malla Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 OK.........got my Lenni on Friday......... :):) Did some work yesterday, adding lighting to my sewing area, etc. Today......Mothers Day (Happy Mother\'s Day, by the way) start to set him up. Ran into a snag. Since APQS is closed today, and I\'m impatient, I came here. Table is put together and I\'m trying to put the 10\' vinyl tracking stips into the grooves on the table top. Problem is.......they aren\'t 10 feet long...:mad: One is 4 1/4" short, the other is 3 3/8" short. Does that make a difference??? Can I still use them, start at one end and just be short at the other?? Or try to center them??? What do I do? I soooooo wanted to get him together today. Ah well....... Thanks for any help that I can get. Malla aka Crys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Crys, I just went to the room Penny is in, and her tracks are the full 10 feet. I think what I\'d do is try to split the shortage.. put something at the end so Lenni doesn\'t drop off.. Tomorrow I\'d call APQS and ask them to send the track that is the full length.. Sorry you ran into this before you could even get started.. Lenni is a dream once plugged in and warmed up. Good Luck, and Welcome to the chat Board.. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judysmith Posted May 11, 2008 Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Crys Good advice from Rita. That shortage is enough for the two end wheels to drop off the track, which may possibly damage the wheels. Judy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malla Posted May 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2008 Thanks Rita and Judy. Was hoping to hear that I could just center them and no problems........ ....but knew not to expect to hear it. Guess it\'s a call to APQS tomorrow. My fun will just have to hold off for a bit longer.......boo hoo...... *hugs to all Crys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 crys, I think I\'d go ahead and install the short ones, and block the ends of the shortest so the machine can\'t roll off.. maybe a piece of wood? a large candle, etc... even a heavy pot holder, anything that will stop the wheels from dropping off.. and go ahead and play with it. A pair of pliers should pull the short track out when you get the new.. I\'d be too anxious to use the machine to wait another few days for the right length track. Crys is pronounced Chris??? is that correct? I love various spellings of familiar names. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcclannan Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Rita is right. Don\'t put off playing because you don\'t need the whole table to get the feel of your Lenni. In fact, I\'d try out everything on the machine so if there are any other complications, you can get them solved with one phone call. APQS is very helpful and I know they will get you what you need right away. I\'ve had my Lenni for about 9 months and I love that boy so much. You are going to have a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Crys I\'ve had my Lenni for two months and despite teething problems, love it I agree with everyone here, I wouldn\'t put off playing. Just block the short end. I shouldn\'t think the rails are too difficult to remove as they are supposed to be \'dismantalable\'. The only disadvantage apart from time is that the rails generally need time spent sanding them down for the machine to glide smoothly and this can take several attempts. Having to do this twice is a bit of a pain. Maybe you could just put up with the bumps for now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia Wilson Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 I\'ve put together and dismantled my Lenni table now 4 times, the nylon rails are easily removed and put back on. I use a pair of needlenose pliers at one end to pull the nylon track up out of the groove about 1/2 inch or so and then I pull it straight up out of the groove with my fingers. I try to make sure I pull just enough ahead of my hands and so far been very successful with the ease of taking the rails off. When I reinstall it, I\'ve marked my bottom rail edge (that fits into the groove) with a marker, so that edge is always down. Not sure if it matters or not, but I always install the nylon rail with the natural curve of the nylon pointing/curving into the center of the table. I\'m still not understanding why everyone has been sanding the nylon rails, I haven\'t done that to my rails, and my machine seems to be moving quite well. The nylon I have I wouldn\'t say it is the smoothest however, I do not see big bumps that would cause my wheels to wobble. The only times I\'ve noticed my nylon rails to have "bumps" in them is when I install it quickly and not pay attention to the top of the rail as I put it into place, what I\'ve notice then is that the rail has hills and valleys in it when you look down the rail from the edge of the table. What I\'ve done to correct myself when I do this is....I take my level, I have a 2\' long Stanley aluminum level that I use to level my table, and I walk along the rail with my level bottom edge putting even pressure along the length of the level so the rail below is pushed in evenly in the groove across the top of the nylon. Basically I am making sure the top of the nylon is even all along the top edge. Does this make sense? Both my nylon rails measure the correct length, do call Amy at APQS and she\'ll take care of your short rails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Nadia, the nylon rails I got were qhite uneven, not smoo6the at all.. I thought just a light sanding would do it. and it did in places, but as I used it, we had to do it again. Mine mostly showed up when trying to curve or make circles.. and that was what I did to find the culprit and get that spot sanded... since we\'ve done that, She rolls just as nice as can be. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia Wilson Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 I\'m glad to hear yours are working well Rita, you where one of the first to get their Lenni\'s right? I wonder if they changed the way the rails have been sent out since as I\'ve had my Lenni for a month now. My Lenni sure is a dream to use, I really like it. Isn\'t that true, that once you\'re over the "teething problems" (with any machine that is!) that the rest is just amazingly cool and very addictive! It is so much fun quilting, I truly have found my calling! By the way...I\'ve resigned from my day job and only quilting now...how cool is that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted May 12, 2008 Report Share Posted May 12, 2008 Ditto to RitaR. My machine was a recent model which needed some considerable work to get it to run steadily and evenly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 I love my Penny Lenni.. just learned a few tricks new to me the last couple weeks, and boy does it make a diff.. I can line dance, and well, they will show, I pray, in the Lone Star I\'m working on now.. then comes the Quilt of Valor, the first one for the Guild.. and I\'ve another lone star, 3 more Comm Serv quilts coming in shortly, and two appliqued tops.. and more print plain across and down quilts for kids, coming up soon.. Am going to have to get some ginsana for me and some for Penny, get us both going. I got the Saddle Stool, with the shaped seat and it IS making a diff in comfort to quilt and being a couple inches higher than the chair let me be, it\'s more comfy to have my elbows easily go over the rails and still be able to see the stitching or what the Topper is doing, or the Templates... Hubby made a batch of stands to hold cones of thread, with a dealie to hold the tread high enough to properly thread a DSM, and sold 4 on Sat At the Guilds Sew Day, and also used what looks like pvc pipe and cording to make side clamps for me. The side clamps we cannot consider selling.. too close to a copyrighted item.. the thread stand, we have to do research on. Will soon have my website ready to critique.. Have to find the time to sit and work on the last bits. Lets keep Lenni news fresh and shining.. Not sure where I was on the list.. I got it in mid Dec.. All I know now, is I\'m having a ball.. and for some unknown reason, which I wish I udnerstood myself.. am sort of pushing himself into the sewing/quilting.. I told him if he will cut and sew, then border, then when I don\'t have a quilt on the Penny, he can put his on and see how it goes. He\'s practice and checked the stitching enough that it shouldn\'t be too tough.. he will of course practice with SR on and practice piece on, also. I also told him I WILL NOT finish a quilt he starts, nor quilt a unit he pieced.. He does it ALL himself and if he decides he doesn\'t like it, then that\'s fine.. I just have to paint what he makes.. Still looking for 12-14"white or white with black tip goose feathers, or large white turkey feathers.. I paint on them so don\'t want colored.. Can\'t find a neighbor with ducks, geese or white turkeys.. LOL.. I\'ll keep looking and asking. This is all so exciting for me.. and praying hard that it is HIS will that it is a success so we can keep busy, and do something constructive, keep us off the duffs and away from daytime and a lot of the night TV. How are you folks keeping busy and any specials, etc.? ( Just call me Windy when I get excited!) RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judysmith Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Rita Don\'t you ever sleep?! I\'m half way through my first quilt. Tons of SID and lots of very small patterns - never gone through so much thread. Will try to figure out how to post a pic. I have ordered a Millie stylus from the Sew Board people and some templates. My hubby is going to make an adapter for my machine. I\'ll let you know how that goes. Keep quilting Judy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcclannan Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Nadia, I was one of the first to get my Lenni and I didn\'t have any trouble with my rails either. I still have not sanded them and they run really smoothly. Maybe we just got lucky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Hi Judy, yes, Actually I usually sleep 9, 10 hours per night.. now and then I get off course.. It\'s probably this pain.. On the good side, on the lower dose prednisone, I\'ve lost a couple pounds.. thats VERY good.. and encouraging. Plan lots of stitching and quilting today.. can\'t hurt too much.. so guess it\'s butt kicking time. RitaR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadia Wilson Posted May 13, 2008 Report Share Posted May 13, 2008 Rita, I just love the way you get so excited about Lenni your Penny! You are having a ball aren\'t you!!?? I love quilting! Julie, I guess we did! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malla Posted May 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 Well gang...........I took your advice, called APQS on Monday morning. The lady at APQS said she was sorry....that they used to cut them too long and they\'ve been trying to work out that problem. She guessed they got a bit too carried away with making sure they weren\'t too long....oopppppsssss! But she told me she would send them out......and in less than 24 hours I had my new tracking strips Unfortunately Tuesday was a crazy day for me, so I had to wait until I went grocery shopping and a few other small errands today before I could even look at my new baby.....ah well. Anyway........turns out the new stips were a teeny bit long......LOL. Must have been cut by the same guy who used to cut them before. No biggie.....I just snipped them off a bit and they went in perfectly. Things are looking good. Stopped for the night. Will go back again in the morning and finish up. And then the fun will begin.......yipppeee! Thanks again............I\'ll stop by soon......let ya know how things are going. *hugs Crys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltermidwife Posted May 15, 2008 Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 That\'s great Crys. Let us know how you\'re getting on and any problems, you know where we all are to try and help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malla Posted May 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2008 Don\'t worry.........I\'ll be back if I have any questions........:cool: Just taking a lunch break......need to get back to the new baby.......he\'s calling me..........LOL Still trying to figure out what his name is....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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