What speed do you quilt at?

[shadows4]

What speed do you all quilt at? I don't have a SR, so I don't know how their speed is set. I have an Ultimate I that I usually try to set at 7 1/2 or 8 for overall freehand designs, but now I have a vibration when I try that fast. I feel that I do better work on the faster speeds, but maybe I just need to practice on the slower ones. What do the rest of you quilt at?

[Stagecl]

I have a SR, but when I don't use it I can say that I quilt with the speed set on 13..I don't know how that translates to a non SR machine.

Are you on a wood floor? This could possibly give you a little more vibration since there is no cushioning like carpet.

Cheryl Mathre

Stone Creek Quilting

Sandy Hook, VA

[sylkamode]

Hi Jeanne,

I have a Millennium / APQS, and the speed I am working with variates. Mostly I work very fast, if mannual quilting is done. But I am also able to set the machine on automatic, and then the stitch length is constant, wether I work fast or slow.

Sylvia Kaptein

Sylka-Mode

www.sylkamode.com

[sewingupastorm]

I have a Gammill so this may be comparing apples to oranges. In any case I have a stitch length regulator and always have it on except to do my tension.

For me I will go fast on my allover designs that I feel comfortable with. For instance I have a California king on the machine and did an allover swirl and with that desing I really go. Then when I do McTavishing I go much slower. SITD is also slow. Pantographs are at a moderate speed. It just depends on the detail I am doing. There are times I go really really slow as well for tiny detail work.

[Lisa Thiesssen]

If you didn't have vibration before and are experiencing it now, you might try tightening the bolts on your frame and making sure that everything is still level and square. Sometimes just through the mild vibration of everyday use things get a little loose causing vibrations that weren't there before.

[diane@bcq]

Jeanne, I just recently sold my Ultimate 1 and am now loving my new machine. When I had my Ult 1 I did all of my medium and large scale meanders at 10, for freehand work I would quilt between 8-9. Sometimes I found that I did quilt 6.5-7.5 when I did some stuff it really depended on what I was doing. I too felt that things really moved along much smoother and looked better at a higher rate of speed.

I do agree that maybe you should check at the bolts and the levelness of you machine.

I hope that helps some.

Diane

[ramona-quilter]

Before I had the IntelliStitch Turbo CL installed on my

Ultimate I this past May, I was very comfortable at 7 to 7.5.

If I went much slower than that, I found that my stitches

got too long.

With the IS, I use the stitch regulator only for intricate or

unfamiliar designs. For example, I might use the SR on the

first row of a new panto. But once I get the pattern and

flow figured out, I would rather go fast so I switch to

constant mode and fly.

[countrystitcher]

I have a Discovery, no SR, and found that my comfort zone is about 5.5 or 6 on pantos and maybe 7 for freehand. I'm not a speedy person, so going slower doesn't bother me and I feel more in control. If I go higher my stitches are so tight that it's impossible to frog out. Maybe with more experience I will go faster, but for now that's just my speed.

[gable428]

Jeanne, I also do not have the s/r and for templates I like the speed at 3 and for freehand and pantos the speed at 7 works for me.

Gable

[Bonnie]

Jeanne,

I quilt freehand at about 7.5 or 8. But I felt that you were asking more about the vibration that you have now that you didn't have earlier. You didn't say how old your machine is, but I got a vibration after about 5 years of heavy work, it was fixed when they put in a new needle bar and motor. I needed the motor because I had worn out the other one and the needle bar was so loose it was vibrating....I would call to see if that could be your problem. Don't have a real clue, but its what fixed mine.

[tsurich]

Good question!

10 in S/R this is a slow down from 11. Was told by teacher and tech that I was going way to fast.

Off subject but was does MMM mean?

Sue

[ramona-quilter]

Where did you see MMM? Is it on the machine? Maybe it

means "Much More Movement".

"Yeah, let's get this quilt done. Crank that thang up to MMM."

:cool:

[onesewise]

wow..you all quilt fast! I use between 2-4...but I am so new and don't quilt that much or often..in regards to vibration..I get a little vibration even at that slow a speed...maybe like a car that shakes before it stops running because it's been idleing too long:D:Elaine

[shadows4]

Bonnie,

My machine is a 2003 Ultimate I that I bought from APQS last year. I put a deposit down on it at MQS, and took delivery in July. I assumed it was a trade-in, and thought they said they go through them and fix anything wrong and tuned it up. I have no idea how heavy the prior owner used it or the care it got. I use it fairly lightly, mainly for gifts, ministry quilts (the largest are 48" x 60") and some quilts to start up a business (in between the piecing). Sometimes it will sit without use for around a month. I couldn't use it for 8 weeks earlier this year when I had an emergency hysterectomy. John Mitchell, from Countrylane, came out to see if he could figure out what the vibration was from. He checked the wheels and tightened them (I had just loosened them to see if it would help me get smoother movement, the vibration started before that though), checked the table and everything was level and tight. Of course it didn't vibrate as bad when he was here. The way the car does when my DH checks it when it's acted up on me. It gets worse after the machine warms up. The bolt on the end of the Hartley Fence bar, attached to my machine, vibrates off, stuff on my table start moving around because of the vibration. So I've started trying to quilt at slower speeds, which I'm not as good at. I have tile floors, but it worked fine on them at first. In January, the thread cutter cycled while I was sewing, breaking a few things and putting it out of time, a sensor went out of it a few months ago, the vibration started before my warrenty was out, but not fixed (not John's fault), just had to add grease because it was oozing out, even though I had a cap put on(super glued on). The grease pushed the cap off. I had a cover put on over the flywheel. That vibrated off. I love my machine. Is this normal, to have little things going wrong with such light use? Am I doing something wrong?

[countrystitcher]

This sounds like a nightmare - have you called APQS - surely someone can give you direction. Maybe this machine was made on a Friday or Monday - kind of like a car...wishing you better days at stitching:(

[Bonnie]

Jeanne,

I would call the office to see what they say, but IT SHOULD not vibrate that much NO WAY. I had about half of what you described and it was hard enough for me to hold onto, your hands must be in pain when your done for the day.

I would just call them and ask them what they think it could possibly be...but also I would be assured that they did go through the machine with a fine tooth comb before you got it.....however if something didn't have enough wear and tear on it...they might not have thought it was a concern. I too bought a used machine, mine is almost 10 years old now, its the ULT II, and mine had some issues but the needle bar wasn't an early problem, that developed like I said after 5 years of hard hard use.

One of the things I was told to test the next time I thought it was getting loose again was to take the bar in my fingers and try to move it side to side...if there is a any movement side to side it wasn't a good thing and I was to make plans to send it in for an adjustment. I don't think that this is something we can fix ourselves. Make the call and then let us know what they think it is....I'm curious now.

[lee]

It sound like you have a drive belt going bad,,, this is located behind the back cover,,, It not the motor belt,,,,I think this is called the timing belt,,,

That's what my DH think it is,,,

I have a Ultimate II APQS Machine and it never vibration

Wish you luck

Lee

Ultimate II

[Guest Linda S]

I quilt rather slowly. I see absolutely no sense in quilting at break-neck speed. I just sit back and enjoy the ride. That's why I got into this business to begin with -- for enjoyment!

Linda

[Mary Beth]

I have a Millie with a SR. I usually set my speed at 9 or 10. I think I am at the races and I need to learn to slow down. I talk to myself while I am quilting, and just tell myself to slow down, you are not in a race...yada, yada. I tried using music, but I don't have a nice waltz type CD. I have mostly county, blue grass, old rock and roll and probably too much disco....don't try to quilt to that stuff - it can be bad

[QuiltedCat]

Jeanne: I had an ultimate 1 until July 2006 - Miss Millie is her replacement.

The Ultimate 1 would vibrate about center point on the 14 foot table. The table is on laminate over cement. My son made welded a leg together which I bolted onto the middle cross bar of the table. The leg was adjustable (like the table legs). Once I set this up the vibration was gone.

It did not matter what speed I was going 7 - 9, it still started bouncing stuff around so I know what you are going through. It is very tiring to the shoulders and hands!

[chickenscratch]

Mary Beth: ROFL. I can just picture you doing disco dances while quilting.

TOO FUNNY.

[shadows4]

I love hearing about all of the different speeds you quilt at, and the why. I partly wanted to hear those answers, and partly get ideas for my vibration. You all have given me some good ideas to check out and see if either they are the problem or would help solve the problem. There was a point when it started, it wasn't like that before, but I'm hoping it's something minor to solve. I've found myself just quilting slower because it's unpleasant to quilt when it does vibrate, and I love to quilt! I also wanted to see if these occurances are just normal with having a quilting machine or if I'm just being whiney. I'm wondering if it could be caused in part by the grease getting low, is that possible? We had to add grease this week. I haven't gotten to use it really fast yet to test that out, but I'm going to try it on my next quilt. It's going to be freehand and that's where I like to speed along!

Mary Beth, I can't get the image out of my mind of you doing disco while quilting!

Bonnie, I'm going to see if it does anything different with the grease refilled (I started losing it pretty fast a few months ago) though I can't see that making a difference, and then the middle leg brace (I'm on laminated tile floors over concrete) that QuiltedCat mentioned. If that does nothing then I'll be calling APQS and asking about the timing belt that Lee mentioned and the needle bar that you mentioned. I don't even want to think about the motor! I always hesitate to call them, especially after I called one time when I couldn't get my machine to quilt. It would just hum and do nothing when I pushed the button. At my wits end I finally called Mark and very patiently he asked me what my speed was set on. I looked at it and found I'd accidently set it on zero. I know I turned red even though I was on the phone & felt incredibly stupid! Mark just laughed and was so awesome. I apologized over & over, and then asked if they had caller ID before I hung up. I don't like to call now, even though Mark was so great about it! (I feel embarrassed again just from remembering it)

Diane, what machine did you get? A Millie? When I grow up I'll get a Millie!

Mary Beth, I bet some good Polka music would slow you down some!! You just say the word and I'll try to find some for you. Isn't that what it's all about: helping each other?