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New Owner of an Ultimate II


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Hi Everybody. I recently purchased an UItimate II. I very happy with her but I'm having some trouble with her. Once I've loaded the quilt I tried to baste the top of the quilt but when I move my machine along it is moving the fabric. by the time I get to the other side of the quilt it has gathered to form a tuck and the quilt top is no longer square. I looks to me that the foot is catching on the fabric. What am I doing wrong? Is my foot to low?

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Sue,

 

I usually pin the top first and most often I also use the up/down  feature to baste with my stitches about 1/3 inch long......all along the top....I don't know if the ultimate II has an needle up/down feature or not....I have a Lucey.....if I just tried to stitch across to baste....it also distorts the fabric a bit....I don't know if your machine is stitch regulated ......you also can try turning the speed down if not in stitch regulation as you will be able to make longer basting stitches then or if you have stitch regulation, you could try using less stitches per inches as that will lengthen the stitch....but I have had the best luck with the pinning and then using the up/down needle function....Lin

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I have the Ult 11 and I just slow my machine down.  Be sure and clamp on the right end.  I go slow, and straighten mine out as I go.  I do not pin, except along the side before clamping.  If you will practice on muslin, you will get the hang of it.  You can message me if you want.

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Hi, Sue.  I purchased my first longarm machine in December - an Ultimate II, and am very interested in the responses on this topic. I get nervous every time I baste a quilt top and sometimes just hand stitch it instead of using the machine.  I am trying to make myself practice with the machine, but it is definitely a learning process.

 

What I have been doing is turning the speed dial as low as it will go and stitch from the center of the quilt top out to the right edge, cut my threads and then go back to the center and stitch from the center out to the left edge.  Also, when I am basting from left to right - I guide the machine with my right hand and use my left hand to follow along behind where the machine has just stitched gently pushing down on the quilt top. Hope that makes sense.  It seems to help me.  Just do the opposite when going right to left.  I have not pinned before basting, but might try that, too.  I'm just paranoid about messing up and hitting a pin while stitching! :o

 

Good luck!!

Dawn

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Thanks buslady003. I may need some advice in the future. 

 

Dawn, I know what you mean. I'm nervous about do anything on it. It's nice to know that I'm not alone on trying to figure things out.  I have it all pinned and ready to go so I'll try tomorrow. 

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Sue - You are definitely not alone!!  I am loving my Ultimate II and getting to know her, but it is definitely a whole new process to learn. Whenever something doesn't go right when I'm quilting, it's usually operator error, not the machine!  Sometimes I think I need to make a checklist of steps for advancing a quilt on the machine, because it seems like I have a hard time remembering everything.  It seems so simple, and hopefully someday it will become second nature. 

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Teresa, the table and the ends are wood and the legs and frame are metal. It's really sturdy. I know I'm going to enjoy her once I figure everything out. There is a lot to learn like dbustle said hopefully it will all eventually become second nature to me. 

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SUE! - You asked about the height of your foot and that initially went right over my head! :( 

 

When I first got my machine, the foot was almost touching the metal needle plate.  It worked fine when I was practicing on muslin or something with no seams, but when I loaded a pieced top, the foot would catch on the seams.  I raised the foot and haven't had any problems since then.  I'm still a little apprehensive about going over a bulky seam, but so far, so good.  I think I raised mine about the thickness of 5 business cards.  Hope that makes sense.  If not let me know.  I've read somewhere on here that if you raise the foot too much you'll have trouble with stitch quality, but I have not experienced that.   SOOO sorry I forgot to mention this earlier!!

Dawn

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I have an ULT11 and one thing that I figured out right away is that the foot height needs to be higher than a 'normal' machine.  Since the ULT11 machines do not have a hopping foot and just 'scoots' along the top of the fabric, you can get bunching at the end of a row.  Also, trying to go over any seams is a real issue if you do not have your foot height higher.  So, the rule of a business card for height does not apply to this machine.  To adjust the height, you might have to actually move the whole foot bar up and that means opening up the side panel of your machine for this adjustment.  I might take a couple of adjustments to get the height just where you need it.

Once I got my foot adjusted higher I did not have issues with the bunching or the problem of fabric being pushed ahead of the foot.  Also, it helps with the seam issues too.  

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Laura, it seems to me that the foot is pushing the fabric. I tried pinning the top's edge and sides and had the same result. By the time I got the the end the fabric was bunching. I moved my machine across the quilt top and noticed that it's catching on the seams, so I think the foot is to low.  How do you adjust the foot height? 

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Yes, your foot is way too low and needs to be brought up higher. Once this is done you will not have this issue anymore.  The foot on my machine is a good 1/4" higher than the plate.

 

You actually have to go into the left side panel of the machine and adjust the bar height.  Just moving the foot up sometimes will not do it as the bar will still hang down and could get caught on the quilt top.  However, you could try to just move the foot up the bar and see if that works for you.  It is not hard to adjust the bar height, lots of screws to untighten..but you can do it.  If you run into problems you can call APQS customer service and they will walk you through the steps.  Don't be afraid of your machine in making adjustments to fit your needs.  You won't break your machine if you make these adjustments needed...took me a while to figure that out...lol.

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On my UII there is just a recessed set screw that you have to loosen in order to raise the foot bar.  I took a picture of my machine from the side and hopefully it shows up in this post.  If you look at the picture, you'll see 2 small "columns" on the machine - one holds the foot bar and one holds the needle bar.  In the column holding the foot bar, there is a recessed set screw (it takes a small allen wrench) that you can loosen, raise the foot bar to the desired height and then retighten the screw.  When you raise the foot bar, you may want to put something under the foot (I used several business cards) to hold it the height you want it before retightening it. It's not hard to do.  If I can do it, you can do it!  My foot is almost 1/4" above the needle plate.

 

 

post-63772-0-92844700-1430400773_thumb.jpg

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Thanks for the help

 

Last night my husband and I went down and raised the foot. At first, we raised it too high and got lots of loops and skipped stitches. We lowered it and got less skipped stitches and loops but it's about the height that it was before so it's catching on the seams and pulling the fabric. We spent 4 hours on it and can't get rid it the looping on the backing side and we have loose stitches on the top. We adjusted and readjusted that tension and can't seem to fix it. Now, it seems when we pull up on the bobin thread it's catching on something and when we move the machine it's catching on something.  I'm at my wits end. I don't know what to do. 

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I adjust my presser foot by loosening the foot and sliding it up the presser foot bar.  I use a dime on the needle plate to set the "standard" height for most of my quilting.

 

I've rotated the clamp that controls the spring pressure of the foot, to the right side and use it to guide the machine when I do detailed work, and also so I can raise the foot when it catches on a seam.  Being right handed, it works better for me on the right than on the left. Raising the spring clamp will increase the pressure on the presser foot just like turning the knob on a DSM, and that can affect stitch quality.

 

Sue White:  It's time to start fresh.  Begin by removing the bobbin, check the tension, now check to see that the bobbin is in properly (rotates clockwise when you pull the thread), and that the thread is routed properly.  If you find a problem, fix it.  Next, remove the needle plate and look at the hook.  Is there any thread or lint there?  Rotate the machine and check the timing,  Does the the hook point meet the needle in the lower half of the needle scarf?  Is there zero clearance between the needle and hook?  Now look at the black retaining "finger".  It should be set to just hold the bobbin basket, no more than 1/3 of the way into the slot.  If it's too deep, it will catch the thread loop and interfere with thread and stitch creation.  If you find nothing amiss here, move to the thread path.

 

Re-thread the machine, making sure everything is as it should be.  Make sure the three hole pre-tension bar is adjusted properly so it directs the thread to the tension assembly properly.  Make sure the thread is seated in the tension disks, and that the take-up spring moves freely.  At rest it should be in the "11 o'clock" position.

 

This review should identify the problem you have with the machine.  Fix that and you're back in business.  Jim

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