but there is a Radio Shack nearby.  So I drove to Radio Shack for a new fuse.  They didn't have one. It's a special order only item- a week, they said.  Not good.

In the meantime I drew the designs and patterns for Carol's custom quilt, and began calling quilt shops to find the wool batting we decided on.  Nobody within 75 miles had any.  The closest place I found that had some was Hancocks in Paducah.  It's about an hour and a half drive, but we did it yesterday. I got the batting, but they didn't have any MonoPoly thread and they didn't have a new curved ruler.  We were able to locate Radio Shack and get the fuses for the machine so I could quilt again.

This morning I put the new fuse in and threaded the needle.  I turned the hand wheel to pick up the bobbin thread and THUNK!  the needle wouldn't go down.  The jamming machine had jumped timing and had to be re-timed.. Now, this is a long, precise process; but we did it.  Three times. Finally the machine was able to stitch again, but every time I try to use any speed the top thread breaks.   Well, I've been all afternoon fighting to finish a teeny, tiny Quilt of Valor. I'm about 2/3 done.  I'll finish it in the morning, then tackle the timing issue again. Maybe fourth time will be the last time. We'll wait and see.