DawnCavanaugh

Listing for a local customer: APQS Ultimate II Machine for sale--rarely used, like new! Includes 12-foot table for doing king-size quilts. Machine is not stitch-regulated, but is easy to use and maintain. Throat size = 18 inches. Great starter machine! For more information, call: 641-750-4410 ASKING PRICE: $3,000

Bumping to the top. Marlene needs to find a new home for her longarm. Maybe yours needs one!

Hello everyone! By now you may have heard the exciting news that a major upgrade of Quilt Path is fast approaching! We’re in the final stages of testing and writing documentation so that we can get the new features to you soon. These include fast and simple border and corner placement, placing blocks using real size measurements, additional design templates, more free designs, design skew and more! You have also probably heard about Windows 10 and have been wondering if you should upgrade your Quilt Path tablet to this new operating system. After much research and consideration about how the upgrade might affect Quilt Path operation, APQS is recommending that Quilt Path users do take advantage of the free upgrade offer Microsoft has presented. The deadline for the free upgrade is next Friday, July 29. The attached document answers important questions about upgrading including the benefits of upgrading, how to upgrade, changes to settings on your tablet and Quilt Path and more. It also provides instructions and links to help you make the upgrade as quick and painless as possible. However, the upgrade will take several hours to complete, so we encourage you to plan accordingly. Rest assured that you are not required to upgrade to Windows 10 to continue using Quilt Path. However, upgrading now will ensure that your tablet stays current and will help us with troubleshooting issues going forward. If you have questions feel free to contact me. In addition, if you are on Facebook but are not already a member of the private Facebook Quilt Path Users Group, please let me know so that we can invite you to join. This active and helpful group for APQS Quilt Path owners all share tips, quilting ideas, troubleshooting tips, design suggestions and more—and we’d love to have you as a member! Just send me an email letting me know you’d like to join. (You will need to be on Facebook to join, however.) We’re anxious to get the finishing touches on the new Quilt Path upgrade and will get that out to you as soon as possible! Happy Quilting!

Jo, Loose stitches have nothing to do with the encoders. That is still a tension problem. Let's first focus back to the thread path, especially the tension assembly and the three hole thread guide directly above it. Make sure that the 3 hole guide is pointing to 8 o'clock if you are imagining a clock on the side of the machine. If it slips lower than that (closer to 7:00, it allows your top thread to slip into and out of the tension disks as you stitch. Next to examine the U-shaped wire-guide next to the tensioner. It's called the tension check spring. Its job is to tighten up your top thread as you stitch, similar to putting that last tug on your shoelaces after tying them. Make sure that is not rubbing on the side of the machine. Also, check where the bottom portion of the U-shaped wire is resting when thread is not going through it. It should rest at about 10 o'clock. We might need to tighten that up a bit. Also, don't be afraid to take me a top 10 children as well. Email tighten it until you see no more loops of Threadon top. If your thread breaks, then we will need to back it up slightly.

Linda and Sue, we are also disappointed that CQ has closed its doors and provide support. While APQS cannot help with software issues easily, we may be able to help in some instances with hardware problems. Just give us a call if the need arises and if at all possible we will help APQS customers who bought their systems through us. Of course it will depend on availability of parts for us as well--technology in the computer world changes so quickly that it's difficult to find parts for anything for an extended period. That is why computer system warranties are normally only one year. Thanks!

Dave and Quiltmomof2, I have attached three different manuals for you...the first is "Understanding the Controls" of 2013 Lifetime Warranty machines. The second is the machine's assembly manual, and the third is the "user manual"-- the one that says "Complete". That means that both assembly and operational instructions are included. I apologize, however, because I haven't had time to actually "combine" the them all into one manual just yet...I have more photos to take to complete that. So the "Complete" manual will show our previous Millennium machines in photos and button-pushing exercises. But these will get you started! UnderstandingtheControls-LWmachines7-7-13.pdf Millie-Freddie Assembly Manual LW 2-28-12-Reduced.pdf Millie and Freedom Complete 7-11-12-Compressed.pdf

Cathey, Here's a link that shows you how to adjust your "#8" screw on your 2007 Millie: http://www.apqs.com/instructional-videos/?vid=DQXtnehc2i4 I've also added a PDF that walks you through adjusting the needle positioner. If the adjustment doesn't do the trick, let us know. Worn motor brushes can also cause a crazy needle positioner. NP adjust - 07.pdf

Diane, From your description it sounds like we might need to replace your Crydom Relay. It acts like a little capacitor and basically stores incoming power and releases it at a steady stream to the machine. If something goes wrong with it, it can "spring a leak" for lack of a better description. Then it "leaks" a tiny burst of excess electrical power that makes the needle bang down. Call our service team and we can talk to you about what needs to happen to fix that.

Joanne, you are doing great! There is also a thread break sensor that accompanies the low bobbin indicator on the Millie and Freedom machines. Each and every handle includes the simple toggle switch...toggle it one way for Needle up and Dow, and the other way to start and stop the machine. You can set a favorite default stitch length. If you prefer 11 stitches per inch, for example, the machine will default to that every time you turn it on. And if you change the length (to do tiny stippling, for example), one tap of a button on the front panel resets the machine to you default length!

Hi Pumpkinpatch, I hope I can explain better than I did in that other post. In order to effectively use templates or rulers, a 1/4-inch tall foot is safest (your current machine probably has a low profile, completely closed circle foot.) To get that 1/4-inch tall foot on to your machine, you'd need to do as Marci commented, and replace the entire foot (it goes all the way up into the machine about 8 inches), upper shaft and all. A new "complete" foot like that is $137.50, and would be used for templates. It is what comes on the newer machines. You wouldn't ever need to get any of the accessory feet if you didn't want to. The foot you'd get for that price would be ready to accept them because it will actually have a "split" in it where the accessory feet can go instead of the tall template foot section it will come with automatically. But if you wanted to try different feet, you can get them individually or as a kit to supplement your quilting styles. I've attached a reference sheet that may help. APQS INTERCHANGEABLE HOPPING FEET.pdf

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, Butterfly! And I'm glad you're posting pictures again!

Sheila, Look at your carriage axle underneath the carriage itself--where the cable plugs in. Just under the jack you'll see two silver screws that are parallel with each other, and one that is slightly higher. Loosen the two screws that are parallel just a little bit, and slide them left or right (they won't go far). There is a little "adjusting room" in the screw holes just behind those screws which allow you to slide the channel lock assembly closer or farther away from the arm that locks in to the teeth on the channel lock disk. I apologize, but I'm not near a carriage at the moment so that I can double-check which direction to push the screws. One way will make the assembly even farther away from the ratcheting arm and it won't hold at all, and the other way will latch it into the teeth further. If this doesn't do the trick let us know and we'll go to the next step!

Hitomi, You can try the pigtail bobbin if you like. It will provide extra tension on the bobbin so you may need to loosen the bobbin case tension to compensate for it. If you have trouble then order some plain cases from us directly. The pigtail positions the thread directly under the hook retaining finger. The hooks we use in the smart bobbin have a small opening in the raceway on the upper left side to allow the bobbin thread to pass clearly. Some hooks do not have that opening, so they often perform better with pigtail bobbin cases. Hope that helps!

Durham, You can try switching the encoder cables as Marie suggested; that will narrow down the problem to eliminate something in the circuitry as the trouble. If you switch the encoders and you then have stitching horizontally instead of vertically (the opposite trouble you're having now) then the encoder box can be bad. We can send you another one with easy instructions on installation. Give Amy or Christy a call on Monday and we'll get you back up and running (at least with the SR; you should still be able to quilt in manual mode)

Check the encoder wheel on the rear of the carriage. Make sure it is making firm contact with the larger wheel. You can adjust it by loosening the bolt that travels through the large wheel and up into carriage. Grasp the encoder box and push the entire box such that you draw the little rubber wheel closer to the larger wheel. Hold it in place while you tighten the bolt back up. (it helps to have two people...one to squeeze the encoder and the other to tighten the bolt.)

Mary, Barb is right on the money. Were you able to make your adjustment? Let us know if we can help!