in tears...

[iedquilts]

I was quilting on the diagonal using a oval template when it happened. Somehow, the Hartley base tilted causing the template to climb over the foot, broke the needle AND made

two small holes in the quilt top. yes- i was in tears. Never did care for that base- having said that , it may well be operator error.

Irene - thankful that the timing is ok.

[barbm]

Oh, Irene, so sorry for your issues!!!! Glad your timing's okay, though.

[quiltmonkey]

So sorry. I know this can be very scary. ((hugs))

[Borderline Quilter]

For that very reason I am pleased that my Donita Reeves base plate arrived yesterday....although I never had a serious mishap with the other one....yet!

Can you fix it with some fusible somehow...once quilted it would be very difficult to see????

Best Wishes

[Quilting Heidi]

Oh I'm sure that made your heart stop too! Sorry for your problems. I hope you can get the quilt repaired. I guess the silver lining in this one is that you don't have to re-time too. I wonder why the hartley base tilted. The only time I have trouble is when I'm working with the back of the foot and the ruler goes in the cut-out area. I have Donita's base on and love the 1 piece design but I like the hartley because it is wider. Good luck getting the quilt repaired and I hope you have no more tears.

[mswings]

May be time to get out the Bonash (sp) if you can get to it. It does a fair job of fixing tears but you have to be able to get underneath the hole to place a small piece of fabric.

[Kathleen Kearney]

i with you i want a better base mine tends to not be flush and i get hung up with my rulers

[jmcclannan]

My Hartley base would wobble as if it were a little warped so I got the Rulermate and I love it! It is super stable and I never remove it.

[Darlene Epp]

To those of you that are finding the Hartley Base a bit wobbly - Have you followed the instructions and removed the plastic "plugs" from the front left side of the machine head so the base will fit securely?

Also, make sure you're not using too much pressure on the ruler on the front side of the base, or it will tip up at the back. Of course, if you're applying that much pressure, you're probably also having trouble moving the machine smoothly. :cool:

I have both the Hartley Base and the RulerMate. I use them both for different purposes.

[Sandra Darlington]

I have both, too. I love the Donita Reeves base the best, but as Darlene just said, I too use them for different purposes.

[Zora]

My rulers used to get "hung up" in the Hartley base, too. I have the machine with thread cutter. I put washers under the plexiglass that covers the cutter area, which raised it even with the Hartley base. No more hang-ups. My Hartley base fits tight enough that it takes a lot of pressure to make it tilt up. If yours is "sloppy" try putting a couple of the little sticky rubber non-slip dots on the side pieces, on the machine side. It might just tighten it up enough that you won't have such a problem.

[Sheri Butler]

BINGO Lynn! That's EXACTLY what to do!

[Myrna Ficken]

Ditto to Darlene and Lynn I love my HB

[Jhend]

I had Amy take off my thread cutter when my Millie was getting a spa treatment, and ordered Donita's base plate as I was tired of the same issue with my Hartley base. I never use my thread cutter.