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HelenS

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Everything posted by HelenS

  1. Well, I guess I've solved the "hairy, smelly quilts" issue in a way we never expected. We have moved from Washington State to Kentucky to be closer to family. My husband has been dealing with cancer and heart issues the past five years and we're both in our mid 70's now, so I sort of took it upon myself to begin searching for a home nearer to family who can help if needed. When he saw what I'd found in a home and the awesome price, he readily agreed to the move. Hubby is in remission at this time and we are so very thankful for that after nearly 54 years of marriage! Our eldest grandson helped with the long-distance inspections, etc, and we bought a house sight unseen! WHEW! It needs a few changes here and there, (and I'm sure grandson will be helping, lol), but it's a great home and we're enjoying the wonderful views of the countryside and mountains in the distance. We sold all our furniture and things that wouldn't fit into a U-Haul Pod, shipped what we coculdn't part with and hit the road in my new Kia Soul. It was a fun adventure, and we're finally settled again. My Lenni is set up again and I'm happy as a clam to be able to work on my own quilts for now. Many thanks for all the input on the above subject! I'll keep all the suggestions in mind, should I decide to quilt for others again.
  2. Thanks, Sue. That was my next move, since it is still under warranty. No the bars aren't binding at all.
  3. Wondering if anyone else has paint coming off their roller bars. This machine was a 2021 demo, purchased by me a year ago. It has only been used for personal quilts, not business. It doesn't seem to be a problem, other than it's ugly, but it must be wearing to the metal bars.
  4. Aisha Edwards, I'm still working at getting a great bobbin wind, but it appears that messing with the tension a tiny bit seems to help, so still playing with it.
  5. Sunny Quilter, The replacement bobbin winder was similar to the existing one, but quite a bit heavier. The new one also has the APQS logo on it that was missing from the initial bobbin winder. So far, so good! Still not crazy about having to guide the thread to make it wind evenly, though, and see no alternative to make that happen. I'd previously owned two other brands of longarm, and both brands came with a top quality bobbin winder that wound bobbins perfectly at the push of the on button, without my help. I guess I was spoiled.
  6. Hmmm...I was just researching the option of a hand wheel for my standard frame Lenni setup, to no avail, so thought I'd see if there were any comments here and this just happened to be at the top of the list of posts. Seems that APQS makes one, but only for the Deluxe frame. I guess we need to tell them that the standard frame also needs them?
  7. Light Bulb Moment? I just watched this video on how to turn a quilt on the longarm. About half way through, Dawn Cavanaugh shows how to pin the elastic end of the clamp elastic to the quilt side, eliminating the bump and hangup when using the ruler base. LOVE this idea, so had to share!
  8. The following video toward the end may help with your problem.
  9. Update: Many thanks to APQS for the speedy replacement of my bobbin winder! YAY!
  10. Just finished a quilt for a friend who loves her cats, but am now dealing with tons of cat hair and dander on my leader cloths. Yikes! I've used duct tape, lint roller, etc, but still loads of the darned stuff. Does anyone know if the cloths can be washed? Thanks!
  11. Thanks, Jim! I'll go take a look and see what I can see. I called APQS and they are sending me another bobbin winder. No telling whether or not it will be the same unit until I receive it. One can only hope not. lol
  12. I am, once again, disappointed in the lack of quality bobbin winder that came with my Lenni only seven months ago! ugh ! It seems to have totally died today! I wound one and one half bobbins and simply just quit! I've tried cleaning the sensor "eyes", changed bobbins, turned off, turned back on multiple times, unplugged, etc. but nothing seems to make it run again. I am not running a business, and do maybe a couple of quilts a month on it, so have not even gotten a whole lot of use from this winder. I can replace it on amazon for under $34. After spending 14k, one would expect a much better quality bobbin winder!
  13. If you're using red snappers and have a standard frame, do you have issues with the machine hitting the snappers on the top and bottom of the quilt while quilting near the top or bottom of the available throat space? It's worse with the ruler base on, but still hits the bottom of the snappers even without the ruler base. Seems like there should be just a bit more space below the dead bar, but this frame doesn't allow for any adjustments that I can see. I know I could leave a lot more backing at the top of the quilt, but that's not always available. Suggestions?
  14. Update: I tightened the tension just a bit, about a quarter turn, and it seems to be winding MUCH better now! I'm still watching it as it winds, ready to rest my finger lightly on the incoming thread to guide it as it winds if needed, but so far, so good!
  15. Update: My problem was definitely the top encoder wheel being loose. I totally detailed everything and tightened the rubber wheel. Problem solved! My machine was a demo, 2021, purchased this year. I've run into a few things that maybe weren't checked before shipping, even had the front carriage wheel bar fall off, so guess it wasn't checked, either. I've gone through what I think is everything that could be a moving part or not, made sure all the screws were tightened, etc, while the machine was off the carriage, used lock tight on the screws as suggested by APQS, etc. so hope I'm good to go for a long time now. Thanks for the input.
  16. While quilting yesterday, I would stop the machine and switch from manual to regulated mode, depending on the portion of the quilt I was working on without cutting the threads, then turn the machine off and switch back to manual mode. I noticed the stitch length was mostly extremely tiny in either mode while set on about 10 spi, but then would revert to the 10spi occasionally for a very short section of stitching before reverting back to the very tiny stitches. Not sure if any of this will make a difference, but I did a deep clean this morning, changed the needle, and adjusted the stitch regulator's rubber wheel on the left rear wheel also, since it seemed really loose. I also cleaned all the wheels, rails, etc. I'm off to load a test quilt and see what happens, but suggestions are welcome. Thanks!
  17. SueD, It's not the Sidewinder. It's the same on found online everywhere, small, and sits on a metal plate. It's very lightweight, but not very user friendly. It just doesn't do what a bobbin winder needs to do. I previously owned two HQ longarms that came with a good stand alone heavy duty bobbin winder, so was very surprised at what came with the APQS Lenni. Guess I need to bite the bullet and buy a better one.
  18. Has anyone found a solution to winding bobbins evenly on the small winder that comes with apqs machines? It seems to lack the ability to wind properly on its own without me guiding the thread the entire time. I've adjusted it multiple times, changed the washers included, etc, but have yet to find a good combination.
  19. I definitely do what is suggested from both posted replies, but but I usually have to work with the doors and windows open, and the need for a lint roller is the first order of pre-quilting chores. I totally agree that being able to make quilts at her age is a blessing, and I've never seen a "perfect" quilt yet from myself or anyone else. lol, but I guess I could have added to my post that this person has box after box of tops needing to be quilted, but I'm also dealing with the fact that she has multiple cats, so each quilt, along with the bag she puts them into, comes with a LOT of cat hair and odor. ugh She keeps up a pretty regular flow of quilts for me to do, exchanging a finished one for an unfinished one. I do keep the quilting to a minimum, but when working with quilts that are always full of excess fabric and not a straight line or square corner to be had ever, it all gets pretty frustrating. I think I'll just limit her to one a month from now on. Thanks for the replies.
  20. I occasionally longarm quilts for friends. Most are exceptionally put together and I truly enjoy helping friends out with very low rates. We are all seniors on fixed incomes. One friend absolutely loves what she's doing, pretty much all needle turn applique, and often leaving open seams, raw edges showing, etc, and require somewhat custom quilting, time consuming anyway. She NEVER measures, NEVER squares up blocks, borders and sashing are ALWAYS at least an inch or more too long, creating excess fullness, and because blocks are not squared up, no seams meet, seams are all pressed in different directions that create big wads of fabric where they "meet", added to those wonky borders, the quilts never turn out well. Her quilts take at least twice as long to complete as similar quilts made by others. I've even "fixed" some parts of her quilts, but have stopped doing so, even though it creates more work for me in the end. My predicament is this: How to tell her that she needs to do much better or I don't want to do any more of her quilts. I love this woman dearly, (80 yrs old), but don't want to squash her enthusiasm in doing something she seems to love. I hate to make excuses to avoid working on her quilts, I've tried commenting on how to fix these problems but she just doesn't seem to care, and when I work on one of her quilts, I keep remembering something my seamstress mother always said. "You can't make a gold purse out of a sow's ear". lol I'm now considering doing a mini class with my applique group on how to measure, square blocks, etc, even though she seems to be the only one with this problem. Maybe I just needed to rant while taking a break from working on her latest hot mess, (thanks for listening). Suggestions are welcome!
  21. kbaumbusch, I've tried the lanyard attached to my shirt, but being as short as I am, I find it gets caught on the quilts, etc. I guess I need to put it higher than what is comfortable for me or something. Will give it another try. Fascinated with your magnetic pin holder sideways! lol
  22. SueD, I added to my handlebar a very small pin cushion that was made from a screw-on cap and has an elastic band that fits a finger. It's perfect, and I can slip my seam ripper under the elastic, so that's pretty handy now, too.
  23. Gail, I find that post to be very inconvenient to a short person. lol I just want to make sure there are no computer components in the very front of the machine that would be harmed by a magnet.
  24. Wondering what the opinion is on placing a magnet on the APQS machine exterior to hold scissors, a needle to bury threads, etc. Are there computerized parts near the front of the machine that could be harmed by magnets? Does anyone know if this would create a problem with the inner work UPDATE: After testing the metal machine housing, I realized that magnets just won't stick to it anyway, so I added a small piece of industrial strength adhesive backed Velcro to the top front of the machine, away from all the wicks, then added the corresponding piece to the back of my retractable unit. SO handy in this position for me, and completely out of the thread path, too.
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