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Channel lock - vertical - horizontal line wavey/crooked.


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I was playing around with my machine today, trying out some things....   I made one big long horizontal line to match my top up to ( as a straight edge/square guide) and then noticed that it looked a little crooked - like..noticeably crooked..    So then I moved my machine down a cm or two, and did a parallel line along side it to see.  Quite a bit of difference - this line was crooked too, but in different spots..  And then of course,  i wanted to see if that 2nd line was any straighter, so I did another parallel line.    Well,   6 lines in and I'm not bettter.   What the heck?  I'm not sure I want to trust these lines now.  That, and I chose this machine based on the ability to do straight line quilting.    

 

Any ideas for me?  Could it be the speed I was going - the stitch regulator?   Is it maybe the way I'm holding the handles while I zoom down the rails?    

 

I have another quilt on the frame at the moment so cannot play with it tonight some more, but am puzzled by this.   Maybe there is something I did wrong? 

 

 

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I agree with Cathy. Since your stitched horizontal line is a direct representation of the travel of the lower wheels along the rails, the only way it could be off would be from nudging the head off-line. 

There are ways to adjust and tighten the channel locks if they are so loose that you can easily push them off. My vertical lock ( for making horizontal lines) is pretty tight. My horizontal (for making verticals) is so good after an email from Dawn that I can't push it off-line without it chattering on the Bliss rails.

And as Cathy recommended, only nudge the handles--I actually push them with two fingers of one hand. Good luck and I hope you get it figured out.

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Andrea,

Do you have "Bliss" rails or M & M wheels? The M & M wheels provide a different "grip" than the older style wheels that used to come on APQS machines. Their ease of movement is in part due to the smooth nature of their surface. However, that also means that they could "slip and slide" on the rails even when the channel lock is engaged. You can tell if this is the case if you engage the lock, and then try to push the machine in the opposite direction of the lock. That's why Cathy and Linda recommend the lighter touch with the locks; it's possible to "overdrive" the machine with too much pressure on the handles and make the wheels slip on the rails, even though they're technically locked.

Let us know how we can help!

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Thanks..  I'll do another test once this panto quilt is done.   I have a 2012 millie, bliss.    I was barely touching/guiding the machine along the rails, but perhaps it was my technique.   I hope that is the case.   I will be trying again  tomorrow, so hopefully it was just a fluke and my error.   

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I did a bunch of tests again and still a wave in the horizontal lines.   When I engage the channel locks and do not stitch, just run the machine to check that a seam is nice and straight, all is good.   When I stitch it however,  then I get a long slightly off line from left to right.  Then, I move down a 1/2 inch to compare (disengage, and then re-engage lock)  and stitch parallel from right to left and the lines look parallel for a bit and then slowly  cross over the original line.      

 

I'm going to try some work with looser sandwich, etc and hopefully that might do the trick.  But I notice when I'm trying to 'baste' down my top edges, I have a heck of a time with the fabric shifting....so I wonder if my hopper might be a smidge to tight?  Maybe it is creating just enough drag to affect my channel lock/horizontal line?

 

 

  How do I know my hopper foot is a correct height?  If I raise it,  is there a disadvantage to do so?

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Andrea,

Your hopping foot's factory setting is set such that a business card will slide under the foot with just slight pressure when you lower the needle by hand to its lowest position. This should be done with no fabric under the foot. If you need to adjust the hopping foot height there are instructions in the back of the manual in the appendixes to do that.

As for checking your two parallel lines, try this technique to eliminate the influence of your hands on the machine. Move to the pantograph side of the machine. Turn on the vertical channel lock. (By the way this may seem to be a rather obvious statement, but I thought I would point it out just in case we aren't using the same terminology. If your machine has the four colored buttons on each handle, then when I say "activate the vertical channel lock" it actually means you will be turning on the vertical lock so that the machine will stitch "horizontally" from left to right. It will be "locked out" of the vertical motion. The newest generation of APQS machines has labeled the channel locks slightly differently. On these new machines, when you press the horizontal lock it DOES mean it will move horizontally.)

With the lock turned on, now try to stitch a straight-line without using the handles at all. Instead, try grabbing the back end of your carriage itself and push the machine to the left using only the carriage, and no handles or hands on any part of the sewing head itself. This will eliminate any possible influence from your hand position. Next go back to the beginning and stitch a second line away from the first using the same technique, then recheck them.

If they aren't parallel after this test, then we will focus on the channel lock mechanism itself on the carriage.

Let me know what you find out.

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  • 1 month later...

Dawn -  I tried this suggestion this week - working from the back of the machine and drawing my horizontal lines.  No problem.  So then I experimented with how I am driving the handles.   I've concluded that when I do horizontal lines I cannot hold the handles as usual,  I have to push or pull using the 'u' part of the handle only,  not in the corners where it is comfy, or near the controls etc. as that causes a slight drag just due to the physics of my amazing strength  ;-)   So,  if I have that in my head and control the handles in the 'u' using a push or pull  I get good, straight parallel lines

 

Thank you for helping me!  

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I use just a couple fingers to push my Millie along when trying to use the channel locks to quilt a straight line.  Another thing to be careful about--are you leaning or touching the "belly bar"--your quilt top bar?  This was my problem when I first started out and one I have to constantly remind renters about.

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I use just a couple fingers to push my Millie along when trying to use the channel locks to quilt a straight line.  Another thing to be careful about--are you leaning or touching the "belly bar"--your quilt top bar?  This was my problem when I first started out and one I have to constantly remind renters about.

Not touching it as much anymore...er.. my belly that is,  now that I've lost it on my wheat belly plan  :lol:   Seriously though, how do you not lean on the bars?

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