A Bump In The Road

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As you may know I own a longarm quilt machine. I use it to quilt projects for customers, family and myself. Keeping the machine in proper running order often gives me fits. The air inside my studio can at times be filled with rather colorful words.

I am not mechanically inclined. I usually defer those tasks to my hubby. He can turn a job that would take me hours into a simple task. Unfortunately he is not always home when I need him which means I have had to learn how to make repairs on my machine by myself. The distributor of my machine has an online library of helpful how-to videos. I used those videos to help me with my most recent dilemma.

I have been struggling, and I mean struggling, with a capital S with thread issues for months! Slowly I have been moving through the list of possible causes eliminating them one by one. The journey has been a long and trying experience; testing my patience to the limit.

The problem I have been trying to solve is breaking or fraying thread. So far I had crossed off thread quality, batting and fabric as contributors. I even replaced a couple of parts thinking that they might have had burrs that were damaging my thread. Left on my list were machine timing and the needle. Since I like to tackle the most difficult issue first I decided to address the timing of my machine.

I called up the videos on adjusting the machine timing and watched them over and over again. With each viewing I tweaked the timing ever so slightly. By the time I had finished I had lost count of the number of times I put my machine back together and the number of screwdriver bits I used during the my process.

After getting oil all over my hands and my extension table I finally managed to get the timing properly adjusted. Hopefully I will remember the proper settings for next time because you know there will be a next time.

After conquering that hurdle, cleaning up my hands and my extension table I was so eager to get back to quilting. I rethreaded my machine and started stitching. In no time my patience was once again tested by breaking thread. Argh!!

The only thing left to change was my needle. Thankfully I keep a huge supply on hand. Before selecting the new needle I checked the reference table I have to make certain I was using the correct size. I loaded in my brand new needle, rethreaded my machine and started stitching again. Presto! No more breaking thread! I was back in business! Thank GOODNESS!

I have learned so many valuable lessons. Hopefully my senior mind will remember them for next time. 🙂 Until then I will be stitching along.

Thank you for visiting today! I’m so glad we had this opportunity!

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A Thread Jam

TL18_FULL_LINE_2015A Test of My Patience

My long arm quilt machine recently decided to test my patience. It was 3:15 a.m. I’d been up quilting for an hour and forty-five minutes when the needle, with its point embedded in fabric, suddenly stopped. Having a needle stuck in fabric is enough to make me panic. Somehow I had to find a way to solve this problem.

 

What Do I Do?

My first instinct was to manually raise the needle. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the needle to budge. My next thought was to enlist the assistance of my spouse. I figured he could probably help but the only problem with that idea was that it was way too early in the morning to bother him. So I decided to throw in the towel, at least for now, and wait until morning.

HELP!

At first light I explained to my spouse what had happened. Between the two of us we were able to do a little research on the Internet by typing in the error message displayed on the machine’s screen. The message read:

TinLizzie Motor Related-Error has occurred Error (0x02)

We were so thrilled when several web links appeared. At the very top was a link to the TinLizzie website. The link was titled, “What to do when the machine jams!”/TinLizzie 18 . The link provided detailed instructions on how to clear the jam. We followed their suggestions very carefully. Unfortunately we still were not able to fix the problem.

Frustrated with the lack of success we decided to look more closely at the instructions. Just maybe we had missed a crucial step. At the bottom of the screen, in the comments section, we found a link to a video. The video walked us through the process of clearing a jam one step at a time.

From the video we learned two things

The first was the need to remove the protective cover from the flywheel belt. By removing the cover we could gain better access. The second tip was to turn the flywheel clockwise. Using this new information we tried again to clear the jam. After several attempts the wheel finally let loose. Dislodged was a small wad of lint. I was sort of surprised to see it because I’m very careful to keep the bobbin area clear.

Time to Try it Out

After reinstalling the belt cover I removed the dislodged lint as well as any other stray threads. I also replaced the needle. After replacing the needle I turned on the machine and tested it to make sure we were successful. Thankfully all went well. I was back in business thanks to the TinLizzie website and the assistance of my spouse. Time to get back to quilting.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy Anderson of In A Stitch Quilting

Sample of Quilting

Blue Screen

Have you ever planned out your day right down to the last-minute only to encounter a blip that throws your whole schedule of kilter? Well of course you have! Not too long ago I had a pile of customer quilts waiting their turn on my long-arm quilt machine. The time allotted was very tight. I was racing against the clock that was ticking down the days and minutes until I would leave for several weeks at my Little Cabin In The Woods. Things were flowing along rather nicely until the day that ruined my plans.

It was early in the morning. My plan was to make major progress on the quilt that was loaded on my machine. When I had closed shop the previous evening everything about my machine was fine. Other than being a bit out of level, all of the bells and whistles were operating smoothly. Expecting everything to be as it was when I walked away the previous evening, I plugged in my machine and flipped on the switch. As is my typical habit I walked from the rear of the machine on around to the front. The control screen sits directly above the handlebars. In order to operate the machine the screen must power up. Once finishing its start-up routine the screen displays a menu listing the available options.

On this very unfortunate day things did not go as usual. The screen on my Tin Lizzie didn’t respond the way it should. Rather than loading the menu I had been accustomed to seeing, the screen displayed vertical columns of blue and red lines.

IMG_0249IMG_0247Never before had I seen anything like it. Unsure what or why I was seeing this I decided to wait a spell in hopes it would somehow miraculously correct itself. When it seemed no further changes would take place I felt the best think to do was turn the machine off, wait a while, then turn it on once again. That’s what we do with computers when they aren’t responding….right? Hopefully this time everything would return to normal.

I repeated my typical routine then waited for my miracle to occur. Unfortunately nothing changed. The same screen filled with lines appeared. This was NOT supposed to happen. Time for equipment failure was not included in the schedule. For a brief moment panic set in. After overcoming the desire to burst out into tears and throw a tantrum I gathered my wits and made a plan.

I had recently made friends on Facebook with the owner of the shop that had sold me my Tin Lizzie. Knowing that an open line of communication was now available between the two of us I thought why not take advantage of that resource. The first thing I did was grab my phone and take a photo of my screen. Next I attached it to a message in the Facebook Messenger app. Once the message was in transit the only thing I could do was wait for her to reply.

To my surprise she responded quite quickly. After trading a few messages back and forth plans were made to meet at the store early the following week. Fortunately for me the screen was covered under warranty. Even if it hadn’t been my machine was worthless without it so I would have needed to expend whatever funds were necessary to get things back in working order.

After returning home with my brand new part I went through the procedures to install it and bring the software up to date. With very little effort my Tin Lizzie was back in operating order and I was once again off and running. The equipment failure had set me way behind in my schedule so very little time was wasted. I focused all of my attention on conquering the tasks I had set before me. After working diligently, with barely a break to breathe, I finished the last quilt just in time. Phone calls were made to the respective customers and arrangements were made for them to pick their quilts up. By the time the last customer walked out the door, grinning from ear to ear, with her quilt snug beneath her arms, I had only hours left to pack and get ready to leave.

The wonders of the internet had saved the day!! Hurray!