RitaR Posted September 27, 2008 Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 For over 2 days we have been battling Penny on her not stitching. No matter what color, thread, bobbin, prewound or self wound, diff brands and types of thread, the top thread keeps shredding into a little ball just above the eye of the needle. New needles, & bobbin cases.. and wadding above the cone at the first loop. 1. followed all suggestions given previously, such as change needle, rethread the machine, make sure it's between the tension disks, not wrapped too many times in the 3 hole guides, and set the bobbin tension with a new bobbin and a diff bobbin case. tried different practice cloth and batting, and still no progress. We were doing good if we could go 6 inches. Poured on Sewers Aid, too. We took batting and checked every hook, guide, or hole in the needle and needle plate hole, etc for burrs, changed needles, used Sewers Aid and just couldn't get her to stitch. Double checked the hook, race, bobbin area, nothing.. Tonight talking with Joanne and Kelley from Ye Old Forrest Quilters, she mentioned the position of the needle.. we usually run it about 32 or 33, and checked to make sure thats where it was.. we tried 34 and it got worse and 35 wouldn't stitch at all. We decided to set it at 6 or 30 min on the clock and work from there, back up the clock. She is, after all this time, sewing beautifully on 6. Before she always had to be set just a bit higher towards 32 or 33. So, if all else fails.. try changing the minutes the eye of the needle aims for. We are making a new list of things to do when? threads shredding above the eye of the needle, etc.. and try to not let any hints slip past. Many thanks Joanne.... and Kelley.. sure enjoyed today! RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnHenry Posted September 27, 2008 Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 What a terrible day you had! How terribly frustrating for you. I have not had this problem but if I do, I'll have some place to start. Thank you for sharing this information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted September 27, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 Oh AnnHenry.. now that it's fixed I'm having a wonderful day, and night.. too much going on last few days.. Anyway.. yes, it was very frustrating, but now a note about checking needle positions is on our perm. list of things to check or do should it happen again. I've typed up a list and keep it in a plastic sleeve in the manual. Sure makes it easier to find solutions. We also have one typed up for giving Penny a thorough cleaning.. that's a big helper. You are very welcome.. seems it might help others, as well as you one day, so I'm glad I could post it. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted September 27, 2008 Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 Thanks for sharing your "final answer" to the thread shredding problem, Rita. Great problem-solving--I am sure the frustration level was high. Was himself wise enough to stay out of the way, or was he bravely in the line of fire?? Love ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted September 27, 2008 Report Share Posted September 27, 2008 Always good to keep in mind! So frustrating when you have little problems like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted September 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 LindaR... himself was smart enough to do only what the lists said, and not throw in other things along the way... LOLOL.. whats the saying about teaching old hubbies new tricks.... or was that a ? um nm.. That's best left not spelled out.. ROFLMHO.. no he did great, and actually was just as frustrated as I. Today, my bright shinny Penny is stitching right along.. love the good times.. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boni Posted September 28, 2008 Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 I'm not familiar with the APQS machines, but I understand positions on the clock. When you talk about setting the needle at 32,33, 6, etc. Is that what you're talking about? I've had the same problem on my Gammill and was told that needle position does make a difference. We try for an 11:00 to 11:30 position (the way the eye of the needle is facing). I don't understand your numbers in relation to the clock. Would you please explain, Rita? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted September 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2008 Hi, BonnieR... I'll see if I can explain better. It all relates to a straight line thru the eye of a needle. When we put new needles in, I tighten it just enough to keep it from falling out. Then I put a real small pin in the eye of the needle, and let go of it, and it will show you a straight line thru the eye.. thus it may point to the 6 on a clock, or three minutes later, which is 33 min. if it points at the 7 it would be 35 minutes. Well Penny always required 32 or 33 minute angle, until now, and for some reason, she suddenly won't sew there.. so we tried 34 min. angle, then 35 min. angle and decided to go back to the 6 or 30 min. angle, 6 and 12 angle that is.. and thats where she sews best. Now, I know I'm a dunder head in explaining things, so will also explain after we find out the angle, we tighten the needle, remove the pin, thread the needle, and test the stitching on a separate piece from the quilt.. if that doesn't work, We remove the thread, loosen the needle, change the angle a wee bit, put the pin in, to check the angle, and tighten the needle. We've also found out tightening can change the angle sometimes, so also hold the pin in the needle as we tighten the needle down. Hope this makes sense, if not, ask again and I'll try another way. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boni Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 Thanks Rita, You did an excellent job of explaining and clarifying this issue for me. I think what threw me was the 32 "minutes" and 33"minutes". So, what I call 11:00 would be your 25 minutes! It makes sense that if you were positioning your needle further to the left which caused problems, and mine worked better to the right, and then you found that going back to straight-on 6 worked best, maybe these machines are more conservative than we thought:P:P That little trick with the pin in the eye of the needle is great. And I agree that tightening the screw can affect the position of the needle. Careful there! Did you ever consider the way the thread leaves the eye of the needle? Most of us stitch best from left to right, and back to front. The thread is leaving at the same angle when I have it at the 25 minutes, or my 11:00. Sometimes I have problems when I suddenly change directions and go in the reverse direction. I just wonder how much that affects thread breakage issues. Enough tech talk. I'm on to quilting. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBQLTN2 Posted September 29, 2008 Report Share Posted September 29, 2008 HEY RITA So glad that you got that all the straightened out. I changed my needle for the first time this weekend and put it in backwards. Gues what it won't sew that way. It goes down in the bobbin area and gets stuck. Didn't take too long to figure out what I did wrong and get it working again. I was getting some little pokeys of batting showing through on my backing fabric. It was dark brown. Changing the needle really didn't help and there was no scrim on this batting. Quilters Dream Cotton Select. At least it says no scrim. Anyhow it wasn't too much but probably just because of the dark backing. Had to use white as the front was yellow. I was so proud of myself though I even changed the tension a little on the top and bottom for so fine thread and had no problems. Yeah, confidence is building as I go. One hurdle at a time. Jeanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandraG Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Jeanne, Just remember "hump to the front" when changing your needle. Try relaxing your sandwich a bit and see if that helps with the pokies. Sandra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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