micajah

Congratulations! Is this your first quilting machine? I would like to recommend you check out Jamie Wallens' videos on setting tensions. If too tight, thread breaks happen. Also, check for burrs on your needle and thread guides. If my house is "dry" then I will use a thread lubricant on my thread. You can buy that in several places in small bottles or by the gallon! I have both. In a pinch, when I needed some and did not have any, I have even used sewing machine oil, but prefer the silicone. As to getting a ruler foot, check out stores where they sell Janome machines. Good luck!

When you are advancing down the quilt, do the rows across appear straight? Are the vertical rows straight? If you are seeing straight rows in both directions, as you are quilting the top, then, yes, they probably did add the rows and borders as you mentioned. But, if you see crooked rows, esp. horizontally, then you may be pulling one side downward as you realign the top after advancing the quilt. I find that using a "L" square is tremendously helpful to prevent this. Also, standing at the end of the frame and visually checking the straightness of the rows helps too. I float all my tops so if I see any rows that are getting crooked, then it is easy to correct it further up the quilt, then it would be if I miss it and find it on the last row. Some tops just need a straight basting row to hold it in place those spots where they start to become crooked.

Did you try changing your needle? Perhaps it is bent.

If I want the row to move over a bit, then when I realign after finishing a row, I will realign 1/4 off to the right of the marked point that I made before advancing the quilt. I am sure there are other ways to move the row over(or down) when I need to readjust the sides or rows, but this is the easiest for me.

Perhaps you should call her to come see what is happening to her quilt before you try to fix anything. None of the problems are related to anything you have done -it is all due to the materials she has given you. Debbie

Hi Nicole, sorry about the first reply. I misunderstood what you were asking about. I found a video on youtube on the circle maker. You can make some adjustments to the crossbar width, but it doesn't look like it is as much as you need. At 3 minutes or so, he is adjusting the bar clamps that will adjust the width - it's not much.

I used the boards on my machine when i first started quilting. Do you use paper pantographs? if you can lay out a paper pattern on the back of your table, then you can use the circle lord boards. but just like paper pantos, you will have to know how much quilting space, per row, you have. Are you saying you have 19 inches of throat space on your machine? If that is the total space you have, any board that is 15 inches should work. As to the stylus that rides in the groove of the pattern board, each machine has a different way to attach that to the machine so I can't help there. Best regards, Debbie

Once I had a huge d cup in my batting. And it was polyester batting too. I made a slit in the cup and trimmed it so the batting edges met. Then used a very light stabilizer pressed over it to close it up. Worked great. I don't know of any other way to fix bulges in the batting and as to wrinkles, pull them out as flat as you can. Once quilted, they won't show. For thick spots in polyester batting, I removed some of the thickest spots by pulling it off and patting it down.

Yes, this happened to a quilt I was quilting. Frankly, I did nothing about it. Customer did not even notice. And it really was not visible unless you were trying to find it. I don't think there is a solution to the problem with minky backings.

Generally the thread break indicator beeps when the thread is not being pulled thru smoothly. If your check spring is faulty, or you loose tension in the thread anywhere along the thread path from the cone to the needle.. I find that if I add a bit of batting to the first thread guide just above the thread cone, that helps a lot.

Either machine is a good choice. However, for the computer system, be aware that innova requires lightening stitch regulation with its in house system. And LS is $4000 if it is not already on the machine you want to buy from the dealer. Intelliquilter is a system that does not require stitch regulation, it runs in manual mode. You should look at the many videos online for IQ and the innova mach 3 systems for a comparison between the two. I have an innova with LS and hardly ever need the LS since I use the IQ for most every quilt. LS is only used when I am doing stitch in the ditch or piano keys. IQ is less expensive than mach3 and you can choose a variety of options to begin with and later upgrade at the cost of the difference in the options. AND IQ is an easier system to learn, does more than mach3, plus any updates to the system always free. Not so with mach3 or navigator from INNOVA. You always need to buy those upgrades or something to enable you to use the upgrade. I've had my innova since 2011, it's not ever had any issues I needed a tech to fix .A phone call is all it takes to fix most issues.

I would try this first, before you undo any sewing, let your leaders down all the way toward the floor and measure their width from where they are attached to the bar to the floor edge/corner of the leader - this will tell you if the leaders are uneven from one end to the other. If you find that one side is wider than the other, take that end off the bar and cut it to square it and stick it back down on the bar.

I would love to see pictures of your creations. Can you post a few?

I would suggest you remove the bobbin from the case, then clean under the bobbin spring with a thin pin. Place the bobbin back in the case and recheck the bobbin tension. The batting should not be causing this issue. But you do need to reset both the top and bottom tensions so they are more equal in strength and sew a sample until you get the tension adjusted. I use a towa gauge and set all threads around 170-180. Any further adjustments I make are to the top thread. Jamie Wallen has an excellent video on you tube on how to set the tensions.

Betsy, could you send me the address too? I would like to send a Christmas card to Himself. Rita helped me so much when I began my longarm quilting. thanks Debbie