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sewingpup

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Everything posted by sewingpup

  1. Hi, well it depends....but if you have done some long arming at all and know you love it. I would really go with the Lucey. Now to be fair, I have a Lucey and I upgraded from a small mid-arm system....and there is no comparison. One of my friends recently just got a new demo Lucey and she also upgrade from an 18 inch neck of another brand...she is so happy. She had used my machine when she visited a few years back and just retired. Lucey is a basic machine.....I got Bliss and I got a 12 foot table. I am so glad I got both of these features. Now to be fair. I basically have not quilted on any other machine recently other than a Freddie....I do mainly lap sized quilts, and a few queen, and a very infrequent king. No problems with having enough space with anything I have done. I did do some research before buying Lucey....but in the end I got it. My friend also got QuiltPath. I am just happy doing my little meandering with a few motifs thrown in. I have done some ruler work...umm...I don't really like it....I make utility qullts mostly that get put on a bed or on a couch, or over me in my recliner....It is so nice to be able to complete my quilts myself. Other people do way fancier stuff on their APQS but I am happy with what I do.
  2. Humm....I have a Lucey (26 inch neck) and have never had this problem although I have done some big quilts. On my old set-up I did have this problem and ended up reversing the quilt. If you do this, you will have to take the quilt off and reload it. But before you do that....baste everything to the end. However....if the quilt pattern you are doing allows you to....just do not advance the quilt up to the bar....you will have a smaller depth to quilt in....but all you will have to do is advance the quilt a few more times. In the future, you may be able to load the quilt side ways as you have a 12 foot frame. I don't know how thick of a batting or what your quilt is made up with....but the thicker the batting and fabric the more space it will take up on the take up roller.
  3. You might want to check the apqs website also....I am thinking that the standard foot on some of the machines is not uniformly shaped and is a bit thicker in the back of the foot so if you are holding your ruler in back of the foot, you would get a slightly larger distance than if you are holding the ruler against the sides or front. I seem to recall, they made a new foot to address this issue. I don't do much ruler work so I never looked into this further
  4. what machine do you have? I am glad I got bliss on my Lucey....and yeah....if you can do it without the stitch regulator on it really helps...just got to get used to not using the stitch regulator and that has a learning curve to it. With the stitch regulator on, you are fighting the machine as it tries to keep an even stitch length...glide should be helping though....and if you chose to use the stitch regulator....shortening the stitch length also would help as the regulator doesn't have to maintain that nice longer stitch and it easier to make those little curves....
  5. I would not wash it...….what kind of backing did you use? If it is of the same quality of the jelly roll strips, it will probably shrink similar......I do not wash most of my fabric anymore.....but I do wash my finished quilted quilts before I give them away to my family as I want to remove chemicals and most importantly, let them know it is perfectly fine to wash and even throw my quilts in the dryer....so yes my quilts can be used and not just stored in a closet....anyway....I have started to measure my tops before quilting, after quilting, and after washing....I find a lot seem to shrink up from the quilting and washing from 2-5 inches....the 5 inches being mainly the king sized or flannel quilts....
  6. best to call APQS.....
  7. Have you tried calling APQS...they may be able to give you some ideas on the vibration....I do have some vibration with my Lucey.....if I let her warm up a bit it helps....also I discovered that the couplers at the end of the rails had loosened a bit and once they were tightened up again it helped....I know that upgrading to the deluxe table from the standard table is expensive.....so you could also check on the cost of doing that.....I have had my Lucey about 8-9 years now....she was one of the first ones that were white...
  8. Yep as Sharon says. You need to release it to advance or roll the quilt. I did some adjusting of mine at first without loosening the brake....yikes....what a mess.....the Velcro did move out of place leaving a goopy mess.....I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol I believe...it took a while....then ended up applying a new valcro strip.....good news though....I haven't had to replace it for several years.....I have had to take my Allen wrench and tighten the handle a few times though.....I bought one of those multi sized allen wrenchs that had the same size in it.....I like it better because you have a bigger handle to use when tightening.....
  9. I had a Rowenta that I used for 10+ years....with steam, worked great...then it finally died....got another Rowenta...no good, leaked almost immediately, brought it backed...it leaked again...went with a Black and decker....leaked and not very hot....tried another inexpensive brand.....not hot at all...oh dear....finally did some online research....found Rowneta apparently moved production out of Germany several years ago...but too many problems....recently moved production back....don't know if this was true are not...but found one I could order online that stated "made in Germany". I have been using that one for 2-3 years now and it is working great....there have been a few occasions with minor leaks....which seem to be if I refill it....and don't give it enough time to heat up or if I try and fill it right away after letting it run dry and not letting it cool off before filling.....I have been using tap water...as it says it is designed for that and specifically says not to use distilled water.....we have fairly decent water where I am.....Lin
  10. HI, just wanted to point out that this post is over a year old.....march 2018
  11. Wow.....that is amazing......I am going to go hide under my rock!!! In total Awe!!!! Lin
  12. HI, I really don't know....but they seem to disappear on their own after a bit......I think with the handling of the quilt while removing it from the frame and trimming and adding the binding...they go back in place......at least that is what seems to happen with mine....I usually just use quilting cotton maybe some closer weaves like batik...might not close up as well or if it has an adhesive stabilizer on the back...Lin
  13. then, I would look at the picture section here and get some ideas and or google "custom quilting photos"...you will get lots of ideas....
  14. wow.....custom would look great.....give the board a hint on what your skill level is and they might be able to come up with some ideas......I am not at the level of being able to do custom for that quilt yet....I would have to come up with a simple plan.....my normal quilts are "busy" prints so my free hand meander, edge to edge doesn't show the mistakes so much.....
  15. Hi, are you planning on quilting for others too? I looked at both the Innova and APQS prior to getting my Lucey....it was a demo Lucey, no computer....I only quilt for myself....and I love my machine....it is simple to operate....has very few bells and whistles and simply does what I want it to do. I do have bliss. Lucey is stitch regulated, has one manual channel lock which I use mainly for loading my quilts, needle up/down, and a 26 inch throat.....easy, peasy to get her up and running....now if I only could get my hands to do what my brain wants...tee hee…..I make mostly utility quilts that get washed and used....so I am perfectly happy with what I can do with Lucey.....Lin
  16. I have a spare full bed in the attic not used...and a lot of my spare quilts are piled on it...would come in handy if we have another energy crisis tee hee
  17. If you have a good strong magnet.....you could try running that over the quilt where the needle broke......you might find the needle bit if it is still in the quilt....
  18. pretty and flowers sure pop! I have a lap sized raw edged quilt I have been putting off doing wondering if I can do it on my longarm.....it is one of McKenna Ryan's. Anyone done one of hers on a long arm? Lin
  19. NO shame in deciding you are not interested in longarming …..I feel the same way sometimes....in fact...if there was a tech were I live willing to come to my house and do the maintenance on it....I would sure pay the price....but....that being said....I do try and problem solve any issues and have talked with some sales reps and the tech support.....once when my machine was idle for months.....It was making noise....but the wicks were still wet.....I decided to put 1-2 drops on each wick everyday until I was getting some oil coming down the needle....the noise quieted down....I also let it run 5-10 minutes on manual at a slower speed before using it...also seemed to help it run smoother and quieter.....as I have had her now for a several years, I am think maybe I need to repack the gear box with greese....you could also give APQS a call....Lin
  20. Have you tried changing your needle? Is it the right size? bobbin in the right way?
  21. Hi, Instead of a batting bar....I took an old queen sized top sheet folded in half lengthwise, attached some selvage edge trimmings to the four corners and tied to the legs of my frame....I cut my batting to size before loading....I simply fan-fold the batting and put it in the sheet sling and pull the batting up between the two front bars after the backing and top is loaded....works for me....I store my batting up in the attic as my Lucey is in the basement. to cut my batting to size I used two dining room chairs with slat backs to suspend a shower curtain rod. (sort of like a very large roll of toilet paper)...used a piece of scrap wood trim as a straight edge and a chalk marker to make a straight line to cut on after measuring out the length of batting I need....yep..a bit of stair climbing but I just quilt for myself and it works....
  22. HI all, I actually wish they would have a category for "new quilters and utility quilts". When I would go to a show, I would feel so in awe of the quilts and quilting that was being done, that I thought I could never, ever, be considered a "real quilter". Now in my old age.....I have come to terms that what I am is a "utility quilt" quilter......I love making simple quilts, that have a minimum of quilting so they stay soft and cuddly, that folks can throw on the floor, pick up, throw in the washing machine and dryer and wrap up in.....I don't have the patience and talent to make a work of art.....but I still make quilts of "value". My brother and sister-in-law recently told me that the two flannel throw quilts I made for them had a major problem.....they were going to watch a movie and got comfortable and covered up with the quilts....yeppers….they ended up falling asleep about 30 minutes into the movie....tee hee…..
  23. Hi Gail, Sorry you are having problems.....it just seems that basting just in one direction and that far apart would not be enough.....I think you need to baste more....and in more directions....as it seems that if you just go in one direction.....that the fabric could still slide as you increase the tension on it by doing your close quilting....sort of like it would if you put a basting line on a skirt you wanted to gather.....folks also use pins to stabilize as they go....I really haven't done a lot of work that requires a lot of basting....just learning stuff from reading this forum...you could try doing a search on this site for basting or stabilizing good luck...Lin
  24. Hi Would you sell quilt path separately? I already have Lucey....if so how much for them separately?
  25. HI, I don't know much.....but I also have problems on my Lucey when going in a straight line from right to left....I think it has something to do with the spin of the bobbin....can't be helped...so I just move back to the left and go left to right while doing the straight line quilting....some folks have said that turning the hole to 6:35 instead of the 6:30 position can sometimes help....I am not that good at getting my needle in straight as it is....also as it is shredding...maybe a bit larger needle might help...I dunno for sure...lin
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