kimmiequilts Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 I am working on a large log cabin quilt with feathers, swags and vines & leaves. I am 3/4 done and the thread is skipping stitches, making very long stitches and breaking, all intermittantly. I have checked the thread path, cleaned, WD40d and oiled the bobbin area, blown all the lint out & changed the needle. I'm using So Fine on top and a Superior prewound on the bottom, the tension looks good when it isn't messing up. Any suggestions please??!! I really just want to get this quilt off the machine and soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliagraves Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Couple of things to try: - make sure all your connections are tight - check all the grey wires and their little connections that go to the stitch regulator boxes - check for loose threads in all the wheels, including the little black rubber encoder wheels located by the stitch regulator boxes - make sure these black rubber encoder wheels spin when you move the machine. If not, you can adjust them to get them closer. - check for grooves in the pigtails - check for a rough spot in your needle plate or or along the bobbin case and assembly - anywhere the thread goes that it could catch on something - watch to see if the skipped stitches are more in the horizontal direction vs the vertical direction, and see if you skip stitches when in manual mode - you'll need to know this when you call APQS - it could be that you need to swap the wires on one of the boards. - call APQS - I had a similar problem and we did a number of things to resolve it Good luck! Julia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted September 8, 2008 Report Share Posted September 8, 2008 Also, check to see if your quilt is too tight on the rollers. Mine was doing the same thing and when I loosened things up and had my wheels adjusted properly, it started stitching perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted September 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Thank you Julia & Mary Beth,(how's that leg feeling?), I printed out your list Julia and used it as a checklist and started it but had to quit to go to my youngest son's swearing in, he's a 20yo newly minted Police officer! We couldn't be prouder. Anyway I'm going to finish checking out the machine and the tautness of the quilt now. I'll let you know if it goes away! This is a log cabin with a million seams and I think she statched it as I am getting some weird dust. Also it seems to happen mostly going side to side not up and down. PS We've got big storms coming so I don't know how long I have! It's really dark now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Maybe the starch or finish is causing the problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Originally posted by Mary Beth Maybe the starch or finish is causing the problems. I use starch on all my quilts and never have a problem...did I just type that cause I just know I jinxed myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 I too starch EVERYTHING...I don't wash my fabric, I pack them away and when I get ready to use them I spray the beegeebers out of them and then cut. I get way sharper points and when quilting....no problems. The weird dust....can't be spray starch.....you would be getting flakes if that was the case, not dust....have no clue what that could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora Posted September 9, 2008 Report Share Posted September 9, 2008 Hi funny thing about the lint. I have asthma and it was getting REALLY bad and I could not figure out why. I wore a black shirt while quilting and by the end of the day I was covered in dust. It was the 100% cotton batting. Just like 100% cotton thread causes more build up in your machine and you have to blow it out more often, the batting sends dust up in the air. Hope the other problem get resolved. I would be curouis to know what "it" is so if it happens to me I can fix it Good luck Melora Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Whoa...Nellie...I didn't mean that the starch was the problem....but because she said there was dust I thought there could be a finish on the fabric that could be causing the problems. I have starched fabric too, until Alex Anderson said that Silver Fish would get into your fabrics/quits if it wasn't washed out. So I stopped starching because I know me and know that I may not wash the quilt until it's 10 years old That's my disclaimer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted September 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 I don't think the flakes are from the batting, it's Warm & Natural and it's not like the dust/lint that I usually get from the cotton batts. I had a heavily starched quilt once and the starch was just pouncing out of the quilt as I quilted it! The stitch problem seems to be only when I am working horizontally, mostly right to left. It's strange. I've checked and cleaned and re-threaded, any other ideas? I'll be calling APQS today for sure- see the pic below- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnCavanaugh Posted September 10, 2008 Report Share Posted September 10, 2008 Kim, When you have skipped stitches with the regulator, the first thing to check is that your encoder wheels are not slipping. Since you notice the skips in the "horizontal" direction, then check the encoder wheel on the carriage. The wheel should be drawn very snugly into the axle wheel. It should be very difficult to turn the little rubber encoder wheel by hand--it should put a lot of pressure on the larger wheel. These little wheels are like car tires--they do eventually "wear out" as the rubber pushes against the axle wheel. Your first indication that they are wearing out is the skipped stitch symptom. To fix it, loosen the gold bolt located under the carriage axle wheel where the encoder is attached. Have a helper grab the encoder box and push the entire box closer to the larger axle wheel. While your helper is holding the box closer, tighten the gold bolt again (7/16-in. wrench). The encoder box's silver mounting plate (sandwiched between the wheel and the carriage axle) has a slot in it, which allows you to "draw the box closer" to the axle wheel. Of course, eventually you will hit the end of the slot in the mounting plate, and will have to replace the encoder wheel, just like a car tire. That same adjustment can be made to the sewing head encoder if the machine skips stitches in the front-to-back direction. Now if adjusting the encoders doesn't fix the problem, then needle flex is the culprit. The needle is flexing away from the hook assembly, causing a gap and skipped stitches. First try a larger needle. If the machine still skips stitches, then re-check the timing, especially the step called "hook clearance". If there's even the slightest breath of air between the needle and hook when they meet, skipped stitches can result. Give us a call if these solutions don't fix your problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted September 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2008 Here's the update on my shredding thread & skipped stitches. It's been a long slow process due to all that is going on in life but I've changed needles twice, the thread, the bobbin thread, re-threaded, cleaned and oiled. I was using a Superior pre-wound bobbin which has caused me troubles before but that's not it either. I took off the needle plate and checked under there and cleaned it out, I've adjusted the tension every way possible. DH tried to tighten the coding wheel, which was just replaced last January but never had any wiggle room for more adjustment so I should try another coding wheel but after looking at the bobbin casing the timing is off. We, who both were glasses had a very difficult time to even see the eye of the needle down in there! The hook was a good 1/4" behind the needle. DH adjusted it and had to leave until tomorrow! I tried it out and it doesn't seem to be shredding the thread but it's still skipping stitches even more than before. I know this is partly my fault for not getting out to Iowa for the maintenance classes but it's a lot of money. It would be great if when APQS does their road shows to demo the machines to prospective buyers they could have on the road maintenance classes. I'd pay for it for sure. We will work on this over the weekend between tiling part of the floor before they come to install carpet and trying to fix our intermittant internet problems. When it rains, it pours! Thanks for all the suggestions, I will call Monday if we are not getting anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmiequilts Posted September 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Ok we finally managed to get the hook touching the needle at the mid area of the scarf, it really wants to touch to work right. I tried it last night and the problem seems to be solved. I'm off to finish the quilt that's on the machine and will see how that goes now! My best guess as to how the timing got so out is that I was using a bottom line pre-wound in the bobbin and whent the thread got tangled up below I moved the machine not knowing that it was a mess. The poly thread is so strong that it must have moved the hook assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Kim, I'm glad you fixed the problem. Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations as this is lessons learned for us in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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